How It Works
Over the fall, you take an idea and turn it into a working product. It happens in four stages, and registration and entries are both closed.
From here, teams build over four Fridays until they can demo something that actually runs. Each stage raises the bar.
Four stages
Everyone starts in the same spot: a team and a deadline. Mentors are with you the whole way. Let's walk through them.
Register your team
ClosedRegistration closed September 11: a team roster, a named team lead, and contact info, with every member a UT undergraduate. Fall enrollment covers the entire Challenge, so graduating in December doesn't rule a team out of the spring. Registration was just record-keeping. It wasn't judged, but it was required, since it's what unlocks entry submission. If your team registered by the deadline, you were clear to submit.
Teams can be solo or a group. And the roster isn't locked in. Teams are allowed to merge as ideas take shape, so you can change your lineup later.
Submit your entry
Closed Sept 25Nothing is built yet. This stage is about the idea and the team. You submit two short pieces that work together: a one-page PDF that carries the idea, and a two-minute video that shows the people behind it.
The idea
A single branded page, a “pitch before the pitch.” Cover:
- The finance problem you're solving
- Why it needs solving (the stakes)
- Your solution roadmap, and what you'll build (app, dashboard, workbook, agent…)
- Who ultimately uses it
Layout and polish aren't scored. Visuals are welcome but never required, with an optional second page if you want to add one.
The team
Your origin story, in your own voice: how you arrived at the idea (an internship, a family situation, a class, a problem you saw firsthand).
- Hard 2:00 cap, though a tight 90 seconds is fine
- Team lead on camera; a real presenter, not an AI avatar or voice clone
- AI editing tools are fine; phone or webcam is fine
Production quality isn't scored.
Download the one-page template Word or Google Docs. Fill it in, then export to a PDF to submit.
Neither piece stands alone. Twelve faculty reviewers read both parts together, at least twice per team. 22 teams advanced to the build round. See how teams are judged.
Build round
Oct 16 – Nov 1322 teams meet at 121 Tech Hub on four Fridays (October 16, 23 and 30 and November 6) from 11:30 to 2:00. Lunch is provided. Mentors rotate in every week: finance faculty, startup coaches, industry builders. Some weeks they circulate table to table; other weeks they staff stations by expertise, finance/domain, AI & build, UX, and product & pitch. Four sessions and the lightning demo round are the whole scheduled ask. Teams put in time between sessions, and how much is their call, but nothing else lands on the calendar.
You keep a short project log as you go: what you decided, built, and tested. It's your team's working tool, and it doubles as an interview-ready record of the whole effort. On Friday, November 13, every team presents in a lightning demo round at 121 Tech Hub. Judges pick ten teams for Final Demo Day. Early feedback is shared openly across the room. Final work stays private. And yes, teams can still merge here. Teams can add teammates through Job Willow in the portal until November 6.
Final Demo Day
Wed, Nov 18The top 10 teams demo working builds in person on Wednesday, November 18, from 3:00 to 6:00. This is the closest look of the whole fall, and it's judged on what actually runs. An external panel of finance and fintech judges runs the demos and picks the 4–6 finalists. We announce them the first week of December.
Each finalist team receives $1,500 and advances toward the spring phase, where the top three finish with $5,000, $3,000, and $2,000.
Yours. That's the rule.
Every entry is built on the team's own original idea, and the work you submit belongs to you. You'll confirm both when you sign up. It's also what makes the payoff real: when an employer asks about the project on your resume, every decision in it is yours to defend.
Of course, ideas come from somewhere, and jobs are a great somewhere. Maybe you spent an internship watching analysts rekey the same numbers every Monday morning. Noticing that is exactly the spark we're looking for.
Here's the line. A problem you noticed at work is fair inspiration. The solution can't lean on code, data, documents, or internal processes that an employer or any other organization owns. That material is their intellectual property, and it stays theirs.
So rebuild it as your own. Describe the problem in general terms, invent stand-in data, and design the solution from scratch. Not sure where your idea falls? Ask the organizers before you build, and we'll help you draw the line.
Take it to Market
The best teams don't stop in December. Finalists carry their build into the spring, sharpen it into a real product, and make the venture case for it. It all points toward Launch Day. Spring dates and format are still being finalized.