Pitch Dingman informal sessions are open to all members of the University of Maryland community including faculty, staff, students and alumni. Monthly competitions are reserved for current students. You dont have to be a Smith School of Business student to participate, you can be enrolled in any program on any campus at the University of Maryland.

Every Friday students can come to the Dingman Center between 11-1 p.m. to pitch their idea and receive feedback from a Dingman Center Entrepreneurs-in-Residence that will help them develop their idea. These sessions are closed-door and informal.

Twice a semester, the Dingman Center holds a $2,750 Pitch Dingman competition where student entrepreneurs give a six-minute presentation on their business idea to a panel of judges. The judges then engage in a Q&A and offer feedback on the presentation. The pitches are scored and ranked, with the winner being awarded a $2,500 prize to be used for their business. Participation is limited to students who participated in informal sessions. All students, faculty, staff and community are invited to be audience members and vote for the $250 Audience Choice Award.

NO! All you need is an idea. However, if your business is far beyond the idea stage and you need help growing/scaling it, we can help you as well.

YES! Pitch Dingman program is open to ALL University of Maryland students, including part-time students and students on other UMD campuses.

The informal sessions are closed-door and students are not allowed to sit in other sessions so that every entrepreneur can feel secure and free to talk. All students are welcome to attend Pitch Dingman Competitions.

The Pitch Dingman program utilizes a give-and-take approach to building relationships with entrepreneurs. In other words, the more effort and progress we see the entrepreneur demonstrate, the more resources such as time, workspace, and capital we are willing to invest. The initial pitch and feedback session will be very concise, following the framework of a first contact venture capital pitch. As the entrepreneur demonstrates initiative in executing their business idea, they will have greater access to Dingman Management team and Entrepreneurs-In-Residence through one-on-one meetings and working sessions. This process ensures that Dingman resources are directed to the entrepreneurs who will achieve the greatest returns.

NO! We evaluate the quality of your idea and presentation, not your fashion sense. The informal sessions really are informal, you can wear your everyday clothes. For the competition you may want to dress up a bit to look more professional.

Prize money is to be used towards starting/growing the business that you pitched only. Please read below about the post-competition process.

After the competition, the winners are placed in the Dingman Virtual Incubator program. They are required to meet with the Dingman Center staff and advisors twice a month for 3-6 months, depending on the industry, stage of development, and individual needs. The Dingman Center team and the entrepreneur will develop a strategy with specific goals and deliverables for each meeting. Following a successful completion of the Virtual Incubation program, additional funding may be granted.