About the Competition
Take Part in the World’s Biggest Virtual Entrepreneurship Competition for High School Students
Who Can Compete?
High school students anywhere in the world.
Any high school student from around the world can compete in this virtual competition.
Sign up to compete solo as a mighty team of one, or invite a few friends to join you to compete together.
You can also nominate any high school entrepreneur you know so they can get a special invitation.
How to Participate
Register first so we can keep you informed on the competition!
Provide your best email address. If your school does not allow outside emails to go through, use your personal email. Otherwise, we may not have a way to contact you.
Watch the webinar (below) and complete the Blue Ocean mini-course to learn about Blue Ocean thinking.
Check out previous winners and pitches for inspiration.
Think of a real-world problem that no one has solved before and create a blue ocean business idea to solve it.
Use the provided templates to structure your pitch and record a five minute video.
Submit your pitch by February 16, 2025 at midnight in the time zone where you are located.
Get your friends, classmates and family to vote for your pitch for a chance to win the Popular Choice Award.
Get ready for Amazing Results!
How to Develop Your Blue Ocean Pitch and Win
Learn everything you need to know to participate and win in the Blue Ocean Student Entrepreneur Competition!
2025 Competition Timeline
Registration open
Register for the competition to receive helpful materials including the Blue Ocean Mini-Course to help you prepare for your pitch.
Join the live launch
Join the live launch of the Blue Ocean Competition! Learn all you need to know about this year's competition.
Submission Deadline
Upload your blue ocean pitch before the deadline to stand a chance to win.
Top 100 Announcement
Find out who made it to the Top 100!
Top 30 Announcement
Check out who made it to the top 30!
Top 10 Announcement
Check out who made it to the top 10!
Winners Announcement!
Join us online for the live finale and see if you won the competition this year!
Awards Sent Out!
We will contact winners individually for details on sending the awards.
2025 Awards
1st Place
$1000
2nd Place
$750
3rd Place
$500
People's Choice
$750
(top pitch with the most likes on Youtube)
Prizes for regional winners
- North America – $500
- Europe – $500
- Africa – $500
- Asia and Oceania – $500
- Latin America – $500
- Middle East – $500
Certificates for all winners.
**Certificate of Participation** is awarded to all participants who submit their pitch.
**Certificate of Outstanding Achievement** is awarded to Top 10 pitches.
2025 Awards for participating Schools
- $1,000 to the school that has the most individual or team pitches that make the Top 25
- $1,000 to the top 5 schools who bring in the most submissions
- **Certificate of Outstanding Achievement** is awarded to select Blue Ocean Teacher Champions
- **Certificate of Recognition** is awarded to select schools for supporting student entrepreneurship and innovation
Competition Rules
- All participants in the competition must be of high school age (14-18 years old at time or registration).
- Participants can compete individually or as part of a team (maximum 5 students per team). A team can be formed with students from the same high school or from different high schools.
- All participants must register for the competition. If you’re working with a team, all team members must register for the competition.
- The participants must complete the online Blue Ocean Mini-Course before submitting their pitch.
- All pitches must be original and not copied from somewhere else.
- All pitches must be in English.
- Pitches should be video files and must be under 5 minutes in length. The files must be under 1 GB.
- Upload your blue ocean pitch to YouTube with the hashtag #blueoceancompetition and include a link to the published video when submitting your entry on the pitch submission form.
- Pitches received after the submission deadline (Feb 16, 2025, midnight) will not be accepted.
- Top 100 pitches will be added to our YouTube channel once they are submitted.
- Pitches must not violate laws or trademarks.
- Blue Ocean Competition reserves the right to eliminate any pitch and/or disqualify any individual or team that it deems inappropriate or harmful to another team or the competition itself.
- No derogatory comments should be made on other pitches once they are up on YouTube.
- While there is no set format for pitches (voice-over animation or graphics or talking heads), we encourage you to use the templates provided to structure your pitch for increasing your chances of winning.
- Use of Blue Ocean tools to describe your business idea is mandatory. Use the Strategy Canvas to describe the industry landscape, the Three Tiers of NonCustomers to describe your target market and the Eliminate-Reduce-Raise-Create Grid to describe your strategy.
- Each pitch will be evaluated by multiple judges who will watch randomly assigned pitches. We will combine the scores and then rank all pitches. The top pitches in each round will move to the next round. You only submit once.
- We start by choosing the Top 100 pitches. We then narrow the list down to the Top 25, then the Top 10 and then announce the winners.
- Each round is approximately 1-2 weeks. So, once we announce winners from one round, it will take us one-two weeks to narrow the list again.
- Judges will use the Scoring Criteria on our Resources page.
- Once we get to the Top 25 Pitches, we will provide feedback on your pitch from the judges in that round.
- The People’s Choice Award is chosen by a combination of YouTube likes and our own Judge likes. To be eligible, the pitch must be included in the Top 100 as chosen by the judges. You can have your friends and schoolmates “like” your video.
- If you’re working with a team, submit only 1 video entry per team. You will be asked to enter your team members’ names on the pitch submission form.
- Violation of any rule will result in disqualification.
Judging Criteria
Category | Score
5
Category | Score
4
Category | Score
3
Category | Score
2
Category | Score
1
Category | Score
Suggested Blue Ocean Strategy Tools for Students to Use
Value Innovation (20%)
Market Potential (20%)
Commercial Viability & Scalability (20%)
Technical Feasibility (20%)
Quality of Presentation & Use of Blue Ocean Tools (20%)
Concept is a novel idea that achieves both differentiation and low cost to create a new market space where there is no competition.
Problem the concept solves is significant with a wide appeal.
Business model makes a compelling argument for commercial viability and scalability, with the potential of mass adoption.
No new technology is required, or the technology required to develop the concept already exists and is feasible.
The concept is clearly articulated using the appropriate blue ocean tools and frameworks; message is clear and compelling and presented with great interest and enthusiasm.
Between 5 and 3.
Between 5 and 3.
Between 5 and 3.
Between 5 and 3.
Between 5 and 3.
Similar core products/services exist. The concept has significant differentiation from the competition, but it does not achieve low cost.
Problem the concept solves is either significant for a small set of customers or less significant for a large set of users.
Business model seems commercially viable but scalability seems plausible.
Some of the technology required to develop the concept exists but likely not at a feasible price point.
Message is somewhat clear and compelling, good interest and enthusiasm, able to explain how product/service works at a high level.
Between 3 and 1.
Between 3 and 1.
Between 3 and 1.
Between 3 and 1.
Between 3 and 1.
Concept provides no perceivable differentiation from competing products.
Problem the concept solves is neither signifcant nor common.
The concept does not seem commerically viable.
Technology required to develop the concept is far fetched or not feasible at all.
Message is unclear and group shows little enthusiasm. The group is unable to explain how the product/service works in a way that's understandable by the judges.
Use Eliminate-Reduce-Raise-Create Grid to show how your idea achieves differentiation and low cost simultaneously.
Use the Three Tiers of Noncustomers Framework and the Buyer Utlity Map to show the wide appeal of your offering.
Provide profitability model, go-to-market plan or end-user feedback.
Present research or facts to confirm the technical feasibility of your offering.
Use Strategy Canvas to clearly show the competitive landscape and how your offering stands apart.
Judging Criteria
Category | Score
5
Category | Score
4
Category | Score
3
Category | Score
2
Category | Score
1
Category | Score
Suggested Blue Ocean Strategy Tools for Students to Use
Value Innovation (20%)
Market Potential (20%)
Commercial Viability & Scalability (20%)
Technical Feasibility (20%)
Quality of Presentation & Use of Blue Ocean Tools (20%)
Concept is a novel idea that achieves both differentiation and low cost to create a new market space where there is no competition.
Problem the concept solves is significant with a wide appeal.
Business model makes a compelling argument for commercial viability and scalability, with the potential of mass adoption.
No new technology is required, or the technology required to develop the concept already exists and is feasible.
The concept is clearly articulated using the appropriate blue ocean tools and frameworks; message is clear and compelling and presented with great interest and enthusiasm.
Between 5 and 3.
Between 5 and 3.
Between 5 and 3.
Between 5 and 3.
Between 5 and 3.
Similar core products/services exist. The concept has significant differentiation from the competition, but it does not achieve low cost.
Problem the concept solves is either significant for a small set of customers or less significant for a large set of users.
Business model seems commercially viable but scalability seems plausible.
Some of the technology required to develop the concept exists but likely not at a feasible price point.
Message is somewhat clear and compelling, good interest and enthusiasm, able to explain how product/service works at a high level.
Between 3 and 1.
Between 3 and 1.
Between 3 and 1.
Between 3 and 1.
Between 3 and 1.
Concept provides no perceivable differentiation from competing products.
Problem the concept solves is neither signifcant nor common.
The concept does not seem commerically viable.
Technology required to develop the concept is far fetched or not feasible at all.
Message is unclear and group shows little enthusiasm. The group is unable to explain how the product/service works in a way that's understandable by the judges.
Use Eliminate-Reduce-Raise-Create Grid to show how your idea achieves differentiation and low cost simultaneously.
Use the Three Tiers of Noncustomers Framework and the Buyer Utlity Map to show the wide appeal of your offering.
Provide profitability model, go-to-market plan or end-user feedback.
Present research or facts to confirm the technical feasibility of your offering.
Use Strategy Canvas to clearly show the competitive landscape and how your offering stands apart.
Got Questions?
Do you have any questions? Check out our FAQs or contact us with your questions. Our Student Executive Committee will be happy to answer them.
Give Yourself the Best Chance to Win
Take advantage of all the resources provided to make the best blue ocean pitch possible. Register for the competition and receive access to the online Blue Ocean Mini-Course to understand what blue ocean strategy is about, how to use the tools and frameworks, and how this competition is different from other pitch competitions.
