The Office of Innovation at Biola University is proud to announce that the Biola Startup Competition will take place on Friday, April 24, 2026, from 1 to 6 PM on the Biola University campus in Business Building 109. The event, led by Dr. Silvia Mah and the Office of Innovation, is free and open to the public, with complimentary parking and free Chick-fil-A lunch boxes for the first 50 attendees.

Rooted in the mission to give students a platform to pitch their concepts, develop solutions that solve real problems and business plans built on customer needs, gain valuable real-world insight, and compete for startup capital, the Biola Startup Competition brings together student entrepreneurs from every corner of the university. From Cinema and Media Arts to Business, English, Design, Art, Computer Science, Analytics, Accounting, and Journalism, student teams compete for $27,000 in seed capital that will help launch their ventures.

On April 24, 17 student teams, named on the official competition page, will pitch their startup ideas before a distinguished panel of judges and a live audience of investors, alumni, faculty, staff, economic development leaders, and community advocates. The day will feature a keynote address, an alumni Innovation Panel, and an exciting celebration party to close the event. The prize funding, which is generously provided by investors, philanthropists, external businesses, and internal schools across Biola University, will be broken down into $15,000 for the winning team, $7,000 for second place, and $5,000 for third place. There will also be an Impact Award of $1,000 highlighting outstanding Christian spirit, and a $500 Audience Choice Award.

The event will be headlined by Marie-Ange Eyoum Tagne, a Redemptive Tech entrepreneur and AI innovator with an extraordinary career spanning Meta, Amazon, Yahoo, Intel, and Roku. Joining from Northern California, she will deliver the keynote address and sign 60 complimentary copies of her book, "For Such A Time As This: From Humble Roots in Africa to Silicon Valley Leadership."

This year's competition will be evaluated by a panel of accomplished leaders from the venture capital, angel investing, and innovation ecosystems. These include La Keisha Landrum Pierre from Emmeline Ventures, Charla Triplett of University Lab Partners at UC Irvine, Marie-Ange Eyoum Tagne, the keynote speaker, Alexey Sokolov from Northwestern Mutual, and Joshua Lee from Gumshoe Ventures. Moreover, every competing startup has been paired with a mentor from the Office of Innovation's broader community of Christian leaders, including founders, investors, and small business owners. The 31 mentors have walked alongside student teams throughout the competition cycle, embodying Biola's commitment to faith-integrated innovation and community-driven entrepreneurship.

Besides the competition, another highlight of the afternoon will be the five business alumni speaking at the Innovation Panel. These include Hailemichael Debay, founder of RecovHub, CSB Student and Moderator (2028 graduation), Rachel Shaw, founder of “by Rach”, a fashion forward small business – CSB '05, Matthew Hickerson, formerly at JUMP investors and currently at Forge Origination (M&A) – CSB '23, Benjamin Chi, Franchise owner, Nobibi Buena Park and Santa Ana – CSB '24 and Startup Competition Top 3 Winner 2024, Grant Lawrence, CEO and co-founder, Thank God – CSB '23 and Startup Competition Top 3 Winner 2023 and Sterling Reed, co-founder, Thank God, alumni of Arizona State University.

The 2026 Biola Startup Competition is made possible by the generous in-kind support of sponsors who believe in the next generation of Christ-honoring innovators and entrepreneurs. Ahead of the event, Biola University's Office of Innovation recognizes Rose Bowlus Law for offering pro bono legal services worth $25k, Executive Cat Herder for their pro bono marketing services amounting to $10k, ARKI, the photobooth sponsor offering discounted fun photobooth for the celebration party, Double Edged Productions, the video production sponsor offering a Biolan discounted package to capture memories, New York Slice Deli for sponsoring lunch with discounted lunch boxes for half of the attendees, Chick-fil-a for sponsoring lunch boxes for the other half of the audience, and Pizaaz the official t-shirt sponsor for competitors, the Office of Innovation team and merchandize for the Startup Competition.

Throughout the event, twenty-two student and alumni volunteers will help bring the event to life, with Lote Vunibaka (Communication and Media Studies, Class of 2027) and Pressley Melville (Business Marketing, Class of 2027) serving as emcees.

Registration for the event is now open to all students, alumni, faculty, and community members. For more information, visit https://www.biola.edu/startup.

Media Contact
Company Name: Office of Innovation at Biola University
Contact Person: Dr. Silvia Mah
Email: Send Email
Country: United States
Website: https://www.biola.edu/innovation