The Entrepreneurship Pelican Cup is the premier academic business plan competition in the State of Louisiana. This competition is accessible to any full-time or part-time student, whether pursuing a certificate or a degree, who is currently enrolled in a four-year college or university within Louisiana. The Pelican Cup will have three elements.
Round 1: Team application and submission of Intent to Compete, team video, and written business plan; judging and selection of up to six finalists for both divisions. Round 2: Finalists oral presentations to judges; selection of top three winners in each division. Elevator Pitch Competition and Awards Presentation: A representative of the 6 finalist teams will make a pitch during the awards presentation before the competition winners are announced.
The 2026 Entrepreneurship Pelican Cup Competition is the largest yet, with 44 entries, including 31 undergraduate teams and 13 graduate teams from nine colleges and universities across Louisiana. Participating schools include Centenary College, Grambling State University, Louisiana State University Shreveport, Louisiana Tech University, Northwestern State University, Tulane University, University of Louisiana Lafayette, University of Louisiana Monroe, and University of New Orleans.
This year’s cash prizes include:
Undergraduate Division Prizes
First Place — $25,000
Second Place — $15,000
Third Place — $10,000
Advisor Awards — $3,000 for advisors of the winning teams in First, Second, and Third Place.
Elevator Pitch Winner — $2,000 awarded to the winner.
Graduate Division Prizes:
First Place — $50,000
Second Place — $25,000
Third Place — $10,000
Advisor Awards — $3,000 for advisors of the winning teams in First, Second, and Third Place.
Elevator Pitch Winner — $2,000 awarded to the winner.
All members of the winning teams, along with their advisors, will also receive certificates or plaques, and their respective schools will be awarded trophies.
Finalist Teams
Undergraduate Category
Heirloom (Louisiana Tech University) – Team Leader: Jessica Ramey Team Members: Daniel Ramey, Riley Cupit Advisor: Jessica George
Invasive X (Louisiana Tech University) – Team Leader: Ryan Lee Team Members: Jackson Greer, Baron Cosey Advisor: Jessica George
Sensory Sync (University of New Orleans) – Team Leader: Pranish Ghimire Team Members: Simant Singh, Krish Neupane Advisor: Shafin Khan
Social Bridge AI (University of Louisiana Monroe) - Team Leader: Anjan Mandal Team Members: Roshani Pathak, Pradeep Poudel Advisors: Prasanthi Sreekumari
Verdivolt Innovations (Centenary College) - Team Leader: Henry Pudwill Team Members: Luke Guillot, Will Riley Advisor: Barbara Davis
Xplify (University of Louisiana Monroe) - Team Leader: Damir Filaretov Team Members: Viktor Motov, Connor Pauley, Katie McCullars Advisor: Veronika Humphries
Graduate Category
Accountable AI (Louisiana Tech University) – Team Leader: Haiwen Wang Team Members: Diego Segura Ibarra Advisor: Jinyuan Chen
Bio-Pod (University of Louisiana Lafayette) – Team Leader: Natasha Syed Team Members: Matthew Hasling, Mansu Acharya Advisor: Jonathan Shirley
Entelechy (University of New Orleans) – Team Leader: Soheil Saneei Team Members: Nhi Pham, Gabe Malone Advisors: Dong-Jun Min, Shafin Khan
Hustlr (University of Louisiana Monroe) - Team Leader: Dylan Hayden Team Members: Chase Gunn, Nokia Masengu Advisors: Joyce Zhou
Outage Pilot (University of Louisiana Lafayette) - Team Leader: Md Zahirul Khan Team Members: Md Khairul Islam, Usama Aslam Advisor: Farzad Ferdowsi
RX Connect (Louisiana State University Shreveport) - Team Leader: Kurtis Alton Team Members: Jyotish Batra, Wendy Alton Advisor: Mike McDaniel
The finalists oral presentations are held March 25 at the Hangar and Pelican Cup Awards Luncheon happening at Bayou Pointe Event Center on March 26 at 11:30 AM - 01:30 PM.
Tickets are on sale now for $100 for the public and $50 for students.
Visit our site at www.ulm.edu/pelicancup for full rules and details. The application link can be found below: https://www.ulm.edu/pelicancup/2026_pelican_cup_competition_guide.pdf. For any questions, please email hemed@ulm.edu