Launchpad Info Booklet
Everything you need to know about the competition — rules, judging, prizes, and more.
Everything you need to know about the competition — rules, judging, prizes, and more.
Launchpad is a high school entrepreneurship competition that guides student teams from a raw idea to a real business. Every team is paired with a dedicated mentor and follows a structured process focused on real progress — identifying meaningful problems, testing ideas with actual people, and building a working prototype that can be presented to judges, mentors, and potential supporters.
Launchpad is open to high school students anywhere in the world. Teams of 1–4 students work together over the course of the program, ending with a live showcase where they present what they've built.
Launchpad exists to support high school students' entrepreneurial journeys beyond just an idea, by providing a guided path from identifying problems to building a working prototype, mentorship support throughout, an emphasis on real-world testing over theoretical concepts, and the opportunity to showcase progress to judges, mentors, and supporters — while developing problem-solving, customer development, prototyping, and presentation skills that extend well beyond the competition itself.
Our goal is to help students turn ideas into viable products that can have a real impact in the world.
Teams are expected to complete the following stages of the competition.
Identify a problem worth solving. Every successful venture begins with a clearly defined problem — teams are guided to move beyond surface-level ideas and identify a genuine, well-understood problem before committing to a solution.
Test the idea against reality. Teams engage directly with prospective customers to determine whether their idea holds up outside the classroom, ensuring decisions are grounded in evidence rather than assumption.
Present a working prototype. Teams conclude the program by presenting a functional prototype to a panel of judges, mentors, and potential supporters at the live showcase.
The rules below apply to every team participating in Launchpad.
Launchpad is open to high school students from any school or country. Participants must be currently enrolled in high school at the time of registration. Teams may include between 1 and 4 students.
All team members must be registered and listed at the time of registration. Team rosters cannot be changed after the deadline without approval from the Launchpad organizing team.
All work, materials, and research submitted must be original work of the student teams. Plagiarism, use of materials or research from other sources without disclosure, or use of previously submitted work in other competitions without disclosure will result in immediate disqualification.
Participants are expected to conduct themselves professionally and respectfully toward mentors, judges, organizers, and other teams. Disrespect, harassment, or other unprofessional conduct will result in immediate disqualification.
All materials and submissions must be made to the appropriate Launchpad channels by the deadline. Late or incomplete submissions may be penalized or disqualified at the discretion of the Launchpad organizing team.
All decisions regarding judging, scores, and outcomes are final. Students are not permitted to contact judges directly or inquire about scores outside of officially designated channels.
Student teams retain all rights to the materials, work, and intellectual property developed as part of the competition. By registering for or participating in Launchpad, teams agree to allow Launchpad to use team members' names and images, and any non-confidential descriptions, summaries, or excerpts of teams' competition materials, for marketing and other related purposes.
These rules may be updated by the Launchpad organizing team at any time, without notice. All registered teams will be notified of any changes.
Projects are scored out of 100 total points, across five categories.
| Category | Points | What Judges Look For |
|---|---|---|
| Problem Definition (Spark) | 20 | Clarity and significance of the problem identified. |
| Customer Validation | 25 | Quality of real customer research and insights gathered. |
| Prototype & Solution | 25 | Functionality and thoughtfulness of the working prototype. |
| Feasibility & Progress | 15 | Evidence of realistic progress toward a viable business. |
| Presentation & Communication | 15 | Clarity, structure, and ability to present the journey and answer questions. |
Mentorship engagement and growth throughout the program may be considered as a tie-breaker. Judges assess both the final prototype and the quality of the process the team followed to get there.
Four awards are given out at the live showcase, based on overall competition criteria — plus one award for the most creative idea, regardless of final ranking.
Awarded to the team ranked 1st overall on judging criteria.
Awarded to the team ranked 2nd overall on judging criteria.
Awarded to the team ranked 3rd overall on judging criteria.
Awarded to the team with the most creative idea, independent of final ranking.
All winning teams also receive a certificate recognizing their placement, presented at the live showcase.
Dates and location are to be announced. Check the Timeline section on our Home page for the latest updates, and join the waitlist to be notified as soon as they're confirmed.
Any high school student, from any school or country, currently enrolled at the time of registration. Teams can have between 1 and 4 members.
Both are fine — teams can range from a single student up to four.
No — the first stage of the program, Spark, is specifically designed to help you find and define a real problem worth solving. You don't need a fully formed idea to join.
Yes — every team is paired with a dedicated mentor who supports them throughout the program, from the initial idea through to the live showcase.
Registration will open closer to the program start date. Join the waitlist on our Home page to be notified the moment it opens.
Reach out through the contact form on our Get Involved page, or email us directly at theteamoflaunchpad@gmail.com.