A new opportunity within the framework of cooperation with George Washington University (George Washington University, USA)

We’re inviting you to participate in George Washington University International startup contest, an annual innovation project support program that brings together teams from the world's leading universities and provides an opportunity to present your ideas, receive expert mentoring support, and compete for a prize pool of up to $10,000 on the campus of one of the leading universities in the USA.

Contest is designed for student and teaching teams from selected international universities, who are invited to participate in the competition based on the personal invitation. Satbayev University is a strategic partner of this competition together with GW Global Food Institute.

Within 3 months, participants will receive:

• mentoring support from experts and Mentors-in-Residence GW;
• online training and access to international resources;
• opportunity to establish professional and academic connections in the USA.

Prize pool:

• 1^st place - 10,000 USD
• 2^nd place - 7,500 USD
• 3^rd place - 5,000 USD

Of particular interest is Food Innovation track, which focuses on projects in the field of:

• food security and sustainable development;
• agro-technology and food engineering;
• processing of food production waste;
• logistics and supply chains;
• innovative products, technologies and business models in the nutrition sphere.

Competition consists of 3 rounds: submission and evaluation of applications, online pitching of projects via Zoom, project presentation at George Washington University campus (April, 2026). Applications selected from Satbayev University will be sent to Organizing Committee of the competition, accompanied by Office of International Cooperation. It is important to note that international teams are judged by the quality of their ideas, not by their English language proficiency.

Deadline for submitting the applications is February 1, 2026.

Learn more about the contest

For any questions, please contact Office of International Cooperation 302, OB.