Newswise — AUSTIN, Texas — The Herb Kelleher Center for Entrepreneurship in the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin announces DisrupTexas — the largest pitch competition in terms of cash awards for Texas-based undergraduate students.

More than $50,000 in cash and prizes will be divided among the top five startup teams, with $20,000 going to the winning team. The competition is open to undergraduate students from across the state and will be held at UT Austin Oct. 27, 2018.

Students will have a fully immersive learning experience with mentorship, professional feedback on their plans and pitches, and the opportunity to form lasting relationships with leaders in the entrepreneurship ecosystem.

To apply, students must submit application materials by midnight, Sept. 14, 2018. On Oct. 5, the Herb Kelleher Center will announce semi-finalist teams that will advance to finals in Austin on Oct. 27.

“We’ve seen many startups gain traction and launch here from the Forty Acres,” said Luis Martins, HKC Director. “Texas has always been an entrepreneurial state, and we are delighted to unleash the entrepreneurial spirit of undergraduate student founders.”

Student teams must be primarily comprised of undergraduate students from participating Texas universities. Each team must have the endorsement of a faculty advisor from their university. Business plans will be judged on the key criteria of innovation, achievability, scalability, fundability and quality.

DisrupTexas invites students from all backgrounds and seeks to cultivate diversity and interdisciplinary collaboration within undergraduate entrepreneurial communities around the state.

The competition aims to serve as a launch pad for student entrepreneurs with a dream and drive to turn their business idea into reality.  

For competition and application details, visit: http://sites.utexas.edu/disruptexas/