2026 Agora
Venture Competition

Applications open March 9th. Apply by March 31 for a chance to compete in our annual Venture Competition, where you’ll be pitching your startup at our Venture Showcase in front of DC’s top investors, founders, and ecosystem leaders. The winner walks away with a $10,000 non-dilutive cash prize. All applications are reviewed by our investor committee, and all are eligible for additional cash and in-kind prizes.

Apply

  • Eligibility requirements:

    Gender Identity: Applicants must self-identify as either female or non-binary. If selected to pitch, co-founders are invited to join you on the stage only if they, too, identify as female or non-binary.

    Location: Applicants must be based in DC, Maryland, or Virginia.

    Role & Equity: Applicants should be a founder with at least 25% equity stake and hold a C-suite executive position in the company they are representing.

    Venture-Ready Scale: The company should demonstrate the potential for venture-scale growth, indicating a capacity for rapid expansion and significant market impact. (Note: Founders of consultancies or other businesses that do not meet this criteria are welcome to reach out to explore other paths for involvement.)

    Business Type: The company must be incorporated as a for-profit entity.

    Funding Restrictions: Companies must have raised less than $1,000,000 in equity funding.

  • Finalists are selected by our investor committee by early May. In order to be eligible to win, finalists must be able to pitch live to our community the evening of the Showcase on May 13 in DC. Our investor committee will then decide on the ultimate winner.

  • Your application will be reviewed by the Agora team for completeness and eligibility. If you meet our eligibility criteria, your application will then be reviewed by at least 2 members of our investor committee. The most promising companies will be discussed live with our full investor committee, which will then select finalists to pitch. All companies are offered feedback.

  • One winner will receive a $10,000 check, awarded as a non-dilutive grant.

  • Applications open March 9th and close March 31.

    Applications will be reviewed by our investor committee throughout April, and finalists will pitch at our showcase event on May 13. We’ll notify finalists by April 30.

Missed the deadline? Learn more about our other programs and apply to join our community here.

  • "Incredible presentations! Higher quality pitches than I am used to seeing in an event like this. Better than even the growth pitches I receive."

     –Braden Snyder, Partner at Updata


  • "The Venture Challenge was instrumental in kicking us into gear to submit the application for Agora and helping us package that first narrative. The Showcase was the first time that we built the narrative around the company. It was a low stakes way to get the story out and practice our pitch. It was our first validation point."

    – Jessie Anderson, Co-Founder and CTO at Lumora