How the World's Biggest Business Competition Judges a 60-Second Pitch

The World's Biggest Business Competition puts $1M in prizes on the table, and you enter by submitting a 60-second pitch video, not by proving revenue. Simon Squibb's four-week programme rewards founders who show real execution and progress, with judges scoring what you have built, tested, and learned. Emergent powers the App Builder track, where founders build a real, working product with no code needed.

The prize, by the numbers

The prize pool is $1M, shared across 181 winners. One grand prize takes $100,000, and 180 runners-up take $5,000 each. The grand prize winner does not also collect a $5,000 award; that award passes to the next-ranked eligible candidate. The competition ends with a live Demo Day finale after the four-week build phase.

What the competition actually rewards

You become prize-eligible by submitting a pitch, not by hitting a revenue target. Entry is free, and the terms are explicit that no sale, revenue, or investment is required to enter or win. The submitted 60-second video is the complete scored pitch, so the thing that qualifies you is a clear, credible case for your business.

That framing shapes the whole competition. A founder with no sales yet can win on the strength of what they have built and learned. Revenue can be mentioned as evidence, but no amount carries fixed points, and money alone does not decide the result. Full prize rules and selection criteria are set by the organiser and published in the official terms and conditions.

How the 60-second pitch is scored

Judges use a published rubric, and execution carries real weight. For the $5,000 awards, the criteria are clarity, structure, and persuasive quality at 30%, evidence of execution and real-world progress at 30%, customer problem and value at 20%, business quality and credible next steps at 15%, and learning and resourcefulness at 5%.

The grand prize works differently. It is decided entirely from each finalist's live pitch and answers to judge questions at the in-person Grand Finale. Earlier video scores do not carry forward, so the final round is its own contest. In both rounds, the pattern is the same: show what you built and why it matters, backed by the strongest evidence you have.

Entry is free, and registration is open now on the official competition site. For more open and upcoming builder challenges, browse the AI contests hub.