The 2023 Cardinal Challenge
The annual new venture competition among graduate students from all over Kentucky and Kentuckiana will be held on July 27 & 28, 2023.
Brown-Forman Cardinal Challenge
The Brown-Forman Cardinal Challenge represents a prestigious, global academic competition with real-world opportunities and experiences designed to stimulate and reward innovative thinking and entrepreneurial persistence.
Our annual business plan competition regularly attracts the biggest thinkers in grad school entrepreneurship — many of our competition teams go on to win national and international prizes. Judges’ feedback has a way of making good business plans better and better plans great.
The compact, one-day Challenge brings approximately 60 exceptional students and their coaches/mentors together for Business Plan and Fast Pitch competitions. The teams will compete for prizes by presenting their concepts to a panel of judges comprised of venture capitalists, angel investors, and successful entrepreneurs from three states.
The Brown-Forman Cardinal Challenge is a part of the University of Louisville College of Business’s Forcht Center for Entrepreneurship. The Challenge illustrates the College’s role as a leader in entrepreneurship education and real-world learning experience. It also showcases Metro Louisville as an expanding, entrepreneur-friendly marketplace. Business concepts, services, and technology developed by UofL students have gone on to launch as entrepreneurial ventures in healthcare, fitness, energy, media, beverage, and other industries.
Cardinal Challenge Competition Rules
Learn about competition guidelines, expectations, and eligibility.
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Cardinal Challenge Competition Format
The Cardinal Challenge will showcase teams’ presentation savvy in two formats: Business Plan Presentation and Fast Pitch.
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2022 Event Photo Gallery
