Students applying since the competition’s inception
Total ventures proposed
Minutes each entrant receives to present a venture — seven minutes to pitch, followed by eight minutes of Q&A
Founding donors: Marina Kunis Jacobson G93 WG93 and Andrew Jacobson WG93
Winning ventures to date
Alumni judges who’ve evaluated and mentored competitors over the past decade
Miles to Hong Kong — the distance traveled by the longest-serving judge, Allan Kwan G87 WG87, who has participated every year since 2018
Funding awarded to each winning venture — four in 2026
International students in the past five years
Students exposed to entrepreneurship through Jacobson-related programming, including lectures, workshops, and in-class curricula
Total awarded to winners since the start
Average number of participants annually
Female participants across the past five competitions
Published as “Backing Big Ideas” in the Spring/Summer 2026 issue of Wharton Magazine.
