Rules & Eligibility
Rules
The Arctic Innovation Competition is open to anyone with an innovative idea.
To be eligible for the 2024 competition, all ideas must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. Alaska Daylight Time (AKDT) on Friday, March 1, 2024.
If your team has members that fall under multiple age divisions, enter the division that fits the oldest member of your group.
Individuals or teams are welcome. Please create only one user account and submit it per team (or individual).
Each JR or Cub competitor must provide contact information at the time of submission.
You must disclose all presenting team members if you are entering as a team. While there is no limit to the number of team members, no more than four people may present at the final competition.
Only residents from North America are eligible to submit entries.
No prototype or business plan is necessary to enter. However, they are recommended.
You will be able to edit your submission up until the final submission deadline – 11:59 p.m. on Friday, March 1, 2024.
Multiple ideas may be submitted by an individual or team. However, the same idea CANNOT be submitted to multiple divisions.
If you previously submitted an idea and won a cash prize, you may not submit that same idea again.
Ideas or projects presented in other venues are eligible for submission. For example, you may submit projects that have been presented in classes, science fairs, summer camps, or other competitions.
If you have questions regarding the rules, please contact us at (907) 474-6518 or uaf-aic@alaska.edu.
Eligibility
If you place in the top ranking (typically 1st - 3rd) for any AIC division, a one-year break is required before you are eligible to compete again. For example, if you won third place in AIC 2022, you would wait until 2023 and may submit a NEW idea in 2024.
Teachers randomly selected and receiving the Alaska 529 Classroom of the Future award are ineligible for one year.
Ideas and concepts pitched are recommended to be in the start-up or early stage of development.
Individuals or teams must disclose any funding already received at the time of registration. Ideas or concepts may already be funded before this competition by personal or family funds, small amounts of seed capital from outside investors, or modest amounts of funding stemming from institutional or research grants. It is recommended that an idea or concept that has received funds from any source for more than $200,000 not be submitted to AIC.
The AIC Expert Panel has the sole discretion to determine which individuals/teams are invited to pitch. All decisions regarding participation in the competition are final.
The AIC Staff may also disqualify and/or remove any individual or team for any reason it deems appropriate before and/or during the pitch competition for violating these rules.
If you place in the top ranking for any AIC division, you must take a one-year break before you may submit an idea to AIC again. For example, if you won third place in AIC 2021, you would wait until 2022 and may submit a new idea in 2023.
If you have questions regarding eligibility, please contact us at (907) 474-6518 or uaf-aic@alaska.edu.
Screening Criteria
Submissions may include a new or an existing idea/business, but companies submitting to the UAF Arctic Innovation Competition are recommended to be less than five years old as of January 1, 2024.
As of January 1, 2024, existing businesses are recommended to be less than five years old, have gross sales less than $100,000, and have raised less than $50,000, including institutional funding from accelerator programs, angel investors, venture groups, VCs, pitch competitions, foundations, or grants.
For-profit, not-for-profit, and social impact businesses are all eligible. Not-for-profits are eligible but encouraged to have a revenue stream to address ongoing sustainability.
The Main Division judges have the sole discretion to determine which individuals/teams are selected for the kicker prizes or if they will not be awarded to any individual or team.