The Entrepreneurship Pelican Cup competition has announced the finalist teams for the 2025 competition. Six finalist teams have been selected, and the winners will be announced at the 4th Annual Awards Luncheon on Thursday, April 10, at 11:30 a.m. at Bayou Pointe Event Center on the ULM campus.
Open to all majors, the goal of The Entrepreneurship Pelican Cup is to inspire participants and the community to think entrepreneurially by rewarding creativity, professionalism, and hard work.
The Entrepreneurship Pelican Cup is open to any full- or part-time, certificate- or degree-seeking student enrolled in a four-year college or university in Louisiana.
The competition requires a written formal business plan judged by business owners and investors.
The first place team will earn a cash prize of $50,000, second place team set to be awarded with $25,000, and the third place team will secure $10,000. The faculty advisors for each placed team will receive $3,000.
Also, during the awards luncheon, each team will select one member to conduct a 90-second “Elevator Pitch,” and the winner will receive a $2,000 cash award.
The 2025 Entrepreneurship Pelican Cup Competition is the largest yet, with 34 entries from eight universities across Louisiana.
Cathi Hemed, the director of external initiatives at ULM, talks about the amazing business ideas students have come up with. "They are incredible... some of them have just blown me away," claims Hemed.
She also mentioned how the elevator pitch is preparing students for business in the real world. "You find yourself in an elevator with a CEO and you have 90 seconds until you get to your floor to give him your pitch." Cathi Hemed also hopes to continue to expand the Pelican Cup in the future, and get more universities involved in the state.
Now in its fourth year, The Entrepreneurship Pelican Cup was founded by distinguished ULM alumnus Dhu Thompson. Thompson is the founder, past owner, and former chairman of the board for Delta Plastics, producer of agricultural irrigation tubing, and the largest recycler of plastics in Arkansas.
Tickets are on sale now for $100 for the public and $50 for students. Sponsorships for The Entrepreneurship Pelican Cup Awards Luncheon are also still available.
More information about the Pelican Cup, sponsorships and how to purchase tickets are available at www.ulm.edu/pelicancup.
