University of Chicago
Edward L. Kaplan New Venture Challenge Finals 2026
- When
- Thursday, June 4, 2026 at 1:00 PM (UTC−5)
- Where
- Chicago Booth Harper Center, Chicago, IL
- Application deadline
- January 21, 2026 · passed
Official event page · dates verified
About the event
The Edward L. Kaplan, '71, New Venture Challenge (NVC) is Chicago Booth's year-long business launch program, recognized as the #1 university accelerator in the nation (alumni include Grubhub, Braintree, and Simple Mills). The 30th annual finals were held June 4, 2026 at the Harper Center, awarding $2.1 million across 10 finalists.
2026 winner: Slideflow Labs, a cancer pathology AI company, took the $575,000 Rattan L. Khosa First Place Prize; Nestera placed second ($560,000).
Who should apply
Eligibility is on the school's page. This site does not take applications.
Deadline was January 21, 2026
Presenting teams (2)
Teams the host has named for this event. This is not a scored applicant list.