2025 Harvard Business School New Venture Competition Winners

Harvard Business School: “Harvard Business School’s (HBS) Klarman Hall was packed to capacity yesterday evening, with spectators there to support the 12 student and alumni finalist teams competing in the Finale of the 29th annual HBS New Venture Competition (NVC). At stake was $315,000 in cash plus in-kind prizes to fund the startups. The top prize in the Student Business Track, Student Social Enterprise Track, and Alumni New Venture Competition was $75,000 each, with runner-up prizes of $25,000; and three audience prizes of $5,000.

The NVC is open to all students and alumni interested in launching new business and social impact ventures. The School’s Arthur Rock Center for Entrepreneurship and Social Enterprise Initiative (SEI), host the annual competition with support from HBS Alumni Relations. This year, 245 teams participated in the competition—94 in the Student Business Track, 35 in the Student Social Enterprise Track, and 116 Alumni Track teams in six regional competitions around the world. Since its inception in 1997, there have been more than 5,000 teams participating, with more than $4 million awarded to the winning entries from students and alumni who are creating groundbreaking new businesses and social impact ventures, generating more than 23,000 jobs.

This year’s new venture pitches were vetted by and given feedback from more than 190 judges and mentors, including many HBS graduates, from fields such as venture capital, private equity, law, accounting, philanthropy, impact investing, and social entrepreneurship. The result was 19 finalists; eight in the Student Business Track, four in the Social Enterprise Track, and seven in the Alumni Track, in fields as varied as healthcare, sustainability, artificial intelligence, lifestyle, and nutrition.

“The New Venture Competition is a true reflection of the entrepreneurial spirit at HBS, providing students with a platform to transform bold ideas into real ventures,” said Thara Pillai, director of the Rock Center for Entrepreneurship. “It not only showcases the depth of innovation and talent within our community but also embodies the best of what HBS has to offer—collaborative problem-solving, world-class mentorship, and a dynamic ecosystem that empowers the next generation of founders.”

To read profiles of winning ventures, click here.

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UNC Kenan-Flagler Enacts Hiring Freeze Over “Political Disruptions”

Daily Tar Heel: “The UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School will not hire any additional personnel through the end of April.

The temporary hiring freeze was announced in a Thursday email to business school employees.

Kenan-Flagler Dean Mary Margaret Frank wrote that the pause is driven by “political disruptions, shifts in international relations, and uncertainties about federal funding.”

To read more, click here.

DON’T MISS: MEET UNC KENAN-FLAGLER’S MBA CLASS OF 2026

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Harvard MBAs Now Required To Take AI Course To Graduate

Harvard Crimson: “Harvard Business School introduced Data Science and AI for Leaders as a new requirement for all master’s in business administration candidates — signaling a shift in the important role artificial intelligence will play in business management.

The course, which is co-led by HBS professors Karim R. Lakhani and assistant professor Iavor Bojinov, replaced the previous data science course in the Spring Required Curriculum for first year students. But unlike the previous iteration, DSAIL specifically uses AI tools to teach students how to analyze data.

“This new course basically expanded on what we had, and we used a lot of the existing cases, but we actually created a lot more new material that expanded the focus more than just machine learning into the realm of AI,” Bojinov said.”

To read more, click here.

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How a Wharton Student Uses AI To Select Classes

Penn Today: “Serek Gibbs, an MBA student at the Wharton School and vice president of innovation of the Wharton AI & Analytics Club, has created a prediction algorithm that, with assistance from AI, helps MBA students more accurately forecast their class schedules.

Wharton utilizes a unique course scheduling system called CourseMatch in which students express their preferences (called “utilities” in the MBA program) for a class on a 0-100 scale. If a student is really excited about a class, they might score it 100; if they’re marginally interested in a class, they might mark 50; if they are unenthused about a class but willing to take it, they might put 1 or 5.

However, Gibbs says students often struggle converting their preferences to numbers and have no idea what classes and overall class schedule they will receive. They could get all, one, or none of them.

Gibbs’ prediction algorithm, which he is calling CourseCast, solves this problem by informing students what classes, on average, they’re likely to receive from the CourseMatch system.

“It gives you the likelihood of getting specific classes,” he says. “It’ll say you have a 90% chance of getting class A, an 80% change of getting class B, and the same is true for entire schedules. It’ll say you have a 50% chance of getting classes A, C, E, and F.”

To read more, click here.

DON’T MISS: WHARTON LAUNCHES NEW AI FOR BUSINESS MBA MAJOR & UNDERGRAD CONCENTRATION

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American University’s Kogod School Launches AI Institute

Axios: “American University’s business school is launching an Institute for Applied Artificial Intelligence in an effort to weave AI into every aspect of the school, the university first shared with Axios.

The big picture: Some colleges and many high schools still banand other generative AI tools, while others are going all in.

Zoom out: AI has long been a staple of STEM, especially in computer science. Now more business schools are also recognizing a need to teach generative AI.

“Every student needs to be fluent in AI applications in order to be successful,” David Marchick, the dean of American University’s Kogod School of Business, told Axios.

Between the lines: Marchick says American’s undergrad and grad business students will go on to use AI to do consumer research, design marketing campaigns, read balance sheets, write financial statements, underwrite investments and analyze financial risk factors.”

To read more, click here.

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