MSU’s version of ‘Shark Tank’ begins as Start-Up Summit 2023 kicks off

MISSISSIPPI STATE, Miss. (WCBI) – Entrepreneur students at Mississippi State University are looking to pitch their way into thousands of dollars in cash prizes.

The Start-Up Summit 2023 has kicked off this year in the College of Business on campus.

Students are participating in a shark tank competition where they convince judges why their startup or business is worth the investment.

While there is no risk in competing, the rewards are grand.

“We started small and we’ve grown to the point where we can offer over $40,000 in prizes for these kids,” said Jeffrey Rupp, Director of Student Outreach for the College of Business at Mississippi State. “Our current student startups are worth over $30 million.”

“This is just an awesome experience to come out here and just kind of pitch like this,” said Lawson Shaw, student, and participant in the ‘Shark Tank’ competition. “Calm the nerves for when we get a real client. We’ve had a couple but when we do get a real client in the real world, this is just awesome practice for it.”

The summit will run throughout the week.

Thursday, March 30, Will Bunker, the founder of “Match.com”, will be the keynote speaker.

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