The Suffolk x TopContenders AI Startup Design-a-Thon
Welcome to the Suffolk x TopContenders AI Startup Design-a-Thon
Ideation, Prototyping, & Pitch Competition!
Collaboration • Mentoring • Networking with VCs • $ Prizes
Calling all student innovators, entrepreneurs, and AI enthusiasts from across the Boston area! Join the AI Startup Design-a-Thon competition and bring your ideas to life. The competition runs from June to September 2025, culminating in a live pitch event on September 28th during Boston AI Week.
This is a different kind of competition:
• A collaborative, multi-school event, students focus on creating new products/services by teaming up with others from anywhere across the Boston ecosystem.
• Learn from each other's strengths and perspectives as well as from our innovative AI-enabled innovation platform, IdeaMentor.
Bring a team or create a team, then work though the new product design cycle: problem identification, idea generation, prototyping (your choice of business model, coding, storyboards, etc). It all culminates in a final pitch on September 28th 💡
Welcome to all majors! If you’re currently a college student, you’re eligible -- Suffolk, Northeastern, Boston University, Tufts, Boston College, Babson, MIT, Harvard, WPI, and more. Apply today!
Here's how it works:
(a) Student entrepreneurs post their AI startup ideas on our IdeaMentor platform by SEPTEMBER 10, 2025.
IdeaMentor is an AI-enabled ideation and innovation platform that empowers hackathon participants to submit ideas as 60-second videos, collaborate with an AI mentor to refine them, and engage with their peers by viewing, liking, ranking, and commenting. IdeaMentor streamlines the innovation process across geographic and organizational boundaries and uses AI to facilitate team formation around the most promising and groundbreaking ideas.
1. Register for IdeaMentor here.
2. View the training video here.
3. Post your pitch!
NOTE: If you already have a team, submit your team member names in the comments below your video. If you don’t have a team, you can build one through IdeaMentor.
(b) All interested parties vote on their favorite pitch(es) on IdeaMentor by SEPTEMBER 17, 2025.
(c) Parties create and build teams based on interests in the posted ideas (the AI algorithm will provide assistance). Then, further develop your idea and create a prototype. Chat with the MENTORS listed on the TopContenders website.
(d) The live pitch event is SEPTEMBER 28, 2025 at Suffolk University.
Suffolk x TopContenders AI Startup Pitch Competition -- IdeaMentor site: https://sawyer.ideamentor.ai/ideations