thinkBIG! CHALLENGE
An online business plan competition open to all high school students in Northeast Ohio, offering $8,000 in prizes. Semifinalists will be invited to attend an Executive Coaching Day and receive guidance from entrepreneurial professionals in the Cleveland business community. The Final 4 teams will compete live at the thinkBIG! Summit in March.
The thinkBIG! Challenge entry deadline has passed.

thinkBIG! Challenge Semifinalists
Congratulations to all semifinalists advancing to compete in the second round of the thinkBIG! Challenge and attend virtual Executive Coaching sessions!
Small Business Track
- Common Scentsations: Olmsted Falls High School
- Finlit: Financial Literacy Education for Kids: Hoover High School
- Jade’s Plants: Laurel School
- NeuroNotes: Hoover High School
- Petology: Laurel School
- Powerful Pens: Gilmour Academy
- Sea-Ring Tech: Olmsted Falls High School
- Team Kindness: Hathaway Brown School
- Team Scaper: Bay Village High School
- Tree Huggers & Co.: Gilmour Academy
- Up-Beet: Laurel School
Innovation Track
- Apollo: Hathaway Brown
- Cup A’ G Coffee: Northern Career Institute
- Groovy Looks: Laurel School
- Lux LLC: Olmsted Falls High School
- Scrap Sunglasses: Laurel School
- Second Chance: Hathaway Brown
- Team NeoSigno: S.E.N.S.E.: Columbus Academy
- Team QuickHelp: Hathaway Brown
- Team VCircles: Hathaway Brown
- Team Wellworks Water: Olmsted Falls Public High School
- The snow shovel that makes you say, “Shoveling snow isn’t so bad anymore!”: Beaumont School
- Upcycle: Gilmour Academy
- Vibracelets: Laurel School
How it Works
Round 1: Idea Development & Written Submission Round
Deadline for Round 1 Submission: December 30, 2020 (Online)
Semifinalists Proceeding to Round 2 Announced: January 11, 2021

Round 2: Video and Slide Deck Submission Round
Round 3: Virtual Pitch at thinkBIG! Summit
Please download required challenge documents for both tracks here:
Download a sample of a Small Business Executive Summary:
Prizes
Offering $8,000 in prizes!
Each Final Four team member also receives, Veale Innovator Medals
For Mini Maker Hackathon team at the Summit – Each First Place team member is awarded $50 cash
For the School Sponsoring the Grand Prize Team a Traveling Veale Innovation Cup Trophy is presented

Deadline for entries
December 30, 2020 Online
Semifinalists announced
January 11, 2021 Online
Executive Coaching Days
January, 2021 Virtual
Finalists’ live pitch competition
March 2, 2021 Virtual
Please view all rules, eligibility, terms, and conditions for the 2021 thinkBIG! Challenge here: