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What is Clark Tank?
Clark Tank is the umbrella term for Clark University School of Business’s two premier pitch competitions for young student entrepreneurs to win funding for their student-run businesses.
Clark Tank offers two unique student business funding pitch competitions throughout the year - Venture Development and Marketing Pitch. Included in both events are robust speakers, mentorship, and course credit provided by past winners, alumni entrepreneurs, and business developers.
What is the Clark Tank Venture Development?
The Clark Tank Venture Development event is our most widely known and popular premier funding event on campus. Accepted students receive initial seed funding of $100 from the Clark Tank Committee to invest in their business any way they want. Clark student entrepreneurs join in the spring semester through a half-credit bootcamp course providing extensive resources and mentorship by highly qualified faculty, alumni, and community entrepreneurs, in marketing, finance, inventory management, taxes, banking, legal, and networking. After months of intensive preparation and skill development, Clark entrepreneurs have the opportunity to pitch themselves and their businesses to a distinguished panel of entrepreneur judges for a chance at additional funding up to $5000.
What is the Marketing Pitch Competition?
The Clark Tank Marketing Pitch Competition, added in 2023, is the brainchild of alumna Debra Harrsch ‘80 CEO of Brandwidth Solutions, a marketing agency. As with the Venture Development event, the Marketing Pitch Competition prepares students through a half-credit course with highly qualified marketing speakers. This course is facilitated by a young Shark Tank participant, Max Feber, who secured a deal with Mark Cuban. Max’s experience on Shark Tank gives student participants insight into the necessary marketing skills needed to grow their businesses. At the end of the course, students pitch to a distinguished panel of marketing experts for a cash prize of $1000, a generous donation from Debra Harrsch.
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