Blue Ocean Competition
Blue Ocean Student Entrepreneurship Competition
A fully online entrepreneurship pitch competition with no written business plan required.
Run by Blue Ocean Competition
Key facts
- Eligible grades
-
Not confirmed. Check the organiser's rules before entering.The organisers define eligibility by age and high school status, not grade.
- Eligible ages
-
High school age, 14 to 18 at the time of registration.
Source, checked 2026-09-02
- Individual or team
- Individual or team · Solo, or a team of up to five students total, described on the official site as teaming up with up to four friends. Every team member must register individually.
- Where it runs
- Online · International
- Entry cost
- FreeParticipation is stated as 100% free for all students, which the organisers describe as deliberate, to level access regardless of background or nationality.
- Registration deadline
- Set locally, not published as a single national date Sources give conflicting 2027 dates: the organiser's own compete page says 21 February 2027 while a third-party listing says 22 February 2027, both at midnight in your own local time zone. Treat 21 February as the safer assumption and confirm on blueoceancompetition.org before relying on the extra day.
- Competition dates
- Registration opens in the autumn with a live launch event, submissions close in February, and results including a Top 100 and Top 30 are announced in the spring.
- Difficulty
- Some preparation neededYou will want a few weeks of targeted practice. Most motivated students place respectably.
- Prizes
- Cash prizes for winning teamsCash prizes plus certificates. Reported but not confirmed on the organiser's own pages: regional awards of $500 each for Asia and Oceania, Europe, Africa, the Americas and the Middle East, a Popular Choice Award decided by public voting, Certificates of Participation for everyone who submits, and Outstanding Achievement certificates for the top 10. Schools can also receive monetary awards for having the most top-25 pitches or the most submissions.
What Blue Ocean Competition is
The Blue Ocean Competition is an entirely online entrepreneurship competition for high school students worldwide. It is deliberately lightweight: teams submit a short pitch video rather than a written business plan, which lowers the barrier considerably compared with other pitch competitions. Judging is based on the Blue Ocean Strategy framework, which rewards ideas that create new market space rather than competing in an existing one.
How the competition works
Identify a pressing problem or an untapped market space, build a business idea around it using blue ocean tools such as the Strategy Canvas, the Three Tiers of Noncustomers, the Buyer Utility Map and the Eliminate-Reduce-Raise-Create Grid, then record a video pitch of about 3 to 5 minutes, upload it to YouTube and submit both the link and the video file. Registration gives access to the Blue Ocean Mini-Course and pitch template.
Eligibility notes
Open to high school students worldwide. Team size limits and exact age rules are set each cycle; check the official site.
How to register
- Read the Blue Ocean Strategy framework material on the official site, since judging is explicitly based on it.
- Form a team, or enter alone if the current rules allow it.
- Develop a business concept that creates new market space rather than competing head-on in an existing one.
- Record and submit a short pitch video before the deadline.
What skills you need
- Business ideation
- Strategic framing
- Video pitching
- Concise communication
Recommended resources
-
Blue Ocean Competition official site
Rules, deadlines, judging framework and past winners.
Past problems and materials
Only materials the organiser or an authorised archive publishes openly are listed here.
- Past winning pitch videos
Published on the official site, and the fastest way to calibrate what a winning pitch looks like.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a written business plan?
No. This competition asks for a pitch video rather than a written plan, which is what makes it a low-barrier first entrepreneurship competition.
What is Blue Ocean Strategy?
It is a business framework about creating uncontested new market space rather than competing in a crowded existing market. Judging is explicitly based on it, so read the framework material before developing your idea.
Reviews, tips and resources from other students
Posts are public. Do not share your full name, school, address or contact details.
Something out of date?
If a deadline, fee or eligibility rule on this page no longer matches the official site, flag it and it goes into the review queue.
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