1. What Is the Blue Ocean Student Entrepreneur Competition?
The Blue Ocean Student Entrepreneur Competition is the largest and most prestigious online business pitch competition for high school students worldwide.
Each year, participants get the opportunity to present their ideas to a panel of entrepreneurs and experts through a 3 to 5-minute video presentation. This allows them to receive feedback from judges, connect with fellow participants from the international student community, and compete for valuable prizes.
In 2025, the competition had more than 10,000 participants from over 6,000 schools across 163 countries. The competition is inspired by the globally renowned book “Blue Ocean Strategy” by Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne, a business methodology that focuses on creating new markets rather than competing in existing ones. Today, more than 2,800 universities worldwide teach this strategy in their business courses.
2. Who Can Participate?
The competition is open to high school students worldwide. Students can opt to compete individually or in teams of up to 5 members.
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3. Competition Timeline and Format
Here are important competition deadlines to remember:
- Submission Deadline: February 22, 2026
- Announcement of Top 100: April 6, 2026
- Announcement of Top 30: April 22, 2026
- Announcement of Top 10: May 4, 2026
- Announcement of the winner: May 13, 2026
4. Prizes
Participants have the opportunity to win prestigious prizes:
- First Place: $1,000 USD
- Second Place: $750 USD
- Third Place: $500 USD
- People’s Choice Award (project with most likes on YouTube): $750 USD
- 6 Regional Awards: $500 USD each (North America, Europe, Africa, Asia & Oceania, Latin America, Middle East)
All participants will receive a certificate from the Blue Ocean organization. Additionally, the top 10 pitches will receive a Certificate of Outstanding Achievement.
5. How to Participate in the Blue Ocean Student Entrepreneur Competition
Step 1: Register
Students should register early to stay up to date on the latest competition updates. You can start with the registration here.
Note: Use a personal email address you can check regularly to avoid missing competition updates.
Step 2: Gear up for the competition
After registering, you’ll receive information about introductory webinars and the free Blue Ocean Mini-Course online training to better understand Blue Ocean Strategy thinking. You must complete this course to proceed with the competition. You can also review winning entries from previous years for inspiration.
Step 3: Develop your idea
Identify a real-world problem that hasn’t been solved yet, then develop a Blue Ocean-oriented business idea to solve it.
Step 4: Create your presentation
Use the presentation template provided by organizers to structure your presentation. Then, record a 3 to 5-minute video presenting your idea.
Step 5: Submit your entry
Complete your video submission before 12:00 AM on February 22, 2026 in your local timezone.
Step 6: Campaign for votes
Share your video with friends, teachers, and family to ask for votes. The most popular entry received People’s Choice Award.
Step 7: Wait for results
After submitting, get ready to receive exciting and surprising results from the competition.
6. Competition Rules
Registration requirements:
- If competing as a team, all team members must register for the competition.
- Before submitting, students must complete the Blue Ocean Mini-Course online training.
Entry requirements:
- Entries must be original ideas and must not violate laws, trademarks, or copyrights.
- Entries must be presented in English as a video no longer than 5 minutes, with a file size not exceeding 1GB.
- Students must upload the video to YouTube with the hashtag #blueoceancompetition and submit the video link in the official competition submission form.
- There is no prescribed specific video format, and students are free to use direct presentation, animation, or graphics. However, to increase your chances of winning, use the templates provided by the competition.
- Using Blue Ocean Strategy tools in your entry is mandatory, including the Strategy Canvas to summarize your business field, the Three Tiers of Noncustomers to identify your target market, and the Eliminate-Reduce-Raise-Create Grid to analyze your strategy.
Submission requirements:
- Only one video submission is allowed per team, and all team members’ names must be declared in the submission form.
- Entries submitted after the deadline will not be accepted. Among valid entries, the top 100 videos will be posted on the competition’s YouTube channel.
- Organizers reserve the right to remove any video or disqualify participants or teams if content is deemed inappropriate or negatively impacts the competition.
- Participants must not leave offensive comments under other published videos in the competition’s YouTube channel.
- Each entry will be scored by multiple randomly assigned judges, then aggregated and ranked to select outstanding ideas for the next round.
7. Free Resources for Students
For this competition, students have access to a range of free resources to support their preparation and develop their presentation idea.
Blue Ocean Student Entrepreneurs Mini-Course
When you register, you’ll have the opportunity to participate in the Blue Ocean Student Entrepreneurs Mini-Course—a free online course that helps you to become familiar with Blue Ocean Strategy thinking and how to apply it to business ideas.
Blue Ocean Strategy Materials
You can find books about the Blue Ocean Strategy here to further explore the strategy and build a business plan suitable for the competition. The tools and frameworks of Blue Ocean Strategy are available on the competition’s official website. The competition blog by the Blue Ocean organization also shares several other resources.
Previous Winning Entries
You can reference award-winning ideas from previous competition years for inspiration:
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8. Why You Should Participate in the Blue Ocean Student Entrepreneur Competition
The Blue Ocean Student Entrepreneur Competition offers more than just an opportunity to compete on international platforms; it provides many valuable benefits and opportunities:
Achievement certificates: All participants receive a participation certificate, a completion certificate for the Blue Ocean online course, and outstanding achievement certificates. These certificates are recognized internationally and can enhance students’ academic portfolios when applying to colleges.
Real entrepreneurial experience: The competition provides opportunities to apply entrepreneurial thinking directly, helping students hone their skills while still in school.
Strengthen your college application: Participating in a prestigious international competition will make your college application stand out. Students who actively engage in the competition can showcase their entrepreneurial achievements, teamwork, and problem-solving capabilities on their applications.
Free learning opportunities: Students can participate in a free Blue Ocean Strategy course when joining the competition. This knowledge is typically taught at the university level, helping students build a strong foundation before college.
Expert feedback: By participating, students can receive feedback from experienced entrepreneurs and business experts, helping them improve their presentations and strengthen their business skills and knowledge.
The Blue Ocean Student Entrepreneur Competition not only seeks creative entrepreneurial ideas but also provides a comprehensive learning environment and skill-development platform for high school students. By participating, you’ll gain access to practical knowledge and learn directly from experienced industry experts.
Conquer the Blue Ocean Student Entrepreneur Competition with Aralia
The Blue Ocean Student Entrepreneur Competition is a must-grab opportunity to learn strategic business thinking, gain real-world experience, and connect with a global community of young entrepreneurs.
At Aralia, our instructors help students prepare for competitions like the Blue Ocean Student Entrepreneur Competition. We understand what these competitions require and guide students through every step, from building business foundations and early-stage idea development to delivering polished presentations. If you’re interested in participating in this competition or other business competitions, we’d love to help you succeed.
Intro to Business Competition
Aspiring entrepreneurs will learn to create, promote, and market a company to win over the judges in a Business Competition. Intro to Business Competition course is designed and taught by an M.B.A. professor and judge of graduate Business Pitch competitions. Topics include the differences between start-ups and small businesses, business ideation, designing business plans, environmental scanning, raising capital, developing budgets, establishing organizational structure, marketing and promotion strategies, persuasive sales pitches, and pitch-decks.
