HBCU Pitch Competition Awards $20,000 in Birmingham

Fifty-one Alabama HBCU student and alumni entrepreneurs competed for cash prizes during Magic City Classic week.

Updated on Nov. 10, 2026 in Internships

Empty wooden presentation lectern on a bare stage in a modern event hall, with warm afternoon light streaming through tall windows. — Fifty-one Alabama HBCU student and alumni entrepreneurs competed for $20,000 in cash prizes at the HBCU Business Pitch Competition in Birmingham on October 29. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

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Alabama HBCU entrepreneurs competed for $20,000 in cash prizes at the 2026 HBCU Business Pitch Competition, held October 29 at Topgolf Birmingham. Bryson Hannah of Alabama A&M University won the $4,000 first-place prize for Internably LLC.

Why it matters

The competition gives student and alumni founders from 10 Alabama institutions a platform to present their businesses to industry judges. Its booth-style format pushes participants to communicate a venture quickly and without visual aids.

The competition awarded $20,000 in total cash prizes to 51 student and alumni entrepreneurs from 10 Alabama institutions. Ten businesses earned booth-level awards, and the highest-scoring founder at each booth received $1,000 and advanced to a live final round.

The players

The Alabama Collective

The Alabama Collective is a organization that hosted the competition in partnership with Digitalundivided.

Digitalundivided

Digitalundivided is an organization that partnered with The Alabama Collective to host the competition.

The details

Participants gave three-minute presentations without slides or audiovisual materials, then answered three minutes of questions from industry judges. Ventures from Alabama A&M University, Alabama State University, Talladega College and Trenholm State Community College were among the award winners, and the event was hosted by The Alabama Collective in partnership with Digitalundivided.

Oct. 29, 2026: 2026 HBCU Business Pitch Competition held at Topgolf Birmingham during Magic City Classic week.

Season Trajectory

The pitch competition was staged as part of Magic City Classic week, the annual rivalry week between Alabama A&M and Alabama State. Its placement within that week ties entrepreneurship programming to one of the most visible traditions in Alabama HBCU athletics.

Students and alumni interested in launching ventures can look to competitions like this one as a way to test ideas before a live audience. The START program stipend of $250 offers a concrete entry point for participants in the Alabama HBCU ecosystem.

The takeaway

Pitching under strict time limits without slides builds a skill set that transfers directly to job interviews and investor conversations. Early-stage founders should practice distilling their business into a three-minute, no-visuals presentation.