Startupfest | $100K Dual-Use and Sovereign Tech Investment Prize

Introducing the Dual-Use and Sovereign Tech Investment Prize at Startupfest 2026, made possible by DMZ Ventures.

The Investment Prize winner will also receive the Osler Startup Package from our partners at Osler, a prize valued at $5,000.

Eligibility Criteria

The $100K Dual-Use and Sovereign Tech Investment Prize is open to any startup in attendance working within the dual-use and sovereign tech space.

There is no application process, no form to fill out and no video to submit. All you need to do is register for and attend Startupfest, and be ready to pitch to our esteemed Investor Judges.

The Process

Pitching: Your goal is to get at least one Investor Judge to shortlist your startup during the first two days of the event.

Pitch your startup to the Investor Judges at the $100K Dual-Use and Sovereign Tech Investment Prize space in The Startupfest Village.
If you connect with a judge elsewhere on-site, you can ask to pitch to them on the spot! Connect with as many judges as possible; it only takes one to make the shortlist.
Judges will be wearing an Investor Judge badge onsite.
Your pitch needs to be no more than 1 minute, but be prepared for questions from the Investor Judges.

The Shortlist Process

Each Investor Judge will submit their chosen startup to the shortlist by Thursday afternoon, July 9th.
Shortlisted startups will be contacted by a Startupfest team member.
The evening of Thursday, July 9th and the morning of July 10th, shortlisted startups will be invited to a pitch and preparation session with select prize mentors. These mentors will help prepare startups for the finals.
10 startups will be named as phase 1 finalists. After additional pitches of these 10 startups, 3 will be selected for phase 2 of the finals.

The Finalist Process

On Friday, July 10th, phase 2 finalists will have 1 minute to pitch their companies on the main stage to the audience. This is followed by a Q&A with the Investor Judges on the main stage, in front of our Startupfest audience.
The winner of the $100K Dual-Use and Sovereign Tech Investment Prize will be announced at the closing ceremonies on Friday afternoon.

Prize Details

Our default terms are based on an industry-standard SAFE agreement (for reference, please see this standard SAFE agreement) The winning startup will sign the SAFE agreement with each of the investors individually. The investors are willing to create a voting trust, if and when the SAFE agreement converts to equity.

Think these terms shouldn’t apply to you? Need a tweak? We can discuss that. Not sure how to tweak? Don’t worry that is why we have mentorship and legal support for all finalists. While we adopt industry standard agreements for the sake of simplicity, the judges are willing to discuss alternate terms proposed by shortlisted startups during their meeting.

Startupfest does not guarantee that an investment prize will be awarded. All investment decisions and agreements are made solely at the discretion of the participating investors and the selected startup. That said, we’re proud to share that over 95% of the approximately 30 Startupfest investment prizes awarded over the past 15 years have successfully closed.