Eligibility Requirements & Rules

Contestants must meet ONE of the following criteria:

1. Your business is located in Queens – must submit proof of business address* in the application (See the list of proofs of business address* we accept below)
   • If you’re a home-based business** (see definition of “home-based” below), you must submit your or your-cofounder’s NYS or NYC ID such as a Driver’s License or NYC ID card***. If you’re uncertain whether you’re a home-based business or not, feel free to reach out to Michael Gillen via email ([email protected]) to verify.
   • If you win, you must continue to operate in Queens for one year
2. Your business employs at least 50% of its workforce from Queens. You must submit proof of their employment including but not limited to payroll records. If you win, you must continue to employ at least 50% of your workforce from Queens for one year.
3. Your business is contributing to the Queen’s economy significantly in some other way. Examples: your business fills a vital need for Queens and is/or will create jobs or investment for Queens. (Pre-approval is required. Please email Michael Gillen ([email protected]) with the details of how your business is contributing to Queen’s economy before starting your application)
4. You are a client in good standing of the Entrepreneur Space Incubator
5. You are a graduate of QEDC’s 2024 Entrepreneur Assistance Center class
6. You are a student(s) or a recent graduate (2022, 2023, 2024) of one of the following institutions: ( You must submit proof of graduation such as a student ID.
   • York College
   • Queens College Queensborough
   • Community College
   • LaGuardia Community College
   • Vaughn College of Aviation
   • Plaza Business Institute
   • Cornell Tech
   • St. John’s University

Other Rules:

• Contestants must be 18 years of age or older and U.S. citizen or legal residents of the United States
• Contestant business must be legally registered, located, and operating within the US
• Contestants must be tax-compliant and operating with up-to-date licenses and permits
• Contestants must EITHER demonstrate sales (no more than 250K in revenue over the last 12 months) OR have tested the startup idea and are able to provide proofs of user testing or customer feedback
• Real estate businesses, franchises, affiliate marketing, multi-level marketing, and not-for-profit businesses are not eligible to participate in this Challenge.
• People who have won a previous Queens Tech + Innovation Challenge or Queens StartUP! are not eligible to enter again.
• Make sure you attend a minimum of 4 events (workshop + in-person all count) between October 2, 2024 to February 28, 2025. You can find out about upcoming events on our Events page. Recorded events are in our Video Library. People who were finalists from the 2018-19 program or later do not need to attend the four classes, but they still must meet all other requirements.
• Please make sure you read the Disbursement of Funds page before starting an application. All winners need to submit the required documents in order to receive funds.
• Contestants must attend the finalists’ announcements and the final pitch in person. If you do not attend the finalists’ announcement without a compelling reason given to us before the event, $500 will be deducted from your winnings. If you do not attend the final pitch for any reason, you will be automatically disqualified.
• When submitting, all contestants must provide phone numbers and email addresses that they check regularly. We always need to talk to contestants for clarification, scheduling, and more. If we are unable to reach you, you may get automatically disqualified.

Disclaimer

The Queens Economic Development Corporation (QEDC) holds the right to disqualify any individual or team entrants as we deem appropriate. All applications will be reviewed by the QEDC. Any application with false information will be disqualified. All conflicts of interest, questions, or unknowns should be disclosed as soon as possible to QEDC staff in order to avoid disqualification. Any information withheld from QEDC staff that is susceptible to being disqualified will result in automatic expulsion of the competition. All final decisions will be made at the discretion of the executive director.