Harry W. MacLauchlan (1926–2002) combined his entrepreneurial initiative, work ethic, business judgment, and people skills, with a deep commitment to his family, community, and province. The MacLauchlan family has endowed an award to help advance and encourage entrepreneurial students at UPEI to build innovative ventures that will grow and benefit Prince Edward Island communities. 

Aspire Stream
Accelerate Stream
Program Dates

The Harry W. MacLauchlan Entrepreneurship Program is dedicated to the development of students having an entrepreneurial outlook who will create and lead new ventures on PEI. For the 2025–2026 program, the program is being restructured to introduce a new stream, called Aspire, exclusively for first- and second-year students. The already existing stream will be renamed to the Accelerate stream, and will continue catering to third-year, fourth-year, and graduate students. Across both these streams, there is a total of $75,000 to be won by UPEI students!

Apply to compete!
 

Aspire Stream

The Aspire stream of the Harry W. MacLauchlan Entrepreneurship Program is an opportunity for students early in their degrees to access support in developing their business ideas, provides a public stage for students to present their ideas, and a potential avenue of funding for their early-stage concepts. The Aspire stream will run at the same time as the Accelerate stream, with final pitches taking place at the Panther Pitch on  Wednesday, April 15. $6,000 in awards are available to be won in the Aspire stream this year!

How to Apply:

Complete the Application Form and include a copy of your team’s business model canvas. Submit your application to entrepreneurship@upei.ca.

• Applications Open: 9:00 am (AST) on Monday, December 1, 2025
• Application Deadline: 11:59 pm (AST) on Tuesday, February 10, 2026

Who's Eligible:

• Full-time UPEI students in their first or second year of study in their first undergraduate program.
• At least one member of the applying team must have successfully completed the Collide Discover Program to be eligible to participate. The winter semester bootcamp of Collide Discover is taking place from Friday, January 30 until Sunday, February 1. Read more about the Collide Discover Program and apply on our Collide Discover information page.

Be sure to check out our Frequently Asked Questions page to see more about the rules of eligibility for the stream. If you have any questions, reach out to entrepreneurship@upei.ca.

Aspire Awards:

• 1st Place Pitch - $2,500
• 2nd Place Pitch - $1,250
• 3rd Place Pitch - $750
• Most Effective Slide Deck Award - $500
• Q&A Specialist Award - $500
• Dynamic Pitch Delivery Award - $500

Accelerate Stream

The Accelerate stream a two-month long program intended for upper-year students in their undergraduate degrees and graduate level students to refine their business concepts, and pitch for funding that can help propel their business to the next milestone. The Accelerate stream exposes students to workshops in a wide variety of focus areas while offering the opportunity to showcase their written and pitching prowess for a chance at winning funding awards. There is $23,500 in written and pitching awards available, in addition to $45,500 in prize money available for finalists of the live Panther Pitch event!

How to Apply:

Complete the Application Form and include a copy of your team’s business model canvas. Submit your application to entrepreneurship@upei.ca.

• Applications Open: 9:00 am (AST) on Monday, December 1, 2025
• Application Deadline: 11:59 pm (AST) on Tuesday, February 10, 2026

Who’s Eligible:

All participants of the Accelerate stream must be full-time UPEI students in the 2026 winter semester and at least one member of each team must be enrolled in or have successfully completed one of the following courses or programs:  

• BUS 3710: Entrepreneurship and New Venture  
• BUS 4680: Self Employment
• BUS 7200: Innovation and Entrepreneurship
• CLT 6303: Innovation and Entrepreneurship for Cleantech Transformation
• CS 3840/ENGN 3430: Technology Management, Entrepreneurship
• ENGN 4840: Sustainable Technology Development and Commercialization
• SCIE 3010: Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Science  
• UNIV 3100: Entrepreneurship Venture Development  
• UNIV 3200: Entrepreneurship Venture Implementation
• Collide Validate
• Lab2Market Validate

Accelerate Awards:

Entrepreneurial Written Awards

Each Entrepreneurial Written Award has a $2,500 1st place and $1,000 2nd place prize for the following categories:

• Most Innovative Venture  
• Positive Impact Award  
• Best Market Research  
• Best Financial Plan  
• Scalability Award  

Pitching Awards

Finalist teams who are selected to pitch their businesses at the Panther Pitch event in April will have the chance of winning one or more of the following awards, each valued at $2,000:

• Most Effective Slide Deck Award  
• Q&A Specialist Award  
• Dynamic Pitch Delivery Award  

Finalist Prize Pot

Each year, there is a prize pot of funds that can be awarded to finalist companies in the Panther Pitch, as determined by the final pitch judges. Judges have full control over how the money is split and what companies receive a portion of the pot! For 2026, the Finalist Prize pot is $45,500!

Workshops:

There will be many workshops and events offered throughout the program to enhance participants’ entrepreneurial skills! Some of these sessions include:

• Partner Networking Mixer
• Business Plan Basics Workshop
• Networking and Professionalism Workshop
• Speed Networking with Mentors
• Financial Fundamentals Workshop
• Panther Pitch Alumni “Ask Me Anything” Event
• Elevator Pitching Workshop
• Risk Mitigation Workshop
• Pitching Fundamentals Workshop
   

Harry W. MacLauchlan Entrepreneurship Program dates:

For any inquiries, please reach out to us at entrepreneurship@upei.ca.

Don't miss this chance to be part of the Harry W. MacLauchlan Entrepreneurship Program and make a lasting impact on the entrepreneurial landscape of Prince Edward Island!

Best of luck to all applicants!  

2025 Panther Pitch Recap