Skip the VC meetings. Win $50K instead.

One 60-second video. Five finalists. One winner takes home 50k cash + exposure to millions across the HubSpot Media network.

Applications close August 1.

Submit Your Pitch

Here's What We're Thinking:

Most brilliant AI ideas get stuck in one of two places:
1. Great product, zero visibility → Your solution deserves more than LinkedIn posts to your network
2. Amazing concept, funding gap → Bootstrap budgets don't always match big ambitions
So we're doing something about it. With $50K and a very large megaphone.

What You Could Win:

💰 $50,000 Cash Real money you can actually use to grow your startup. No strings, no equity required.

☁️ $25,000 in AWS Credits Scale your AI infrastructure without breaking the bank

📣 Massive Media Reach Get featured across HubSpot Media's flagship brands, and instantly reach millions.

🔥 600,000 Clay Credits + Pro Plan Because growth happens faster with the right tools

🎤 Center Stage at INBOUND 2025 Pitch your startup live in San Francisco to 1,000+ attendees and industry leaders

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What We're Looking For

✅ AI-focused solutions that help customers "grow better" AI must be central to your product or service
✅ Bootstrapped to Series A startups Early-stage companies looking to scale
✅ Incorporated in the United States Must be a US-incorporated business
✅ Functional product with real traction Demonstrated users, revenue, partnerships, or pilot programs

Meet Your Host + Judges

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Mark Roberge

Mark Roberge is Co-Founder and Managing Director at Stage 2 Capital and a Senior Lecturer at Harvard Business School. As founding CRO at HubSpot, he scaled revenue from $0 to $100 million and is the author of "The Sales Acceleration Formula."

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Marina Mogilko

Marina Mogilko is an education entrepreneur focused on making learning accessible globally. Based in California, she's built a massive following as the creator behind the Linguamarina and Silicon Valley Girl YouTube channels, where she shares insights on language learning, entrepreneurship, and tech.

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Nathan Lands

Nathan Lands is the creator of Lore Brief, a weekly AI newsletter read by 32,000+ builders, and co-host of The Next Wave podcast, an official HubSpot original show. He builds media, products, and communities focused on helping people thrive in the age of AI, and has experience in fundraising with $10M+ raised across various ventures.

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Varun Anand

Varun Anand is Co-Founder of Clay, a creative tool that helps businesses grow using AI and 100+ data providers. Prior to Clay, he held leadership roles at Newfront and Candid, and spent four years working for Hillary Clinton.

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Ben Berkley

Ben Berkley is the editor in chief of The Hustle and oversees HubSpot Media’s other industry-leading newsletters: Mindstream, Masters in Marketing, and The Pipeline. Prior to joining HubSpot in 2023, he worked for a billionaire who made his fortune in the space and electric vehicle industries, led the editorial team at The Onion, and was the founding editor of ClickHole, The Onion’s acclaimed satirical spin-off.

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Kipp Bodnar

Kipp Bodnar is Chief Marketing Officer at HubSpot, the #1 CRM platform for scaling companies. He co-authored "The B2B Social Media Book" and serves as a marketing advisor for multiple SaaS companies.

Ready to See What Happens?

See our official competition rules for more information.

AI-focused bootstrap, pre-seed, seed, or series A startup founders who are building solutions that help customers grow better. This is your chance to showcase your innovative AI solution on one of tech's biggest stages.

August 1st, 2025 at 11:59pm EST.

Please take a look at our official competition rules for more information.