The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is throwing open the doors of its entrepreneurship ecosystem for the third year running, and the TechRise Startup Pitch Competition is coming back with it.

September 30 - October 3, 2026

Urbana-Champaign, IL

Founders Week is the flagship annual event for Entrepreneurship at Illinois, and it is built for whichever side of the table you sit on. If you are a founder looking to fund a new idea, you will find networking, fireside chats, founder showcases, and tours of the labs and facilities where Illinois technology gets built. If you are an investor, a mentor, or simply someone who likes being in the room when good ideas get their first audience, there is plenty here for you too.

The headline for founders is TechRise. In past years the live pitch competition has brought finalists to the stage at EnterpriseWorks to compete for a $25,000 cash prize, with a deliberate focus on founders working in industries and regions that the usual funding networks tend to overlook. Past finalists have included ventures in power electronics, robotics, and language technology.

Registration is open now and closes September 23. Sessions are registered individually, so take a look at the schedule and sign up for the pieces you actually want to attend. If the 2026 programming details are still filling in when you visit, subscribe to the Founders Week email list and they will come to you as they are confirmed.

Champaign is a manageable drive from DeKalb, and a week like this is worth the trip. Go pitch something.