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Australia's Inter-School Startup Competition

IDEASDON'TBUILDTHEMSELVES

THE FOUNDER'S CUP is a 10-week program that turns student ideas into investor-ready ventures, culminating in a live inter-school competition judged by leading founders, investors, and operators from the South Australian business community.

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10
Week Program
2026
Pilot Underway
$10K
In Prizes
// Why The Founder's Cup Exists

SCHOOLS TEACH
HISTORY.
THE FUTURE
IS UNSCRIPTED.

The economy students are entering rewards one skill above all others: the ability to find a problem worth solving and actually build something around it. The Founder’s Cup turns that into a structured, assessed 10-week program.

NAB's 2025 research shows nearly half of Australian secondary students want to start their own business — up sharply from one in three just two years ago. The ambition is there. The education isn't keeping up.

"Everyone has the potential to be an entrepreneur. They just need the tools to build."
— Luke Lombe, Founder, THE FOUNDER'S CUP

The Founder's Cup was built to close that gap. Real mentors. Real deadlines. Real consequences. Culminating in the only thing that separates performance from preparation: standing in front of investors and defending your idea.

47%
of Australian secondary students want to start their own business — up from 35% in 2023
60%
define success as a balanced life between work, study and pleasure — not just a career
10
weeks from first idea to investor-ready pitch deck, with real mentors every step
150+
mentor cohort drawn from founders, investors, and operators in the SA business community

Source: NAB Economics Education Insights Series, April 2025

// The Process

FORGED IN
THREE STAGES

01
The 10-Week Program
Students complete a structured 10-week curriculum — from problem identification through customer discovery, financial modelling and pitch development. Each week, a domain-expert mentor joins the session. Progress is tracked. Deliverables are real.
02
School Qualifier
Each school runs its own internal Demo Day to select their best ventures for the inter-school competition. Judged by a panel of parent mentors and local business leaders. The top teams advance to the state competition.
03
The Founder's Cup Finals
Schools go head-to-head at the annual The Founder's Cup Finals — a live competition before a panel of South Australian investors, founders, and university partners. Winners walk away with real prizes, real pathways, and real momentum.
// 10-Week Curriculum

FROM FIRST IDEA
TO FUNDED VENTURE

Each week builds on the last. Each deliverable feeds the final pitch. No filler. No theory for its own sake. Every week includes a Tech Toolkit — specific tools and a reflection question that build real digital fluency alongside entrepreneurial thinking.

Week 01
Problem Definition
Evidence-based problem statement. Stakeholder mapping. Who else is affected — and how?
Week 02
Customer Discovery
5+ real customer interviews using The Mum Test. Synthesise what surprised you.
Week 03
Market Analysis
TAM/SAM/SOM, competitive matrix, and an analysis of how an existing business currently operates in your space.
Week 04
Solution Design
MVP thinking, no-code prototyping, and an impact check — who could be affected by what you build?
Week 05
Value Proposition
Value Proposition Canvas. Three pitch versions tested on real people. Verbatim responses required.
Week 06
Business Model
Business Model Canvas. Three revenue models. Community impact — what does your model mean for the world around it?
Week 07
Financial Modelling
Unit economics, pricing strategy, 3-year projections across three scenarios, break-even analysis.
Week 08
Go-to-Market
Digital and direct channels. 30-day launch plan with cost-per-acquisition estimates. First 100 customers mapped.
Week 09
Pitch Development
10-slide argument, not summary. Practise with real people. Submit Version 2, not Version 1.
Week 10
Demo Day
5-minute pitch. 3-minute Q&A. Live panel. Complete portfolio submitted. Top ventures advance to state finals.
// The Competition

WHERE SCHOOLS
SETTLE THE
ARGUMENT

The Founder's Cup Finals isn't a school awards night. It's a live investment competition with real judges, real stakes, and real prizes.

The judging panel is drawn from Australia's active investor and founder community — people who have built and backed real companies, and know exactly what they're looking for.

Winning isn't about the best presentation. It's about the most rigorous thinking and the best answer to the hardest question in the room.

The best ventures don't stop at Demo Day. Top teams are introduced to the Lot Fourteen startup ecosystem, university accelerator programs, and The Founder's Cup's investor network.

5 min
Pitch
The Pitch
Each team has 5 minutes to present their venture. Problem, customer, market, solution, business model, financials, and ask. No filler. No safety net.
3 min
Q&A
The Defence
Three minutes of questions from the panel. Real investors asking the questions they'd ask before writing a cheque. This is where preparation meets consequence.
#1
Winner
The Cup
One school takes home The Founder's Cup. Their name and startup idea etched permanently. Displayed at their school until the next year's competition. The travelling trophy that schools will compete to hold.
// What Winners Earn

PRIZES WITH
ACTUAL WEIGHT

Grand Prize
$5,000
Founder's Cup Grand Champion
  • Cash prize for venture development
  • 3-month Lot Fourteen incubation spot
  • Direct introductions to 5 SA angel investors
  • University accelerator pathway
  • InDaily and media feature coverage
  • Founding school trophy + perpetual plaque
Runner-Up
$2,500
Founder's Cup Finalist
  • Cash prize for venture development
  • University mentorship program access
  • Investor network introductions
  • Founder's Cup alumni network membership
Special Awards
3 ×
Category Awards
  • Social Impact Award ($1,000)
  • Most Validated Idea Award ($1,000)
  • People's Choice Award ($500)
  • All category winners receive alumni benefits
// The Ecosystem

CONNECTED TO
WHAT COMES
AFTER SCHOOL

The Founder's Cup bridges the gap between the classroom and the real startup ecosystem. Relationships that would take years to build on your own, available from day one.

University Partners Pathways
FT
Accelerator Fast-Track
Top Founder's Cup graduates receive direct pathways into university startup accelerator programs — no cold applications, no waiting lists.
RC
Researcher Mentorship
Ventures with IP or deep-tech components are connected with university research teams and commercialisation offices.
Investor Network Real Capital
AN
Angel Network Access
The Founder's Cup Finals judging panel is drawn from South Australia's founder and investor community — people who have built and backed real companies.
L14
Lot Fourteen Pipeline
Grand Prize winners receive a fast-track introduction to Lot Fourteen, Adelaide's premier startup precinct.
// The Mentor Model

INDUSTRY
EXPERTISE IN
THE ROOM

The secret weapon isn't the curriculum. It's the community. Every independent school sits on two networks most programs never tap: parents and old scholars. Founders, investors, executives, consultants — people who've built careers and companies — who've never been given a structured way to give back to the students who come after them. The Founder's Cup is that structure.

Weekly Expert
Topic Mentors
Commitment: 1 hour only
Domain experts who join for a single session. A CFO for financial modelling week. A VC for pitch week. A UX researcher for customer discovery. Expert guidance at the exact moment it's needed.
  • One 60-minute session
  • Briefed on session content in advance
  • Minimal prep required
  • Connect with future talent
Full Program
Program Mentors
Commitment: 10–20 hours across 10 weeks
Dedicated advisors who work with 3–4 students across the full program. They review deliverables, provide accountability, and connect students with their professional network when the venture warrants it.
  • 1–2 hours per week
  • Deep relationship with student ventures
  • Attends Demo Day to support mentees
  • Ideal: founder, early employee, or investor
// For Schools

YOUR STUDENTS
DESERVE A
REAL ARENA

The Founder's Cup is designed for independent schools with a parent community of professionals willing to mentor. We provide the curriculum, platform, and program coordination. Teachers facilitate. Mentors support. You bring the students and the community.

2026 Pilot — Now Underway
The pilot is running now with a South Australian independent school. The 2027 founding cohort opens to 8 schools — each will shape the competition format and permanently hold a seat on the Founder's Cup advisory board.
Register Your School
// What Schools Get
CX—
Complete Curriculum Package Facilitator guides, student workbooks, weekly session plans, and assessment rubrics. Ready to run.
MR—
Mentor Recruitment Support Scripts, briefing documents, and a proven parent outreach model to recruit both weekly experts and program mentors.
CE—
Competition Entry All schools compete in the annual The Founder's Cup Finals. Finalist teams represent your school in the state competition.
NA—
Network Access Your students tap into the university and investor partner network regardless of whether they win the final.
DP—
Purpose-Built LMS A fully built learning management system at app.foundercup.com — student dashboards, week-by-week modules, mentor feedback, submission tracking, and a school progress view. Everything visible in one place.
SA—
SACE Stage 1 Credit The Founder's Cup maps directly to SACE Stage 1 Business Innovation. Schools can use the program as their primary delivery vehicle for their Business Innovation semester — no additional assessment tasks required. The program delivers the subject, not just supplements it.
// Curriculum Alignment

NOT AN ADD-ON.
A BETTER WAY
TO DELIVER BI.

SACE Stage 1 Business Innovation is 100% school-assessed. That means a coordinator can use The Founder's Cup as the primary delivery vehicle for the subject — with no additional assessment tasks required.

The ten weekly deliverables map directly to a SACE Business Investigation Portfolio. The Week 10 Demo Day maps directly to a SACE Business Presentation assessment task.

Schools running the Founder's Cup as their BI delivery aren’t adding a program. They’re delivering a subject they’re already running — better.

“The Founder’s Cup doesn’t replace Business Innovation. It is Business Innovation — delivered the way it should have been all along: by founders, for future founders, with real stakes at the end.”
01—
Finding & Solving Problems
Covered across Weeks 1–5. Problem observation, customer interviews, market analysis, MVP design, and value proposition.
02—
Financial Awareness & Decision-Making
Covered in Weeks 6–7. Business Model Canvas, revenue models, unit economics, 3-year projections, break-even analysis.
03—
Business Information & Communication
Covered in Weeks 8–10. Go-to-market strategy, pitch development, and live presentation to a real panel.
04—
Global, Local & Digital Connections
Woven throughout. Stakeholder mapping, community impact, digital channel strategy, and a Tech Toolkit in every week.
// Program Calendar

THE ROAD
TO THE CUP

Term 3
2026
Pilot Underway
The 2026 pilot runs at a South Australian independent school. Students complete the full 10-week program, submit weekly deliverables, work with industry mentors, and pitch at Demo Day. The blueprint is being written now.
Term 4
2026
2027 Cohort Opens
Applications open for 8 founding schools. Founding school spots confirmed. Mentor recruitment begins. Schools locked in before Christmas.
Term 2
2027
Programs Launch Across All Schools
All enrolled schools begin the 10-week program simultaneously. Same curriculum, same standards, different schools. Competition begins in the preparation.
Term 3
2027
School Demo Days & State Finals
Each school runs its internal Demo Day. Top ventures advance to The Founder's Cup Finals — a live inter-school competition before SA's investor and founder community. Winners announced. The Cup is awarded.
Ongoing
Post-Competition Pathways
Winners introduced to Lot Fourteen, university accelerators, and angel investors. The best ideas don't end at Demo Day.
// Built By

WHO'S BEHIND
THE CUP

Luke Lombe
Founder, The Founder’s Cup  ·  Founder & CEO, Kasu Finance  ·  Principal, Echelon One

Luke Lombe has spent two decades at the intersection of startups, venture capital, and entrepreneurship education — across five continents, 150+ companies, and one of the world's largest pre-seed accelerator networks.

Through Faculty Group and Faculty Capital, Luke has deployed over $30 million across 150+ investments and raised over $50 million for portfolio companies. He has competed and won at startup pitch competitions globally, including the Draper Hero’s Choice Award in San Francisco at the 2018 Blockchain Economic Forum, and he created and operates the Whale Lab pitch competition on behalf of the Australian Crypto Convention — Australia’s largest blockchain event — where he has run a $1M prize pool for the past two years.

Luke holds a Working With Children certification and has guest lectured at Hult International Business School, the University of Adelaide, and the University of Louisville, mentoring students at every level from secondary school through to postgraduate.

150+
Companies invested in via Faculty Capital
$1M
Prize pool judged at Whale Lab pitch competition
“Every student in South Australia deserves to know what to do with an idea. Not just the concept — the actual steps: how to validate it, build it, and defend it in front of people who will push back. That process, demystified and made accessible, is what unlocks real innovation. That’s what the Founder’s Cup teaches.”
Luke Lombe — Founder
// Why It Works

FROM THEORY
TO PITCH

Australia has the ambition. The curriculum covers the right topics. But there’s a gap between knowing what a Business Model Canvas is and actually building one for something real. The Founder’s Cup closes that gap — not by replacing Business Innovation, but by delivering it the way it should have been all along.

“The Founder’s Cup doesn’t replace Business Innovation. It is Business Innovation — delivered by founders, for future founders, with real stakes at the end.”
Read the full article →
The Problem
SACE BI covers the right skills. The Founder’s Cup adds the applied layer — moving students from understanding concepts to practising them in a real venture context.
The Framework
10 weeks. Real deliverables. Industry mentors. A live pitch to a real panel. Every week builds on the last.
The Difference
When the audience is real, the work becomes real. Applied experience deepens learning in ways that theory alone cannot.
// Get Involved

EIGHT SPOTS.
ONE COHORT.
ONE SHOT AT
FOUNDING.

The 2026 pilot is underway. The 2027 founding cohort opens to 8 schools — filled by conversation, not application. Founding schools shape the competition permanently. If this is the right fit for your school, let's talk.

Register Your School Become a Mentor