COMPETITION
SENT PITCH
Seeking up to 5 teams at the angel, pre-seed, and seed level to pitch their startups to a panel of seasoned investors at SENT Summit 2025. Competition held at the SENT Summit on Sept 10 at the University of Notre Dame.
Application deadline: July 25, 2025
By entering, teams can earn…
$10,000 cash prize to the winner
$50,000+ of in-kind prizes
The opportunity to connect with dozens of values-aligned investors at the SENT Summit and through the SENT platform.
Pitch Criteria
Alignment
Does the company advance Catholic values? Does the management team attempt to live out their faith in the operations of the company?
Team
Do these founders make sense for this team? Does their background contribute to the likelihood of success? Do they have the skills internally (or are experienced finding them externally) to advance the product?
Timing
Why this now? What makes this the right time to build this company?
Market
Does the market make sense for the pitch they are making? If pursuing a VC scalable model, is the TAM large enough to justify VC funding?
Traction
Do they have sufficient traction for their stage? If seed, do they have paid contracts/strong user growth? If pre-seed, do they have pilots/beta users? Angel - do they have thorough customer discovery?
“The decision to invest in one place rather than another, in one productive sector rather than another, is always a moral and cultural choice. Given the utter necessity of certain economic conditions and of political stability, the decision to invest, that is, to offer people an opportunity to make good use of their own labor, is also determined by an attitude of human sympathy and trust in Providence, which reveal the human quality of the person making such decisions.”
Pope St. John Paul II
CENTESIMUS ANNUS
Apply Now
Application deadline: July 25, 2025
Paddy McNamara
FOUNDER OF ALLERA TECH
“SENT certainly delivered on bringing high-quality investors to the room. We got at least a dozen investor meetings with top VCs and angels, and one led to an investment. Even more than that, I built rich relationships with other Catholics in the startup world and have benefitted from the support of that community.”
Get your tickets!
If you are not able to attend the whole SENT Summit and you can only make it to the Pitch Competition email hello@sentventures.com to purchase a special ticket for this part of the event.
Given space constraints, we expect the Summit to sell out. Please request access above. Our team will be in touch with next steps! Thank you for your interest.
Venture Partners
Last year’s Venture Partners
2025 Venture Partners announced soon!
If you’re an investor or potential partner interested in being a Venture Partner, judging, and/or sponsoring the prize, please contact: hello@sentventures.com
Contact
For media inquiries, please contact: hello@sentventures.com
FAQ
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No! We are seeking Catholic startup founders looking to live and build Spirit-led companies in both secular and faith-tech verticals. You simply have to have at least one Catholic founder on your team and tell us how you are living out your faith as a Spirit-led founder in your application to be considered.
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We are looking for companies from the MVP to the pre-product market fit stage. You don’t have to have previously raised financing but if you have, we prefer teams that have raised no more than $1mm previously. You don’t currently have to be fundraising but should plan that your next fundraise should be no more than $2.5mm.
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We will select interview semi-finalists shortly after the application deadline. Finalists will be announced well in advance of the SENT Summit. Specific timeline to be released later.
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Judges include Catholic angel investors and venture capitalists who invest at the angel, pre-seed, and seed stages.
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At this time only for-profit startups with venture scalable roadmaps are allowed to participate.
Non-profit organizations are encouraged to apply to the SENT Mission Showcase if they see a fit there.
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$10,000 cash prize to the winner
$50,000+ in in-kind prizes
The opportunity to connect with dozens of values-aligned investors at the SENT Summit and through the SENT platform.
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No. We are looking for teams where Catholic values are lived out by the governance of the executive team and in the impact the business makes. We do not require all founders to be Catholics.
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Finalist will be announced by August 15, 2025.
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Yes, we will hold a 7-day grace period for all applicants to purchase tickets to the SENT Summit if they are not selected as finalists.