Contest rules

No Experience Necessary Challenge Pitch Official Rules

No purchase or payment necessary. Void outside of the Territory and where prohibited by law. A Venmo or Zelle is required to receve a mini-grant in this challenge.

By participating in this Competition, each Participant agrees to these official rules (“Terms”), which are a contract, so read them carefully before participating. Without limitation, this contract includes a license to use your Pitch and persona, indemnities to Sponsor from Participants (i.e., a requirement that Participants defend and/or reimburse Sponsor from/for certain losses) and a limitation of Participants’ rights and remedies.

Competition Overview

No Experience Necessary Challenge (“Competition”) is sponsored by 1001768763 Ontario Inc. (“Sponsor”). During the Promotion Period, Sponsor will host in-person events on college and university campuses in the Territory (each, an “Event”) (all terms defined below). At each Event, eligible registered attendees may pitch an original business idea to Ronnen Harary (“Judge”), who will decide whether to award the attendee a mini-grant (“Mini-Grant”), as described in more detail in these Terms.

The Competition begins at the start of the first Event on Thursday October 8th, 2026 and ends at the official end time of the last Event on Thursday November 19, 2026 (“Promotion Period”). Specific Event dates, locations, and times are listed in the Event Schedule below.

Eligibility

The Competition is open in the fifty (50) United States, the District of Columbia, and Canada (the “Territory”).

To participate, individuals must be: (a) natural persons who are, as of the date of participation, legal residents of the Territory, (b) at least eighteen (18) years old and the age of majority in their jurisdiction of residence, and (c) registered for the applicable Event as described below (each, a “Participant”). The Competition is open to individuals only. Businesses, organizations, and other entities are not eligible, and individuals may not participate on behalf of any business, organization, or other entity.

Employees, officers, directors, members, managers, agents, and representatives of Sponsor, Spin Master, or any other entities participating in the design, promotion, marketing, administration, or fulfillment of this Competition, or any of their respective corporate partners, parent companies, divisions, subsidiaries, affiliates, successors in interest, and advertising, promotion, and public relations agencies (Sponsor and all such entities, collectively, the “Released Parties”) and any family member or member of the same household (whether or not related) of any such persons are not eligible to participate in or win a Mini-Grant in this Competition. For purposes of this Competition, the term “family member” is defined as any spouse, partner, parent, legal guardian, child, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, or in-law.

How to Participate

Register. During the Promotion Period, Sponsor will host Events on college and university campuses across the Territory. To be eligible to pitch, Participants must register to attend an Event at nenchallenge.com (“Website”) and provide all required registration information. There is no fee to register for or attend an Event.

At each Event, registered Participants may pitch one (1) original business idea to the Judge, time permitting (each, a “Pitch”). To pitch, a Participant must join the pitch line at the Event before the official end time of the Event shown in the Event Schedule below. Each Participant will have up to sixty (60) seconds to deliver their Pitch, and Sponsor may stop any Pitch that exceeds the time limit. Pitches will be heard in the order Participants join the line. Sponsor does not guarantee that every registered attendee will have the opportunity to pitch, including any Participant who is in line at the official end time of the Event. Participants are encouraged to arrive early. Registration does not guarantee admission to an Event, which is subject to capacity limits.

Limit one (1) Pitch per Participant per Event. Participants may pitch at more than one Event, but each Pitch must present a different business idea. Sponsor may disqualify any Pitch that it determines, in its sole discretion, is the same as or substantially similar to a business idea the Participant pitched at a prior Event.

Each Pitch, and all other materials and information a Participant provides in connection with the Competition, is “Participant Content.” All Participant Content must comply with the Pitch Requirements set forth below or the Participant may be disqualified in Sponsor’s sole discretion.

Sponsor’s clock at each Event will be the official timekeeper for this Competition. Those who do not abide by these Terms and the instructions of Sponsor and its representatives and provide all required information and materials may, in Sponsor’s discretion, be disqualified. Sponsor may require any Participant to present government-issued photo identification to verify eligibility before pitching or receiving a Mini-Grant.

Event Schedule

Can be found at nenchallenge.com.

Pitch Requirements

Participant Content must meet all of the following requirements, as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion, or the Participant may be disqualified:

  • Participant Content must be the Participant’s own original business idea and work.
  • Each Pitch must be delivered live and in person by the Participant and comply with the requirements set forth in the “HOW TO PARTICIPATE” section.
  • All Participant Content must be entirely in the English language.
  • If any part of Participant Content depicts, identifies, or includes any person other than the Participant, the Participant must have all permissions and rights from the individual depicted, identified, or included (and, if such individual is under the age of majority, their parent or legal guardian) and agrees to provide Sponsor with written confirmation of those permissions and rights upon request.
  • Participant Content must not infringe, misappropriate, or violate any rights of any third party, including, without limitation, copyright (including moral rights), trademark, trade secret, or rights of privacy or publicity.
  • Participant Content must not include information or content that is false, fraudulent, deceptive, misleading, defamatory, libelous (including trade libel), disparaging, harassing, threatening, profane, obscene, pornographic or otherwise adult-oriented, hateful, indecent, inappropriate, or injurious to any Released Party or any other party.
  • Participant Content must not contain or describe any harmful or illegal activity or content or in any way violate any federal, state, or local laws, rules, or regulations.
  • Participant Content must be suitable for presentation in a public forum.
  • Participant agrees that their participation in the Competition and agreement to these Terms and any Released Party’s reproduction, display, and use of the Participant Content in accordance with these Terms will not violate any agreement to which Participant is a party, including any employer or university intellectual property policy.

Sponsor reserves the right in its sole discretion to disqualify from the Competition any Participant whose Participant Content (in its sole discretion) refers to, depicts, or in any way reflects negatively upon a Released Party, the Competition, or any other person or entity or does not comply with these Terms, including any of the above Pitch Requirements.

Judging and Mini-Grant Awards

Immediately following each Pitch, the Judge will evaluate the Pitch based solely on the following equally weighted criteria (“Criteria”):

  1. Entrepreneurial Spirit (50%): Will be evaluated for the degree to which the Participant demonstrates initiative, drive, and commitment to pursuing the business idea.
  2. Ingenuity (50%): Will be evaluated for the degree to which the business idea is original, creative, and resourceful in solving a problem or meeting a need.

Based on the Criteria, the Judge will decide at the Event whether to award the Participant a Mini-Grant. A Participant is not required to achieve any minimum score, and there is no fixed number of Mini-Grants per Event. Sponsor will award a minimum of thirty (30) Mini-Grants in total across all Events during the Promotion Period. Mini-Grant recipients are subject to verification of eligibility and compliance with these Terms (each verified recipient, a “Winner”). The Judge’s decisions are final and binding and there is no appeal process. Sponsor has no obligation to provide feedback to Participants on any Pitch.

Before receiving a Mini-Grant, each potential Winner may be required to sign at the Event a Declaration of Eligibility and Liability/Publicity Release (unless prohibited by law) and any tax or related documents Sponsor requires (collectively, “Winner Documents”), in the form provided by Sponsor and without revision, or the Mini-Grant may be forfeited. If a potential Winner refuses to comply with these requirements, the potential Winner may be disqualified at any time in Sponsor’s sole discretion with no liability to the potential Winner. Sponsor may require a Winner to return any Mini-Grant awarded to a Participant later found to be ineligible or in violation of these Terms.

Limit one Mini-Grant per person.

Mini-Grant and Approximate Retail Value (“ARV”)

Each Winner will receive: (a) a Venmo or Zelle at the Event in the amount of five hundred U.S. dollars ($500 USD) intended to help further Winner’s business idea; and (b) an opportunity to participate in Sponsor’s virtual pitch competition, which will be governed by separate official rules. ARV of each Mini-Grant: $500 USD. Minimum total ARV of all Mini-Grants: $15,000 USD. The Mini-Grant is not transferable and no substitution is permitted, except that Sponsor may substitute a prize of equal or greater value.

Each Winner is solely responsible for all taxes (including, without limitation, federal, provincial, state, and local taxes) due on receipt of the Mini-Grant, as well as any expenses arising from acceptance or use of the Mini-Grant. Winners may be required to provide information, including completing and submitting any tax forms, necessary for compliance with applicable withholding and reporting requirements, and Sponsor may withhold taxes from the Mini-Grant where required by law.

License and Publicity Release

By participating, except where prohibited by law, each Participant grants to the Released Parties (and their agents, successors, and assigns) the irrevocable, transferable, sublicensable, royalty-free, absolute right and permission to record, use, edit, modify, copy, reproduce, display, perform, and distribute the Participant Content (including any audio or video recording of the Participant’s Pitch), Participant’s name, photograph, likeness, voice, biographical information, any quotes attributable to them, and any other indicia of persona (regardless of whether altered, changed, modified, edited, used alone, or used with other material in the Released Parties’ sole discretion) in perpetuity and in any medium (including online and in digital media) in any language, throughout the world, for advertising, marketing, promotional, commercial, and internal purposes, without further compensation, notice, review, or approval. Events may be photographed, recorded, and live-streamed, and by attending an Event, each Participant consents to being photographed and recorded. Nothing contained in these Terms obligates Sponsor to make use of any of the rights granted herein and each natural person granting publicity rights under this provision waives any right to inspect or approve any such use.

Each Participant acknowledges and agrees that Pitches are delivered in a public setting and are not confidential, and that the relationship between the Participant and each of the Released Parties is not a confidential, fiduciary, or other special relationship, and that the Participant’s decision to pitch does not place any of the Released Parties in a position that is any different from the position held by members of the general public with regard to elements of the Pitch, other than as set forth in these Terms. Each Participant understands and acknowledges that the Released Parties have wide access to ideas, text, images, concepts, and other creative materials. Each Participant also acknowledges that many business ideas may be competitive with, similar to, or identical to the Participant’s business idea in idea, function, components, format, or other respects. Each Participant acknowledges and agrees that the Participant will not be entitled to any compensation as a result of any Released Party’s use of any such similar or identical material that has or may come to such Released Party from other sources. Each Participant acknowledges and agrees that Sponsor does not now and will not have in the future any duty or liability (direct or indirect; vicarious, contributory, or otherwise) with respect to the infringement or protection of the Participant’s copyright or other proprietary rights in and to the Participant’s Pitch, including the ideas and depictions contained or described therein. Each Participant acknowledges that, with respect to any claim by the Participant relating to or arising out of a Released Party’s actual or alleged exploitation or use of any Participant Content or other material submitted in connection with the Competition, the damage, if any, thereby caused to the applicable Participant will not be irreparable or otherwise sufficient to entitle such Participant to seek injunctive or other equitable relief or in any way enjoin the production, distribution, exhibition, or other exploitation of any Released Party services or products, and the Participant’s rights and remedies in any such event are strictly limited to the right to recover damages, if any, in an action at law.

Limitation of Liability

To the fullest extent permitted under applicable law, each Participant agrees to release, hold harmless, and indemnify each of the Released Parties from and against any liability whatsoever for injuries or damages of any kind sustained in connection with the acceptance, use, misuse, or awarding of any Mini-Grant or while preparing for, participating in, and/or traveling to or from any Event or Competition-related activity including, without limitation, any injury, damage, loss, death or accident to/of person or property. The limitations set forth in this section will not limit or exclude the Released Parties’ liability for personal injury or tangible property damage caused by the Released Parties, or for the Released Parties’ gross negligence, fraud, or intentional, willful, malicious, or reckless misconduct.

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, each Winner agrees that the Mini-Grant is provided as-is without any warranty, representation, or guarantee, express or implied, in fact or in law, whether now known or hereinafter enacted, relative to the use or enjoyment of the Mini-Grant, including, without limitation, its quality, merchantability, or fitness for a particular purpose. Sponsor makes no representation that the Mini-Grant will enable Winner to achieve any result.

Participants understand and agree that all rights under Section 1542 of the Civil Code of California and any similar law of any other jurisdiction are hereby expressly waived by them. Section 1542 reads as follows:

“Certain claims not affected by a general release. A general release does not extend to claims that the creditor or releasing party does not know or suspect to exist in his or her favor at the time of executing the release and that, if known by him or her, would have materially affected his or her settlement with the debtor or released party.”

Additional Disclaimers

Released Parties are not responsible and/or liable for any of the following, whether caused by a Released Party, a Participant, or by human error: any lost, late, incomplete, or misdirected Event registrations or Competition-related communications; any Participant’s inability to pitch due to time constraints, Event capacity, or Event cancellation, rescheduling, or early conclusion; any error, omission, interruption, defect or delay in transmission or communication; technical or mechanical malfunctions; errors, typos, or misprints in these Terms, in any Competition-related advertisements, or other materials; failures of electronic equipment, computer hardware, or software; lost or unavailable network connections, or failed, incorrect, incomplete, inaccurate, garbled or delayed electronic communications. Without limiting any other provision in these Terms, Released Parties are not responsible or liable to any Participant or Winner (or any person claiming through them) for failure to hold any Event or supply any Mini-Grant or any part thereof in the event that any of the Competition activities or Released Parties’ operations or activities are affected by any cause or event beyond the sole and reasonable control of the applicable Released Party (as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion), including, without limitation, by reason of any acts of God, equipment failure, threatened or actual terrorist acts, air raid, act of public enemy, war (declared or undeclared), civil disturbance, insurrection, riot, epidemic, fire, explosion, earthquake, flood, hurricane, unusually severe weather, blackout, embargo, labor dispute or strike (whether legal or illegal), labor or material shortage, transportation interruption of any kind, work slow-down, any law, rule, regulation, action, order, or request adopted, taken, or made by any governmental or quasi-governmental entity (whether or not such governmental act proves to be invalid), or any other cause, whether or not specifically mentioned above.

General Rules

Sponsor’s decisions will be final in all matters relating to this Competition, including interpretation of these Terms, Mini-Grant decisions, and award of Mini-Grants. All Participants, as a condition of participating, agree to be bound by these Terms and the decisions of Sponsor. Participants further agree to not damage or cause interruption of the Competition and/or prevent others from participating in or engaging with the Competition. Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to void the participation of any Participant who Sponsor believes has attempted to tamper with or impair the administration, security, fairness, or proper operation of this Competition. Sponsor’s failure or decision not to enforce any provision in these Terms will not constitute a waiver of that or any other provision. In the event there is an alleged or actual ambiguity, discrepancy, or inconsistency between disclosures or other statements contained in any Competition-related materials and/or these Terms (including any alleged ambiguity, discrepancy, or inconsistency within these Terms), it will be resolved by Sponsor in its sole discretion. Participants waive any right to claim ambiguity in the Competition or these Terms. If Sponsor determines at any time in its sole discretion that a Winner or potential Winner is disqualified, ineligible, in violation of these Terms, or engaging in behavior that Sponsor deems obnoxious, inappropriate, threatening, illegal or that is intended to annoy, abuse, or harass any other person, Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify that Winner or potential Winner, even if the disqualified Winner or potential Winner may have been notified or displayed or announced anywhere. The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of these Terms will not affect the validity or enforceability of any other provision. In the event that any provision is determined to be invalid or otherwise unenforceable or illegal, these Terms will otherwise remain in effect and will be construed in accordance with their terms as if the invalid or illegal provision were not contained herein. If the Competition is not capable of running as planned for any reason, Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to cancel, modify, reschedule, or suspend the Competition or any Event and award Mini-Grants from eligible, non-suspect participation prior to cancellation, modification, or suspension or as otherwise deemed fair and appropriate by Sponsor. If any person supplies false information, participates by fraudulent means, or is otherwise determined to be in violation of these Terms in an attempt to obtain a Mini-Grant, Sponsor may disqualify that person and seek damages from them and that person may be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Any Participant may be required to provide Sponsor with proof of eligibility in the form requested. Participants must comply with all applicable campus and venue rules and the instructions of Sponsor and Event staff.

Governing Law and Venue

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, these Terms and each Participant’s participation in the Competition are governed by the laws of the State of New York, without regard to conflict of law principles. Any claim, suit, action, or proceeding arising out of or relating to the Competition or these Terms must be brought exclusively in the state and federal courts located in New York, New York, and each Participant irrevocably submits to the jurisdiction of those courts. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, each Participant waives the right to bring or participate in any dispute as a class, consolidated, representative, or collective action, and in no event will a Participant seek or be entitled to rescission, injunctive, or other equitable relief or to enjoin or restrain the operation of the Competition.

In any such dispute, under no circumstances will any Participant be permitted or entitled to obtain awards for, and each Participant hereby waives all rights to claim, incidental or consequential damages. The prior limitation on damages is not intended to limit the Released Parties’ obligation (if any) to pay prevailing party costs or fees if recoverable pursuant to applicable law.

Winners List/Terms

A copy of these Terms is available online during the Promotion Period at nenchallenge.com and at each Event. For a list of Winners, send an email to nen@ronnenharary.com with the subject line “No Experience Necessary Campus Challenge Winners.” Requests for Winner information must be received no later than three (3) months after the end of the Promotion Period.

Sponsor

1001768763 Ontario Inc. 225 King Street West, Suite 200, Toronto, ON, M5V 3M2, Canada