COMPETITION

SENT PITCH

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APPLICATIONS CLOSED

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.

By entering, teams can earn…

$10,000 cash prize to the winner

A large purple check mark symbol on a black background.

$50,000+ of in-kind prizes

Large purple checkmark on a black background

The opportunity to connect with dozens of values-aligned investors at the SENT Summit and through the SENT platform.

Purple check mark symbol on a black background.
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A man and a woman on stage having a conversation, with decorative white geometric patterns on the backdrop.
A woman with long blonde hair standing in front of a decorative patterned background, speaking, wearing a dark jacket and holding a remote or phone in her right hand.
A man with a beard and brown hair, wearing a white shirt and a black blazer, speaking into a microphone with a patterned backdrop in purple and black colors.
Two men stand on a stage with a patterned backdrop, one speaking at a clear podium, the other holding a microphone, both dressed casually.
A woman in a brown and white tie-dye dress speaking into a microphone while sitting on a chair during a conference or event, with a podium and purple lighting in the background.
A man in a dark sweater and light blue shirt holding a microphone, standing at a clear podium with a logo, speaking at an event with purple lighting.
Two men are shaking hands and holding a large check for $5,000 made out to STORYBOOK, in a room with American, Canadian, and other flags, large windows, and a wooden interior.
A man in a dark suit holding a microphone, standing on stage with colorful lighting and a wooden ceiling overhead.
A man with glasses, a beard, and short gray hair, wearing a green plaid blazer and a white shirt, stands behind a lectern speaking into a microphone at a conference or event. There is a neon light in the background.
A man in a dark suit and white shirt speaking into a microphone at a presentation or event, with purple lighting in the background.
A man speaking into a microphone at a podium during a conference or event, with an audience visible in the foreground.
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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

APLICATIONS CLOSED

Group of six people, five men and one woman, at a conference or panel discussion on a stage with a purple background. One man is speaking and gesturing with his hand, while the others are listening or observing.

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.”

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Get your tickets!

REQUEST ACCESS

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.

Partners

2025 Partners

Text graphic with the words 'Faith Driven Entrepreneur' and a gold 'greater than' symbol between 'Faith' and 'Driven' on a black background.
Logo with a stylized lion's face inside a circle and the words "Leonne Forum" around it.
Logo of CioCCA Center for Principled Entrepreneurship and The Catholic University of America
Logo for Young Catholic Professionals featuring a cross with a stylized dove and the text "Young Catholic Professionals Working in Witness for Christ".
The image features the logo of the TV show 'RISEN GELS,' with the letter 'A' stylized as a gold, glittery arc.
Logo of a church building with palm tree, text reads 'Catholic Community at Stanford'.
The seal of the University of Southern California featuring a shield with a blue background, a gold heart, a white bridge, and a red section with a book. Surrounding the shield is a wreath, a crown, and a banner with Latin text.

Last Year's Venture Partners Included

Logo with the words SENT Ángels, featuring a halo above the letter A in Á.
A blurred black and white photo of a person holding a camera up to their face.
Alumni Ventures logo with stylized mountain peaks
Logo of The Firefly Group featuring a stylized 'F' within a circle and the text 'The Firefly Group' beside it.
PivoNorth Capital logo with green and black mountain graphic and white, green, and black text.
A white bird with black markings on its wings and tail resting on a branch in front of a dark, wooded background.
Logo with red stylized peaks and the word 'Alter' in bold white letters.
Black and white logo of 'FirstMile Ventures' with stylized mountain peaks above the company name.
Logo of Sand Hill Angels with a stylized angel or wing icon and the organization's name in bold text
Black circular logo with white border and the text '1F' in the center
Monon Capital logo with orange and white crescent shapes and black background
Logo of 11 Tribes Ventures with black background, white text, and a circular graphic with upward arrows.
Logo for Draper Startup House with a stylized blue 'D' inside a white circle and the text 'DRAPER STARTUP HOUSE' beside it.
Logo with the words 'RISHANGELS' and a gold circle with a blue geometric shape inside.
Logo for Potomac Angel Capital with a bridge and a monument in the background.
Logo of Teamworthy Ventures in white text on a black background.
An envelope icon with a purple border overlayed on a black background.

If you’re an investor or potential partner interested in being a Venture Partner, and/or sponsoring the prize, please contact: andrew@catholicangels.co

Contact

For media inquiries, please contact: hello@sentventures.com 

FAQ

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • Judges include Catholic angel investors and venture capitalists who invest at the angel, pre-seed, and seed stages.

  • 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.

  • $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.

  • 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.

  • Finalist will be announced by August 15, 2025.

  • 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.