An area entrepreneurship competition seeks to match local startups and existing businesses with possible funding sources and mentors.

The Dubuque County Business Competition seeks applicants for a competition that will occur Feb. 6 at The Innovation Lab, 210 Jones St., according to a press release. The competition is organized by The Innovation Lab and supported by Dupaco Community Credit Union.

The release states that each participating entrepreneur will receive $250 in seed funding and the opportunity to receive additional funding to fuel the participant’s business growth.

The competition will start with a funding fair event at 5 p.m. Feb. 6 where finalists will have a booth to display their business information and concepts, and fair attendees will listen to pitches from each business and vote for their favorite concept.

Pitches will be judged by attendees and a panel of judges. Businesses with the top five judges’ scores and the highest audience score will move onto the live pitch event to deliver a five-minute pitch to the crowd.

Those pitches will be evaluated by a panel of expert judges with seed funding of $10,000 to be awarded to the first-place business, $5,000 for second place and $2,750 for third place.

Businesses interested in participating in the competition can visit innovationlab.us/dbqbizcomp and fill out an application by Jan. 6.