Prohibited sponsors and industries

An official list of companies and industries that TEDx licensees may not contact for sponsorship.

Prohibited sponsors

Under no conditions may a licensed TEDx organizer approach the following companies, who are current TED partners:

  • BCG
  • BMW
  • Cartier
  • Ford
  • IBM
  • Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany
  • Morgan Stanley
  • Samsung
  • UPS
  • Verizon

Prohibited industries

Companies whose primary business are the following are not able to sponsor TEDx events

  • Adult-oriented products/services
  • Tobacco/cigarettes
  • Weapons, ammunitions and defense

TEDx Talks are educational content, often used in classrooms and seminars for young audiences around the world. As a result, alcohol brands are not permitted to have representation on video material (e.g. sponsor slides pre-roll) for any TEDx Talk. Youth events cannot have alcohol sponsors.

Next steps

If a prospective sponsor and their industry are not listed in either of these lists, then they may be contacted without prior approval from TED.

Return to sponsors + finances

Still unsure if your sponsors fall in either of these categories? Please email TEDx@ted.com.