With a $3,000 cash award on the line, students lined the halls of the Student Innovation Center to pitch startup ideas to a panel of judges.
Monday’s first round featured more than 25 pitches from students, either ideas for companies or organizations already established.
Six advanced to the final round, to be hosted Thursday. In the meantime, about 75 others will pitch their ideas to judges for a chance to join Monday’s six finalists.
Judi Eyles, director of CyBiz Lab and Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship, said the Pappajohn Center is looking at hosting an additional day of pitches next week due to the number of signups.
Even if a pitcher does not move on to the final, they may validate their idea for a future pitch, Eyles said.
“You get some feedback to go to the next competition or the next opportunity,” Eyles said. “Some people just sort of pitch as an idea, then they validate their idea, then we can work with them one on one to move that idea forward.”
Several of the people who pitched Monday will return to pitch their idea at another event, Eyles said.
Aidan Hall, a junior in marketing, and Gabe Handorf, a senior in architecture, pitched a company featuring Christian-minded clothing, which they screenprint themselves.
Hall said he has pitched in class, but the experience for him at the fall competition was great.
“I’ve kind of done pitches in classes before, I’ve kind of had the preparedness of pitching something fake or mock,” Hall said. “But just actually being able to pitch our company felt great to be able to pitch something real and something we both had a passion for.”
Monday was day one of the three-day first round, with the competition rounding out on the fourth day, where a total of $10,000 will be awarded to four ideas.
People pitching in the first round are competing for a $3,000 first-place prize or a $2,000 second-place prize.
The six finalists from Monday’s pitches are:
New ideas
- Vasudha Arora, a freshman in business analytics, beauty product distribution $500
- Eric Exner, a senior in industrial engineering, a wire terminal lug fitting $250
- Blessing Ngara, a graduate student in computer science, a light for virtual meetings $150
Existing ideas
- Nutri-Cubes, a pet care company, Cameryn Reiman, a senior in animal ecology $500
- Casmium, a software to analyze sports data, Henry Shires, a senior in computer engineering $250
- Rock and Redeemer Company, a clothing brand, Hall and Handorf $150
The judges for Monday’s first-round pitches were associated with the College of Business: Andreas Schwab, associate professor in the department of management, Andy Snook, a lecturer in the information systems and business analytics department and Kaushik Gala, a doctoral candidate in the department of management and entrepreneurship.
