It is said you need to have faith to be an entrepreneur. Last Friday, ten teams of University of Vermont students participated in the 2018 UVM Business Pitch Competition, and put their faith in their business ideas on display.
Teams from four schools from across campus were represented including Rubenstein School of Environment & Natural Resources, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences / Community Development & Applied Economics Department, Grossman School of Business, and the College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences / Mechanical Engineering Department, and the business ideas ranged from human-powered smart phone recharging, to solar powered trucks, a safety & tracking system for snowmobile groups, drone-powered aerial monitoring of small farms and a booking app for work spaces and study groups, to name a few.
A panel of judges, made up of successful alumni and business leaders, evaluated each team’s presentations and business plans and provided feedback. The teams were:
Rapitrack, LLC, Alaina Kamppila, Sierra Archambault
Solar Wheels, Carly Caswell, Michael Fradin
Rhume, Shawn Kotch, Dean Wertz, Will Lippolis, Griffin Georgiadis, Ted Kreutzer
Power Scavengers, Mikayla Humiston, Skylar Bagdon, Evan Greenwald
MealsReady, LLC, Kyle Landry-McWilliams, Armen Avakian, Peter Dinger
CyberSport, Ethan Loo, Drew Urquhart, Drew Best, Hayley Robertson, Luke Rosow
Mag Bindings, Jaen Carrodine
Guru Guides, LLC, Tristan Anderson, Aidan Breen, David Burgin
AquaSense, Matt Duff, Jon Olin, Ben Joaquin
Visionary Heights Media, Matthew Carney
The judges selected Jaen Carrodines' Mag Bindings as the winning idea, i.e. magnetic assisted bindings for snowboards. Along with the accolades came a cash prize of $1600. The top 5 were rounded out by Power Scavengers, Rapitrack LLC., Visionary Heights Media and Rhume.
Judge Sam Cutting from Dakin Farms said "As a first time judge, I was extremely impressed with the caliber of these presentations. It is refreshing that we will soon be sending entrepreneurs with these strengths and ability into the work force."
His comments were echoed by Louisa Schibli of Milk Money VT "It's exciting and encouraging to see our budding entrepreneurs solving problems by developing new creative business ideas and to watch them as they present their pitches with such passion and self confidence. They were all winners!"
Lead faculty coordinator Erik Monsen, Associate Professor and Steven Grossman Endowed Chair in Entrepreneurship, said "Entrepreurship is about building bridges and taking leaps of faith when you cannot see the other side of the river. Pitch competitions like this one are a key opportunity for students to practice taking those leaps."
Very special thanks to the judges:
· Robert Zulkoski (Vermont Works)
· Louisa Schibli (Milk Money VT)
· Hannah Wood (Talent Skatepark)
· Jack Manning (The Classic Bike Experience LLC)
· Sam Cutting (Dakin Farm)
and to the school faculty coordinators Erik Monsen, Dave Kaufman, Rasheda Weaver, and Dustin Rand.
The UVM Business Pitch Competition is supported by a generous gift from David Aronoff ’86.