2019 has been the biggest year yet for CU Boulder’s New Venture Challenge with over 120 teams competing for roughly $200K in cash prizes. Already, student teams in mechanical engineering are pitching their ideas and winning impressive awards.
Most recently, mechanical engineering students and their teams received first and second place Women’s Entrepreneurship Prizes and two of the three available Social Impact Prizes.
Women’s Entrepreneurship Prize
Women's Entrepreneurship Prize winners including representatives from TissueForm and ShineOn
The first place Women’s Entrepreneurship Prize for $8,000 went to mechanical engineering PhD student Jeanne Barthold for her venture, TissueForm which she co-founded with mechanical engineering Associate Professor Corey Neu. She was also selected as an R&D track finalist and will be advancing to the New Venture Challenge Championships on April 3. On April 10, TissueForm will also be presenting at the University Innovation and Entrepreneurship Showcase in Washington, D.C. TissueForm aims to help patients who have scarring or wrinkles due to injury or aging by dramatically decreasing the number of repeat injections needed to maintain a youthful appearance and confidence.
The second place Women's Entrepreneurship Prize for $4,000 went to ShineOn, a team mentored by Scholar in Residence Dan Riffell. ShineOn aims to make the world safer by providing cyclists with a light that dramatically improves nighttime visibility. The teams received their awards Tuesday, March 12 at Twitter Boulder.
The Women's Entrepreneurship Prize invests in teams with female co-founders who are changing the landscape of entrepreneurship through esteemed leadership or mission. This pitch competition reinforces the importance of gender diversity and inclusion in entrepreneurship. Because women are shown to be less likely to become entrepreneurs due to lack of mentorship and funding, all applicants are invited to attend mentoring events leading up to the pitch.
To be eligible for the prize, teams must have at least one female founder and must participate in an additional pitch competition beyond the New Venture Challenge Track Semi-Finals, Finals and Championships.
Social Impact Prize
Social Impact Prize winners including representatives from BioCube and Flux
Out of 120 New Venture Challenge teams, three were invited to participate in the Social Impact Prize competition which offers a total of $7,500 in available funding. Of the three teams, two were teams formed in the mechanical engineering capstone course, Engineering for Social Innovation also instructed by Riffell. Both BioCube and Flux received Social Impact Prize cash awards on Tuesday, March 14. BioCube is offering a novel up-cycling solution to address the ocean plastic pollution problem and empower local communities to turn ubiquitous plastic waste into functional products. Flux is designing a robust, compact thermoelectric power generation unit that is powered by cooking fires to address the lack of access to electricity in the developing world.
The Social Impact Prize is a pitch competition that rewards teams who most effectively incorporate triple bottom-line practices into their business models. This prize reinforces social and environmental responsibility as essential building blocks to success for any business.
The New Venture Challenge will continue to advance over the next few weeks. Be sure to attend upcoming events including the New Venture Challenge Championships on April 3.