Published: April 9, 2021 • By Mallory Richardson

Six of CU Boulder's top startups will vie for their portion of $100,000 in funding at the 13th annual New Venture Challenge (NVC), CU Boulder’s premier entrepreneurial startup program and competition, on April 13.

To make it to the NVC 14 Championships (NVC skipped 13 for superstition's sake), the six startup finalists competed in two previous competition rounds against more than 110 ventures that took part in this year's program.

The program began in September 2020, where participants attended year-round events, networked, and collaborated with mentors in the Boulder community to refine their ideas and form startup teams.

NVC 14 Championship Finalists: 

  • HUG Solutions—mRNA vaccine cold chain transportation for rural communities (Impact Prize Night second place winner)
  • LGBT50—agency that manages LGBTQ+ influencers on TikTok and Instagram, leveraging network to promote brands on those platforms (NVC Newcomer Prize Night second place winner)
  • Orbital Biodesign—a synthetic muscle sleeve intended to prevent and treat lower extremity venous insufficiency and varicose veins in surgeons, nurses, and others who spend long stretches of time on their feet
  • Sarus—Increasing safety and efficiency through smarter heavy equipment control systems
  • Seedling Biosystems—Producing valuable small molecules and proteins in plants
  • ToobTek—creating a fiberoptic intubation training device that will assist medical professionals across the United States in getting trained to execute intubation procedures (Female Founder Prize Night fourth place winner)

Register Now for the NVC 14 Championships!

When: Tuesday, April 13 at 5:30 p.m.
Where: via Zoom

Teams will have five minutes to pitch their business ideas and field answers to questions from a panel of judges. This year’s panel is comprised of:

  • Sherisse Hawkins, CEO and founder of PageDip and CU alumna
  • Jason Mendelson, founding partner emeritus of  Foundry Group
  • Faran Nouri, managing director of Lam Research Capital and CU alumna
  • Laura Pinnie, Director of ZOMA Capital

nvc judges

The audience will also get to vote for their favorite startup, with the winner taking home a $1,000 "Audience Choice Award."