21st Annual
New Venture Competition Friday, April 16, 2021
About the Competition Competition Fast-Facts:
Over the last 21 years, more than 700 teams of BU Terriers have put forth new and innovative ideas through the New Venture Competition–these teams have represented every BU school and college and ideas have spanned almost every industry in the forms of new technology, for-profit ventures, and nonprofits. For some, the competition has served as a launching point to take their venture to the next level or to make entrepreneurship their full-time role. And for others, it gave them the skills, confidence, and mindset needed to create impact through their careers and in their communities. WHO: The competition is open to BU student-led (undergrad or grad) or recent alumni (graduated within one year) ventures in the seed, start-up, or early stages. WHAT: With two tracks for General Ideas and Social Impact Ideas, the competition is appropriate for ventures of any kind including tech, consumer, creative, or social impact.
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The competition was founded by BU’s Questrom School of Business.
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Between 2014-2017, the BUzz Lab, the University’s first entrepreneurship center, oversaw the competition.
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In 2018, the BU BUzz Lab was ultimately absorbed by Innovate@BU.
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In 2019, a 2 track system was put in place for General Ideas and Social Impact Ideas, doubling the prize money to $64,000 split among six teams.
HOW: The competition is made up of three rounds that ultimately awards $6,000-$18,000 to the top six teams (three from each track).
87 Applicants Round 1 - Elevator Pitches: After open applications, 40 ventures present 2-minute pitches without slides. Both judges and audience voting help decide which teams will move to Round 2.
40 Teams Round 2 - Semi-Finals: 23 teams present 10-minute pitches to industry judges. Teams must present their problem, customer, solution, value market strategy, revenue model, projections, and team.
23 Teams Round 3 - Finals: 12 teams present 10-minute pitches to industry judges. Teams must present their problem, customer, solution, value market strategy, revenue model, projections, and team.
12 Teams Finale: Judges choose six winners (three from each track) to win cash prizes: 1st) $18,000, 2nd) $8,000, and 3rd) $6,000. The audience will also vote for two teams to win an extra cash prize.
Tonight’s Celebration All year, Boston University entrepreneurs have been preparing for this moment!
Agenda 6:00-6:30pm: Welcome & Awards
Tonight, the annual New Venture Competition, BU’s biggest pitch competition, will come to a close as we announce the winning teams who will take home $6,000-$18,000.
Learn about Innovate@BU, our staff, and the New Venture Competition.
In this lookbook, learn more about the competition, meet the finalists, and find out how you can get in touch with them.
Plus, we’ll announce this year’s recipients of the Henry Morgan Award and Innovate@BU Student of the Year Award!
Thank You to Our Finale Judges GENERAL TRACK JUDGES
SOCIAL IMPACT TRACK JUDGES
Ryan Dings EVP of Greentown Labs & Former Board Chair of Social innovation Forum
Sherina McKinley Director The Runway Project & Uptima Business Bootcamp
Juana Matias COO MassINC
Sheila Narayan Managing Director Golden Seeds Boston Chapter
Maria Mossaides Director Office of Child Advocate Commonwealth of MA
Jeremy Parker Co-Founder & CEO Swag.com
Dan Vidana President Innovation Studio
Collin Yip President Innovation Studio
6:30-7:25pm: 2-minute Pitches & Winner Announcements The 12 finalists will each give a short followed by an Audience Choice Vote for each track! The Audience Choice winners will receive an extra cash prize. After all teams have pitched, we will announce the top three prize winners of each track! 1st place: $18,000 2nd place: $8,000 3rd place: $6,000 *Please note: The finalists have presented longer closed-room pitches to judges earlier in the day. 7:25-7:30pm: Thank you! Before we wrap-up this year’s finale, we’ll let you know what’s coming up at Innovate@BU and how you can get in touch with the finalists!
GENERAL IDEAS
Airflow Seating System Technologies Airflow Seating System Technologies is solving the problems presented by the prevention and treatment of pressure injuries for people with reduced mobility by creating a cushioning system that moves pressure based on sensor inputs. Embedded sensing capabilities also provide healthcare professionals with metrics that allow for a more proactive and comprehensive diagnostics process, changing how patients are monitored. Team members: Cooper Shifrin (ENG'22), Rushan Manek (ENG'23) Contact: cshifrin@bu.edu Find out more with their executive summary
GENERAL IDEAS
CoStudy Aleph Null, LLC is an educational technology startup that aims to redefine how we learn to collaborate.Their first product, CoStudy, is a software tool for higher education that offers the unique ability to have students proactively learn soft skills through formative peer evaluations. Team members: Brock Nelson (ENG '22), Henry Kaufman (CAS '22), Wyatt Greiner (QST '22), Neev Mittal (NYU '22)
Contact: hello@costudy.co LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/costudyapp Website: costudy.co Find out more with their executive summary
GENERAL IDEAS
Dialysis-X Dialysis-X is creating a new dialysis experience for patients and clinicians. This solution will improve the experience and outcomes for patients, as well as provide measurable cost savings to the clinics that serve them. Team members: 'Niyi Oyeniyi (ENG'20) Contact: ooyeniyi@bu.edu LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ooyeniyi Find out more with their executive summary
GENERAL IDEAS
Mount Mount launches electric scooters at Airbnb properties and short term vacation rentals as an amenity and extra revenue stream. Team members: Rishab Nayak (CAS'21), Madison Rifkin (Northeastern University '21) Contact: mountlocks@gmail.com Instagram: @mount_locks Website: mountlocks.com Find out more with their executive summary
GENERAL IDEAS
Phonetic Beats Phonetic Beats teaches phonetic literacy to toddlers through hip hop music. Team members: Faith Rodgers (CFA'22; Meresha Perkins), Kathleen McEntee Contact: linktr.ee/faithrodgers Find out more with their executive summary
GENERAL IDEAS
Sky International Music Education Sky International Music Education hires musicians and provides 1-to-1 and 1-to-many online music lessons. They make music education accessible and smart. Team members: Zhuqing Zhang (CFA'21), Guo Zhang (MIT), Lei Lei (University of Indiana), Zilong Chen (Caltech) Contact: skyservice@163.com Website: skymusicedu.com Bilibili: space.bilibili.com/391995019 Find out more with their executive summary
SOCIAL IMPACT IDEAS
Hood Renovationz Hood Renovationz aims to improve the quality of life for renters and homeowners alike by providing home renovations and projects that help the community at large. Team members: Daisy Figueroa (LAW '21), Francisco Millan, Joseph Rios Contact: hoodrenovationz@gmail.com Instagram: @HoodRenovationz Website: hoodrenovationz.com Find out more with their executive summary
SOCIAL IMPACT IDEAS
RefEd RefEd's vision to reach refugee children all over the globe with an accessible and tailored curriculum, which allows them to continue their studies and feel ready to re-enter the education system when resettled. Team members: Albert Jimenez (CAS '19), Yasmin Morais (CAS '18), Abhishek Valivarthi (SGT ‘21) Contact: albert.refed@gmail.com, yasmin.refed@gmail.com, abhi.refed@gmail.com Instagram: @refedinitiative Facebook: facebook.com/refedinitiative Find out more with their executive summary
SOCIAL IMPACT IDEAS
SpecGraphixEDU SpecGraphixEDU is a Boston-based educational technology startup committed to providing meaningful opportunities for creative expressions and innovation for elementary school children. Team members: Eric Hansen (COM'21), Adam Chin (CAS'19), Linda Cody (Wellesley'80 & Brown'82), Kaya Wu (BC'18 & Northwestern'20) Contact: echansen@bu.edu Instagram: @SpecGraphixEDU Website: specg.net Find out more with their executive summary
SOCIAL IMPACT IDEAS
The Stateless Collective The Stateless Collective trains students for studying, working, researching, and volunteering abroad through online modules and an ethically oriented community platform.
Team members: Hailey Hart-Thompson (CAS/COM/KHC '21), Jessica Weber (SAR/KHC '22), Mohammad Ahsan Fuzail (ENG '20), Yongyuan(Steve) Huang (CAS/KHC '22), Cam Reimer (CAS/KHC '23), Adia Armstrong (PAR/CAS '20), Maria Camila Vargas (PAR/CAS '21), Madison Calvert (SAR '21), Naomi Richmond (COM' 22), Jack Giunta (CAS/KHC '22) Contact: thestatelesscollective@gmail.com Instagram: @statelessco Website: statelessco.org Find out more with their executive summary
SOCIAL IMPACT IDEAS
Turn In. Reach Out. Turn In. Reach Out.’s mission is to uplift the work of racial equity and social justice through increasing access to social and emotional learning (SEL) resources for Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) communities in Boston. Team members: Kim Bress (STH'21), Cindy Rassi (STH'22), Maria Fernandes-Dominique Website: turninreachout.org Find out more with their executive summary
SOCIAL IMPACT IDEAS
Viinko Viinko is making time management and organization education accessible for all students. Viinko integrates into a school’s curriculum, making the essential life skills or time management and organization a part of every student’s education. Team members: Victoria Kinnealey (QST'22), Doug Waters Contact: victoria.kinnealey@viinko.org Instagram: @viinko Twitter: @viinkotweets Facebook: facebook.com/viinko.org Website: viinko.org Find out more with their executive summary