Nails by the Kg
I plan on starting a business that will make custom press-on nails at an affordable price to help people look their best on a budget.
Student(s): Kaodi (Kaodinyeluchukwu) Gerry-Ofor
Prize: $810
Award Purpose
- $350 for nail forms, nail design elements, shipping and packaging supplies
- $460 for e-commerce platform and POS system for in-person sales.”
Learn Prompting (Prompt Labs)
A Free, Open Source Course on Communicating with Artificial Intelligence
Student(s): Sander Schulhoff
Prize: $1000
Award Purpose
- $300 to start LLC
- $200 for designers
- $300 for web developers
- $200 for site content contributors”
Lingo AI
Student(s): Pranav Shikarpur
Prize: $1000
Award Purpose
$200 – Running GPUs servers in the cloud for a few months
$100 – Get access to youtube analytics for the first month
$400 – hiring translators on Upwork to verify our AI-generated translated videos for our creators
$300 – Running a large ad campaign targeted towards creators after we have 3 creators on-onboarded (PS – We have already onboarded one creator and have 2 in the pipeline)”
Cursive Technology
Cursive Technology, Inc. utilizes machine learning and other technologies to identify unique writers in a secure online text box to protect academic integrity from the risk of copy/pasting from generative artificial intelligence programs (such as ChatGPT) or contract cheating threats. Our goal is to provide faculty and teachers with better tools for assessing student writing in the classroom, providing institutions a better solution for ensuring Academic Integrity.
Student(s): Joe (Joseph) Thibault
Prize: $1000
Award Purpose
Travel to pitch competition ($1000)
Korion Health
We are designing tools that empower patients to conduct their own health screenings. Our first tool, the Sound Heart System, provides an affordable stethoscope and user interface to guide patients through heart screenings.
Student(s): Akshaya Anand
Prize: $1000
Award Purpose
- $270 Google Workspace Business Starter Plan for 5 team members for 9 months ($6/user/month)
- $130 to support form submissions on website (via webflow basic site plan ($14/month))
- $100 for Google Colab Pro to support development of algorithms (training machine learning models, computer vision tasks using GPU and storing large datasets)
- $500 for surveying or focus group testing ($5/person compensation for 100 surveys to learn more about the market size and target customer demographics OR $15/person compensation for 30-person focus group to give user experience feedback about product)
Room 242
Room 242 is an independent artist services company designed for the college musician. From living space and record label services to intuitive artist data and events, we provide not only a pathway to the career every new artist wants but the creative community every artist needs.
Student(s): Kang Ewimbi
Prize: $1000
Award Purpose
- $700 for venue setup (microphones, cables, subwoofers, cleaning supplies, and lights)
- $300 for marketing (ads for upcoming songs, social media page promo, and shooting short-form content)
inhale.AI
As a low income, mixed race black male in a low-income community, I was keenly aware of how the health literacy crisis affected my inner city community, especially with regards to pulmonary issues. As a result, I created inhale.AI, a mobile app that will provide accessible troubleshooting and instructions to people using an inhaler. Studies have shown that only 31 percent of individuals who have asthma or COPD use an inhaler correctly. Further, inhaler errors are found to be strongly associated with exacerbated pulmonary issues, furthering the health-economic gap. Individuals who disproportionately fall under this category include folks from Black, Native American and Latinx communities. Studies show that inhaler technique interventions significantly reduced inhaler errors and had very positive effects on disease and patient outcome.
Student(s): Saad Pirzada
Prize: $1000
Award Purpose
- $300 Animate vector images within the app
- $180 Professional demonstration video of inhaler usage within the app
- $80 Language voiceover for each step in English and Spanish
- $250 intricate side animations for each step to guide user
- $190 Website hosting and UX design for WordPress
FrontGround
Student(s): Kenneth Yeaher
Prize: $1500
Award Purpose
Research and Development – ($775) +Second round of customer discovery, will be proving preliminary questionnaire and interviewing healthcare workers, and admin in medical facilities in Liberia, Nigeria, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, and Senegal. ~10 USD compliantly reward for participants in interviews. 5 in Liberia, 15 in Nigeria, 10 in Ghana, 10 in Cote d’Ivoire, and 10 in Senegal. – $525 ~Google Workplace for cofounders – $150 +Website dev/hosting cost – $100 Business Development – ($725) +Legal services for risk management and registration (Liberia and Maryland) – $200 + Maryland corp registration – $125 +Havard Africa Health Conference ~ Tickets – $200 ~ Roundtrip Tickets – $200
SOAL Sound
Student(s): Giles Oji
Prize: $1000
Award Purpose
- Song production: $500
- Studio sessions
- Mixing and Mastering
- Content Creation: $300
- Videos
- Photoshoots
- Office expenses (website domains/subscriptions, landing pages, etc.): $100/month for 2 months ($200 Total)
Kaalmi
Kaalmi is creating a comprehensive resource center for mental health and self-care needs, with an initial focus on our five-senses box that aids in grounding individuals experiencing anxiety and panic attacks.
Student(s): Matt (Matthew) Foulk
Prize: $1000
Award Purpose
- $360: One-year subscription to Quickbooks
- $348: One-year subscription to Shopify
- $292: Shipping materials
Cured Leaves Tea Co
Student(s): Lawrence Shaw
Prize: $1000
Award Purpose
Trademarking their logo ($1,000)
MatRx
Student(s): James Dawson
Prize: $799.58
Award Purpose
- 2 Plane tickets for trip to Fort Worth to compete in TCU’s Values and Ventures.
Ticker
Ticker brings private equity to smaller capital-size investors by offering lower entry prices and higher liquidity. Simultaneously, we bring new liquidity options to limited partners of traditional funds, providing a value add to the investors and managers of the fund.
Student(s): Max Harris
Prize: $1000
Award Purpose
- $400 for set up of series LLC in Delaware
- $600 towards legal fees for fund integration and submitting first form D
- Total: $1,000.00
Whytfox
Student(s): Destini Chesley
Prize: $1000
Award Purpose
- Attorney fee of $650
- Closing costs of $350 for her business
Alperian
We are developing our first product, the Astro Rack. The Astro Rack is a patent pending portable power rack for weightlifters who want a home gym, but don’t have the time, space, or money to build one. Our goal is to develop a resistance machine that is a better experience than traditional weightlifting.
Student(s): Jason Harwert
Prize: $1000
Award Purpose
- $350 for a 3D-printer
- $200 for test equipment including sensors and controllers
- $450 for USPTO trademark expenses