Each fall NYU Stern kicks off its $300K Entrepreneurs Challenge that ends the following spring with the crowning of victorious entrepreneurial student teams. Nine months of hard work happens in between that begins with the forming of venture teams drawn from hundreds of student and faculty registrants from across all NYU campuses, as well as alumni.
Along the way the aspiring student entrepreneurs and innovators attend training sessions and workshops, meet with mentors and stay up long hours, driving to create the best business model and funding pitch around their innovative idea. All of that effort is done with the hope that their team will make it past the early stages of the Challenge to be selected as one of the finalist teams vying for startup funding and pro-bono services valued at more than $350,000.
Organized by the School’s Berkley Center for Entrepreneurship, the pitch off in other years culminated in an exciting full day on campus in front of judges and a very enthusiastic student audience. On June 12th the five winning teams were chosen virtually by judges from venture capital, non-profit, technology and social enterprise sectors due to the coronavirus pandemic. While the buzz of the large audience was missing, the energy of the pitching teams remained high—motivated by the large amount of funding and support that was at stake to possibly turn each winning team’s idea into a reality.
Bragging rights has its place for all of the competing finalist teams because it serves as critical validation of their months of hard work. Receiving accolades from industry experts and investor judges throughout the competition gives the teams’ confidence to pursue their venture after the competition, having honed their entrepreneurial mindset and believing they have something special to bring to their target market regardless of winning.
“A common startup trap many would-be entrepreneurs fall into is developing a solution in search of a problem,” said Professor Cynthia Franklin, director of the Berkley Center for Entrepreneurship. “With the help of our rigorous process, each of these teams identified a demonstrated and compelling market need as well as a clear path forward.”
This year’s competition began with 117 teams comprised of more than 305 students, faculty and alumni drawn from 21 schools across NYU’s global network to compete in one of three tracks: New Venture, Social Venture and Technology Venture. The winners for each the categories were:
New Venture Competition: Startups engaged in a variety of sectors
$100K Rennert Prize to Fairgrade: a peer-grading platform that distributes fair and accurate grades by harnessing collective intelligence to reduce turnaround time, saving instructors 60 hours per course on average.
Founded by Stern Professors Sonia Marciano and Anthony Marciano, Stern alumnus William Frece (MBA ’16), Stern/Courant alumnus Yash Goel (MS ’19), Courant alumnus Projjol Banerji (MA ’20), Stern MBA student Kreagan Kennedy (MBA ’21), David Kheyman, Samantha Marciano and Alexa Marciano
Social Venture Competition: Social impact and sustainability ventures
$75K Social Venture Prize shared:
$50K to: bloc: a digital platform that helps career coaching and upskilling programs geared towards underserved groups through automated resume creation and review.
Founded by NYU School of Law alumnus Riley Jones (JD ’20) and Amina Yamusah.
$25K to Sabai Design: a sustainable furniture company geared toward young professionals who are part of the sustainability movement, offering pieces that are affordable, flat-packed for convenience and beautifully designed.
Founded by Stern MBA student Caitlin de Lisser-Ellen (MBA ’21) and NYU School of Law alumna Phantila Phataraprasit (JD ’20).
Technology Venture Competition: Startups based on NYU developed Intellectual property
$100K Technology Venture Prize, sponsored by the NYU Innovation Venture Fund, shared:
$75K to Envirobe: a clean tech company engineering self-sustaining microbes to convert recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic into its chemical precursors, changing the PET economy.
Founded by NYU School of Medicine student Samuel Magaziner ( MD/PhD ’25), Emma Hon and Ravish Rawal.
$25K to Precision Radiomics: provides more accurate diagnosis and treatment of osteoporosis or bone loss by computing patient-specific bone strength from computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans.
Founded by NYU School of Medicine Professor Gregory Chang and Chamith Rajapakse.
In addition to the judges’ selections, favorite teams were voted on by the virtual audience of NYU students, faculty and alumni, as well as guests from the broader NYC startup community. The top three favorites were Envirobe, Fairgrade and Sabai Design, receiving the Audience Choice Awards.
“More than ever, innovation and adaptability are key skills that leaders need. We are excited to strengthen these and the entrepreneurial spirit of our teams here at NYU,” noted Professor Deepak Hegde, academic director of the Berkley Center for Entrepreneurship.
This year’s judges for each track were:
- New Venture Competition: Sally Chung, Brian Cohen, KJ Singh, Alicia Syrett
- Social Venture Competition: Sarah Endline, Robert Fabricant, Marissa Feinberg, Rebecca Solow, Greg Van Kirk
- Technology Venture Competition: Kim Armor, Colin Beirne, John Elton, Jenny Fielding
Photo: ©NYU Photo Bureau: Hollenshead
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