Student entrepreneurs gave their best pitches Friday during the final round of the annual Business Pitch Competition at the University of Richmond.
But only one budding company walked away with the $3,500 grand prize.
Six finalists – narrowed down the previous day from a field of 29 – presented their business ideas to a panel of judges at the Robins School of Business.
The winning pitch was for Leash-Be-Gone, an electronic shock collar that communicates wirelessly with a user’s cell phone. If a dog moves beyond a certain range, the collar beeps, and the collar will deliver a light static shock if the dog moves a little bit farther.
Jimmy Hahn, Henry Webbe, Max Decarre, Kevin Walsh and Jason Sakoian plan to take their creation to market. They are already in talks with a Chinese manufacturer to produce the collar, which they plan to sell for $199. The accompanying cell phone app that communicates with the collar will be free.
According to their presentation, they seek $264,000 in start-up funding and aim to earn more than $2.5 million in revenue after two years.
Second place went to a multimedia branding company called “improvd.” Creator Remo Kommnick said his start-up has two internationally based designers and has served five clients in its first four months in business.
Third place went to Dan Schauder and his start-up, Mercury Event Webcasting. Schauder plans to sell webcasting systems to funeral homes and wedding venues, which they can offer as a premium service to their customers.
The other presenters were Voice to the World, a nonprofit currently offering typing and technology classes to children and immigrants; BeeWhisper, a device for collecting bee venom; and AYELV FITness Inc., an interactive tutorial for how to use an Olympic weightlifting platform at the gym.
The judges were Chris Gorman of Alaro Investment Partners, Katherine Whitney of Warren Whitney & Sherwood, Hank Heyming of Troutman Sanders LLP, Laura Posey of Dancing Elephants and Mike McGinley of New Dominion Angels. UR professor Jeffery Pollack presided over the contest.
Student entrepreneurs gave their best pitches Friday during the final round of the annual Business Pitch Competition at the University of Richmond.
But only one budding company walked away with the $3,500 grand prize.
Six finalists – narrowed down the previous day from a field of 29 – presented their business ideas to a panel of judges at the Robins School of Business.
The winning pitch was for Leash-Be-Gone, an electronic shock collar that communicates wirelessly with a user’s cell phone. If a dog moves beyond a certain range, the collar beeps, and the collar will deliver a light static shock if the dog moves a little bit farther.
Jimmy Hahn, Henry Webbe, Max Decarre, Kevin Walsh and Jason Sakoian plan to take their creation to market. They are already in talks with a Chinese manufacturer to produce the collar, which they plan to sell for $199. The accompanying cell phone app that communicates with the collar will be free.
According to their presentation, they seek $264,000 in start-up funding and aim to earn more than $2.5 million in revenue after two years.
Second place went to a multimedia branding company called “improvd.” Creator Remo Kommnick said his start-up has two internationally based designers and has served five clients in its first four months in business.
Third place went to Dan Schauder and his start-up, Mercury Event Webcasting. Schauder plans to sell webcasting systems to funeral homes and wedding venues, which they can offer as a premium service to their customers.
The other presenters were Voice to the World, a nonprofit currently offering typing and technology classes to children and immigrants; BeeWhisper, a device for collecting bee venom; and AYELV FITness Inc., an interactive tutorial for how to use an Olympic weightlifting platform at the gym.
The judges were Chris Gorman of Alaro Investment Partners, Katherine Whitney of Warren Whitney & Sherwood, Hank Heyming of Troutman Sanders LLP, Laura Posey of Dancing Elephants and Mike McGinley of New Dominion Angels. UR professor Jeffery Pollack presided over the contest.
Congrats to these young students for such great ideas and I wish them well in the world of business. Kudos to Prof. Pollack for creating such an engaging curriculum for his students and for the business execs donating there time to judge the contest!