Shark Tank meets TU at the Big Idea Pitch Competition. Budding entrepreneurs brought their best and brightest ideas to the stage last week at the 2024 Big Idea Pitch Competition in front of a panel of judges. Hosted by the Dept. of Management and the Venture Club, the competition featured 10 ideas pitched in rapid fire by eager, entrepreneurial TU students.
Ideas were judged by their scalability, creativity, and presentation by judges Adeola Ajani (CEO of Fem Equity), Molli Chang (Business Analyst at StarTUp), and Greg Vetter (author and CEO of Tessemae’s All Natural).
One of this year’s judges, Molli Chang, is a former student and top-3 winner of the Big Idea Competition and returned to share her experience and expertise with current participants. She shared how gratifying it was to see her former classmates get up on stage and pitch their big ideas. “It was amazing to see how far they’ve come, how far they’ve grown,” Molli said. “It warmed my heart to reconnect with professors and classmates.”
Here’s a rundown of the top three winners.
First Place
Name: Camila Hoyos
Idea: SynchroSound, earbuds that translate dozens of languages in real-time. The product innovation was founded to address the imminent issue of language barriers. Through the earbuds, the device will translate the language of the person speaking through the call. The product is intended for multinational corporations, tourists, health care providers, and people who want to learn different languages.
Second Place
Name: Bria Reeves, Jordon Brinkley, Albery Arriaza, Lauren Fulmer, Jonathan Yohannes, Ryan Scho
Idea: S&F Watch, a crime-reporting app for campus communities. The idea is an innovative safety platform that streamlines how students connect with campus authorities. It enables quick, discreet reporting, real-time notifications of potential threats, and alerts for nearby incidents — empowering users to stay informed and safe on campus.
Third Place
Name: Alexander Schafer
Idea: Sprout with Us, a subscription service for sustainable baby clothes. About a year ago, his brother and his wife decided to have a child. The idea was created to solve the financial strain caused by consistently buying clothes for their quickly growing child.
Check out some photos from the competition below.
