$2,500 Awarded at Annual Minute Pitch

October 15, 2020

Hosted by the Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship, the four-part Innovation Challenge began with The Minute Pitch on Monday, Oct. 13. In front of a virtual audience of more than 100 students, facul

Hosted by the Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship, the four-part Innovation Challenge began with The Minute Pitch on Monday, Oct. 13. In front of a virtual audience of more than 100 students, faculty, staff and supporters, 17 ventures gave 60-second pitches of their startup idea. Determined by a panel of industry expert judges, $2,500 in prize money was awarded to the first-, second- and third-place teams and the audience choice selection.

 

Erevna, developed by Adonay Bereket (junior, economics) and Golden Wo (junior, computer science) won first place and $1,000.

In a tweet: Erevna is developing an online platform that connects people to participant research study opportunities.

 

The team of Simran Jeet (junior, biology), Sarah Kaunfer (junior, microbiology), Phoebe Lasic-Ellis (sophomore, BDIC/emergency healthcare and trauma) and Hayley McIsaac (sophomore, biochemistry and molecular biology) won second place and audience choice ($1,000) with their venture, MicrobeBlaster.

In a tweet: MicrobeBlaster eliminates catheter-borne bacterial infections before they begin and will save hospitals thousands of lives and billions of dollars.

 

From founders Ian Goodine and Ethan Walko (mechanical engineering seniors), rStream was awarded third place and $500.

In a tweet: Look around, plastic is everywhere. It lives forever - so it’s perfect to build with and awful to trash. Join us as we re-imagine recycling as a personal experience where you truly get out what you put in.

 

Next up in the four-part Innovation Challenge series is The Seed Pitch, set for Wednesday, Nov. 18. This competition simulates the closed-door pitch process and $15,000 in prizes will be awarded as determined by the panel of judges. Applications close November 5.

Judges: Jeff Glassman (Darn It!), Howard Jean-Denis (Green Competitive Advantage), Ruby Maddox (MHC/Direct Your Purpose), Larry Yusuf (EY)

Watch: https://youtu.be/1TL4PCLYrXE

Up Next: Innovation Challenge: The Seed Pitch (Nov. 18) Compete

Sponsors: EY, The Heiser Family, Norman “Bud” Robertson, Kumar Ganapathy, Jeff Glassman (Darn It!), John & Sally Burke, Joe Suyemoto, Jerry O'Connor, Valerie Post (Engel & Volkers, Boston), Larry Post '75 (Post Hospitality Group)