New Venture Challenge

In person once more, startup competition brings capital to creativity

Anonymous — Mon, 18 Apr 2022 21:36:50 +0000

In person once more, startup competition brings capital to creativity Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 04/18/2022 - 15:36

Five startup ventures, led by CU Boulder students and faculty, competed for more than $100,000 in prize money Tuesday evening at the 14th annual New Venture Challenge championship, CU Boulder's premier entrepreneurial program and competition.

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Multidisciplinary teams compete for venture funding at cross-campus collaboration prize night

Anonymous — Wed, 23 Mar 2022 16:09:54 +0000

Multidisciplinary teams compete for venture funding at cross-campus collaboration prize night Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 03/23/2022 - 10:09

Great minds met to create the next innovation for this year's cross-campus student ventures. Made up of team members from multiple CU Boulder colleges, multi-disciplinary success rang true at the New Venture Challenge (NVC) 15 Cross-Campus Collaboration Prize Night.

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Funding awarded to top student female founders at NVC women's prize night

Anonymous — Tue, 15 Mar 2022 16:54:45 +0000

Funding awarded to top student female founders at NVC women's prize night Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 03/15/2022 - 10:54

From mental health campaigns and apps to data-driven analytics for content creators, the next wave of female-driven innovation was on full display Wednesday night at the New Venture Challenge (NVC) 15 Female Founders Prize Night at Imig Music.

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Student teams present innovative solutions to fight climate change, win funding

Anonymous — Wed, 09 Mar 2022 20:39:37 +0000

Student teams present innovative solutions to fight climate change, win funding Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 03/09/2022 - 13:39

From underwater vacuums to curbside composting, student and faculty ventures showcased their latest innovations at NVC 15 Climate Prize Night

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CU Boulder student-run venture aligns business and tech—and teeth, too

Anonymous — Fri, 18 Feb 2022 17:53:45 +0000

CU Boulder student-run venture aligns business and tech—and teeth, too Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 02/18/2022 - 10:53

Founded by two engineering alums, this 3D-printing company found support and funding after attending a venture launch course at Leeds School of Business.

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COVID-19 test, PTSD treatment take top honors at New Venture Challenge

Anonymous — Fri, 10 Apr 2020 20:17:00 +0000

COVID-19 test, PTSD treatment take top honors at New Venture Challenge Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 04/10/2020 - 14:17

Daniel Strain

Six up-and-coming companies vied for more than $100,000 in prize money and investment offers at a virtual event celebrating entrepreneurship.

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Six startup teams to compete in New Venture Challenge 12 Championships

Anonymous — Mon, 16 Mar 2020 15:31:41 +0000

Six startup teams to compete in New Venture Challenge 12 Championships Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 03/16/2020 - 09:31

Mallory Richardson

Six startup teams will vie for up to $100,000 in prizes at the 12th annual New Venture Challenge (NVC), CU Boulder’s premier entrepreneurial startup competition.

A record number of 146 ventures took part in this year’s competition, which kicked off in September 2019. In the months since then, faculty and students from every corner of campus have explored their ideas, technologies and passions with an eye on reaching the Championships—and maybe even beyond.

In February 2020, all teams competed in Round 1 and panels of community judges selected the top 30 to compete in Round 2. Competition was fierce and six teams were selected in Round 2 to ultimately compete in the Championships:

Darwin Biosciences — developing a saliva-based diagnostic called SickStick that can detect if you are sick before you develop symptoms
DocForge — helping software teams of any size write and maintain fantastic technical documentation
EdBoard — offering circuitry education kits that are fun, accessible, and backed by education research
Frenz — a phone accessory that lets people discreetly test their drinks for date-rape drugs
Mycobacteria Therapeutics — introducing next-generation probiotic strains to the supplement industry targeting mental health
Soulutions — developing an assistive device for people with Parkinson's Disease

“We’re extremely excited to advance to the NVC 12 Championships,” said Jackson Roberts, co-founder and CEO of DocForge and a junior majoring in computer science. “We’re grateful to be included in a group of such interesting and unique startup ideas. Until then, we’re focused on polishing our pitch, improving our product and getting the word about DocForge out.”

Getting to the NVC Championships was always a goal for Zayna Pieper, CEO and Founder of Frenz and a senior majoring in Engineering Plus with a concentration in mechanical engineering. “I had the privilege of watching the NVC 11 Championships in 2019, and the spirit of innovation that seemed to emanate from the stage was something I wanted to be a part of,” said Pieper.

Due to the circumstances of COVID-19, Round 2 took place remotely on March 12 after NVC track leaders, faculty, staff and judges helped pivot the event successfully from in-person to live video within 24 hours.

“Remote pitching for Round 2 really represented that spirit of innovation I had seen at last year’s Championships event,” said Pieper. “It was a team of NVC supporters who found a way to achieve all of our goals of safety and entrepreneurship without sacrificing either.”

Social Impact and Women’s Prize Night Results

The NVC 12 Social Impact Prize and Women’s Prize competitions were held on March 3 and 5, respectively. Ventures that had a socially-conscious/sustainable business model and/or at least one female founder were eligible to compete in these pitch competitions for additional prizes.

Social Impact Prize Night Winners

Social Impact Prize:

1^st Place: TerraWear ($5,000) — helping consumers reduce their carbon footprint by curbing their clothing waste
2^nd Place: Frenz ($2,000) — a phone accessory that lets people discreetly test their drinks for date-rape drugs
3^rd Place: EmergenTek ($1,000) — creating an automated fire truck ladder controller called “The Fifth Man” that increases rescue efficiency

Sustainability Prize: FED ($2,500) — a food product for the mass market which utilizes food waste and circular economy principles

Vanessa Frye, Josh Sheetz and Tess Stevens— all graduate students in CMCI’s Strategic Communication Design master’s program—co-founded TerraWear in an Entrepreneurial Design course. The team, with encouragement from course instructor Jesse Weaver as well as industry mentors, sought to challenge themselves by competing in NVC.

“Being socially conscious was very important to all three of us when creating this business,” said Frye. “We hope that by tackling the clothing waste crisis and our society’s overconsumption problem, we will encourage sustainability and show people how easy it can be to help heal the Earth.”

Donna Merten, a graduate student majoring in Environment, Sustainable Food Systems and founder of FED, echoed Frye’s statements of being constantly challenged throughout the competition.

“I have been an entrepreneur for 20 years, but I had no idea how rigorous the process would be moving through the various stages of NVC,” said Merten. “I utilized many resources from multiple departments across campus to help move my company along and receiving feedback at each stage of the competition helped me better define my final product.”

Women's Prize Night Winners

1^st Place: Simovations ($5,000) — developing CathPort, which is a novel bladder catheterization device that eliminates tubes, bags, and many of the complications of current catheterization methods
2^nd Place: Elevated Eats ($2,000) — a sustainability-focused, healthy baked goods business featuring CBD and Eastern herbs
3^rd Place: EdBoard ($1,000) — offering circuitry education kits that are fun, accessible, and backed by education research

Sarah Hecht is the founder and CEO of Simovations, a pediatric urology fellow at Children’s Hospital Colorado at CU Anschutz and a CU Boulder continuing education student. As a newcomer to the CU Boulder community, she continues to be “overwhelmed by the collaborative and vibrant energy that pervades the innovation community on campus.”

“Winning the NVC 12 Women’s Prize has been the most humbling and validating experience in this startup journey,” said Hecht. “I am aware of the high failure rates of medical device ventures, but having access to the CU Boulder and greater Boulder entrepreneurial community gives me confidence that we can realistically bring CathPort to market.

NVC 12 Championships Moving to Virtual Format

Because of COVID-19, the NVC 12 Championships will also be moved from in-person at the Boulder Theater to a livestream format on Tuesday, April 7 starting at 5:30 p.m. More information regarding the NVC 12 Championships will be available soon and plans are subject to change.

“This will enable our hardworking NVC 12 finalists to compete for up to $100,000 in prizes as planned without endangering public health,” said Chris Gustavson, Director for CU Boulder’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Initiative. “As we navigate this time of uncertainty, we are dedicated to providing a top-tier NVC experience as well as continued support to our CU Boulder entrepreneurs and innovators.”

Darwin Biosciences, DocForge, EdBoard, Frenz, Mycobacteria Therapeutics and Soulutions will vie for up to $100,000 in prizes at the 12th annual New Venture Challenge (NVC), CU Boulder’s premier entrepreneurial startup competition.

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Engineering grads’ high-tech walker could keep seniors from falling

Anonymous — Wed, 08 May 2019 16:35:19 +0000

Engineering grads’ high-tech walker could keep seniors from falling Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 05/08/2019 - 10:35

Timothy Visos-Ely, Humsini Acharya, Andrew Plum and Max Watrous - founding members of company Stride Tech - won New Venture Challenge 11 and intend to continue their efforts after graduation.

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Walk this way: Undergrad team wins $100,000 for safer senior mobility

Anonymous — Tue, 09 Apr 2019 14:14:01 +0000

Walk this way: Undergrad team wins $100,000 for safer senior mobility Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 04/09/2019 - 08:14

The Stride Tech team won the 2019 New Venture Challenge (NVC) and walked out of the Boulder Theater with $100,000 toward their invention and the opportunity to hobnob with venture capitalists, business leaders and more.

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Six CU Boulder startup teams advance to the New Venture Challenge 11 Championships on April 3

Anonymous — Mon, 25 Mar 2019 21:55:10 +0000

Six CU Boulder startup teams advance to the New Venture Challenge 11 Championships on April 3 Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 03/25/2019 - 15:55

Mallory Richardson

Six CU Boulder teams will vie for up to $200,000 in funding at the 11th annual New Venture Challenge (NVC), CU Boulder’s premier entrepreneurial startup competition, on April 3 at the Boulder Theater.

Nearly 120 ventures took part in this year’s competition, which kicked off in September. In the months since then, faculty and students from every corner of campus have explored their ideas, technologies and passions with an eye on reaching the Championships—and maybe even beyond.

"The more we learned about NVC, the more we wanted to participate. From the workshops built in throughout the year, to how friendly and enthusiastic the community was, it was a no-brainer to apply," said Humsini Acharya, an engineering plus senior and co-founder of Hardware Track finalist team Stride Tech. "It's been such a great opportunity to hone the business, marketing and financial side of the equation that we, as engineers, were previously scared of."

Five of the finalists advanced through a semi-final round before winning in their respective track finals, which were held in Creative Industries, Research & Development (R&D), Information Technology (IT), Hardware and General categories. The sixth team advanced to the finals as a wildcard selection.

If you go

Who: Open to the public
What: New Venture Challenge 11 Championships
When: Wednesday, April 3; Doors open 4:30 p.m.; Program runs 5:30–7:30 p.m.
Where: Boulder Theater, 2032 14th St., Boulder

For more information on tickets and the NVC, visit www.colorado.edu/nvc.

RSVP Now

The New Venture Challenge 11 finalists are:

Bright Wearables (Creative Industries Track Finalist) – micro-chip embedded fashion accessories that allow contact information to be passed to smartphones with just a tap of the phone
KartWheel (General Track Finalist) – a specialized transportation company established to transport students with disabilities and injuries from their homes to specific buildings on campus
Stride Tech (Hardware Track Finalist) – advocates for safer senior care with Smart Step, a universally attachable walker accessory that detects and corrects dangerous walker use habits and monitors walking to generate actionable insights for a physician
Nimb.ly (IT Track Finalist) – software platform that helps catering companies keep their events efficiently staffed
TissueForm (R&D Track Finalist) – helps patients suffering from tissue disease, damage or aging through simple, low-cost and long-lasting dermal filler technology
Button Huggie (Wildcard, R&D Track runner-up) – a precision-engineered medical device designed to simplify care for a child's gastrostomy button and reduce gastrostomy-related complications

Teams will have five minutes to pitch their business ideas and field answers to questions from a panel of judges. This year’s panel is comprised of returning NVC 10 judges Jason Mendelson, co-founder and managing director of the Foundry Group; Abby Barlow, partner and director of Investment Research at Crestone Capital, LLC; and Anthony Shontz, managing director of Private Equity at Partners Group (USA), Inc. Mike Wohl, Chief Investment Officer of CEAS Investments I, LLC rounds out the panel as the fourth judge.

The audience will also get to try their hand at judging by voting on a special round of lightning pitches from four ventures, with the winner taking home a $1,000 prize. The event will be emceed by Brad Bernthal, Associate Professor of Law and Founder/Director of the Silicon Flatirons Center's Entrepreneurship Initiative, and will feature cameos from Brad Feld, managing director of the Foundry Group and co-founder of Techstars, and Dan Caruso, CEO of Zayo Group. Feld and Caruso also donated the $200,000 prize.

Bright Wearables, KartWheel, Stride Tech, Nimb.ly, TissueForm and Button Huggie will battle it out for $200,000 at the NVC 11 Championships.

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