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Five teams from colleges within the Atlantic Coast Conference went head-to-head in a final competition round for the third annual ACC InVenture Prize at Georgia Tech Friday night.
About 40 student entrepreneurs pitched startup ideas and inventions to a panel of judges for a chance to win nearly $30,000 in prizes. The competition also provides an opportunity for students to meet entrepreneurs and venture capitalists in the area, as well as tour student innovative spaces at Georgia Tech.
The contest, inspired by Georgia Tech’s InVenture Prize, brought students from 14 colleges in the conference this year.
University of Virginia's team InMedBio took home not only first place and $15,000 Friday night but also snagged the People's Choice award and an extra $5,000. The student startup has designed a five-layer dressing for wounds at a cost-effect price called Phoenix-Aid.
Team Four Growers from the University of Pittsburgh placed second and won $10,000 for developing robotics with autonomous machine learning to harvest greenhouse crops. Their invention has an opportunity for farmers to expand operations, reduce production costs and increase yields.
Other finalists from the competition included Georgia Tech's own InVenture Prize Winner, Kolby Hanley of team UltraView, who designed an aiming scope for competitive archery, and teams from North Carolina State University and Virginia Tech.
