Fulton Hall, which houses Boston College’s Carroll School of Management (CSOM), played host to entrepreneurial BC students on Monday for the 9th annual Boston College Venture Competition (BCVC).
BCVC has had some notable alumni including Drizly and Jebbit, and this year’s competition saw a “record number of applicants,” according to Mike Perry ('18), a member of the BCVC exec board.
This year’s competition saw five finalists competing for a grand prize of $20,000, with second- and third-place prizes of $10,000 and $2,500, respectively. Finalists gave quick pitches to a panel judging on marketability and the effectiveness of the product. “A lot more of the teams this year had built or created wireframes for a website and/or application,” Paul Hillen ('15) told BostInno. “And more built prototypes of their products or actually launched their businesses.”
CoRe Hub, “an online commercial real estate tool” took first prize at the competition. This startup looks to ameliorate the often-complicated venue of real estate and aims to be more effective and reliable by matching tenants with quality brokers.
Helpers, an app that connects tutors and students, won second prize.
The third-prize winner was 1950 Collective, an online store that “provides sleek and high quality fandom apparel for One Direction, 5 Seconds of Summer, Ariana Grande, and more.”
The other two finalists were Postcard, “a mobile application that serves as the first ever merit-based exposure platform for Instagram,” and Noggin which “makes healthcare and communication software on intelligent eyewear devices for users with disabilities.”
When asked about the future of the venture competition at Boston College, Perry put it this way: “I think interest will continue to grow as more students see alumni who have succeeded in the tech and startup space and think, 'hey, I think I could do that.'”
Photo courtesy of the Boston College Venture Competition
