A group of young entrepreneurs are taking their innovations to the national stage.
Even though their classes and competition were moved online due to the Covid-19 pandemic, students from across North Texas have been prepping their pitches and working out the final details of their business models for the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) North Texas Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge, which held its regional annual pitch competition on Thursday. Launched in 1987, the NFTE has been partnering with teachers and volunteers to develop programs to form young entrepreneurs.
“In the current uncertain climate, young people are realizing more than ever that entrepreneurship offers an opportunity for personal empowerment,” said J.D. LaRock, president and CEO at NFTE, in a prepared statement.
Through a virtual platform, the students made their pitches to a panel of judges from companies including AT&T, JP Morgan Chase and The Skypass Group.
Below are the top three winners (descriptions via NTFE).
- 1st Place: Edie Stenick, 12, from Henry Longfellow Academy (Dallas). Stenick won with a business pitch for Pain Freeze, a two-part adhesive ice pack.
- 2nd Place: Melissa Alfaro, 13, and Adriel Resendiz, 13, from the School for the Highly Gifted (Grand Prairie), won for Kapsular, a pea-sized capsule filled with the U.S.-recommended amount of toothpaste.
- 3rd Place: Desiree Hernandez, 11, from Nimitz Nigh School (Irving), won with a pitch for Bariatric Snap Meals, a meal service with food cooked to fit people’s dietary needs.
As their prize, Pain Freeze received $1,500, Kapsular took home $1,000 and Bariatric Snap Meals got $500. The winners will now be headed to the NFTE’s National Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge in September, where up for grabs is a $12,000 grand prize.
In a separate prize at the online event, Youssef Ayoubi, 13, and Evan Weng, 14, from Grand Prairie School for the Highly Gifted took home a $1,500 prize for the NFTE’s North Texas Entrepreneurship 2 competition, which focuses on more advanced startup businesses. Their startup, Comfort Housing, built an app that helps people find temporary housing during natural disasters.
“Employers look for candidates with an entrepreneurial mindset, which the NFTE curriculum fosters,” LaRock said. “Whether or not they ultimately run their own companies, our students are being set up to succeed, and we are eager to support their endeavors.”
