Although the setting was a bit different, on a video chat versus a packed Boulder Theater, the competition was as strong as ever in the 12th annual New Venture Challenge finals Tuesday night.
As the coronavirus pandemic continues, CU Boulder took the competition virtual, allowing founders a short pitch and Q&A session.
A record number of 146 ventures took part in this year’s competition, which kicked off in September 2019.
In February, all teams competed in Round 1 and panels of community judges selected the top 30 to move on to the next round. From there, the final six teams were selected to compete in the championship.
Check out the finalists and NVC 12 champion below:
Darwin Biosciences
The startup is developing a saliva-based diagnostic called SickStick that can detect if you are sick before you develop symptoms. The company has developed a strip similar to a pregnancy test that alerts people when they have tested positive. The company won first place in the NVC 12 challenge and took home $30,000 in cash and a $25,000 investment offer.
DocForge
The company helps software teams of any size write and maintain technical documentation. DocForge allows customers to reference and search code in one system, launching straight out of GitHub. The company finished in second place, landing $22,500 in cash and an additional investment offer of $25,000.
The startup has developed circuitry education kits to help children developed confidence in STEM. EdBoard, which will launch soon on Kickstarter, has created an optimized version of a breadboard to allow children to learn the fundamental concepts of electrical engineering.
Frenz
The company has developed a phone accessory that lets people discreetly test their drinks for date-rape drugs. The startup’s product can test for the top six date rape drugs in 100 types of drinks with 99.3 percent accuracy.
Mycobacteria Therapeutics
The startup is developing next-generation probiotic strains to the supplement industry targeting mental health, specifically for those with PTSD.
Soulutions
The company is developing an assistive device for people with Parkinson's Disease that suffer from hypophonia. The device can detect when the person’s voice drops too quiet and vibrates to remind them to speak up.
