University of St. Thomas
Nancy Kuehn | MSPBJ
Undergraduates from around the United States are gathering at the University of St. Thomas for e-Fest, a three-day startup competition beginning April 27.
The accelerator event comes with $215,000 in cash prizes that 25 teams will be competing for. Three of the teams are from students studying at Minnesota colleges.
Judges for this year's event include:
- Shawntera Hardy, former commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED)
- Angelina Lawton, founder and CEO, Sportsdigita
- Damian Novak, board chairman, Fresh Vine Wine
- Tim Welsh, vice chair of Consumer and Business Banking, U.S. Bancorp
- Ann Winblad, co-founding partner, Hummer Winblad Venture Partners
E-Fest is hosted by St. Thomas' Schulze School of Entrepreneurship and has awarded over $1.5 million to young entrepreneurs since 2017.
“e-Fest gives students the opportunity to showcase their ventures, hone their pitches, expand their network, and receive valuable feedback and seed capital to take their ventures to the next level," said Jessica Cooley, interim associate dean at the University of St Thomas Schulze School of Entrepreneurship in the news release.
Here are the 25 startups:
- 4U Medical Designs (Rowan University): 4U Medical Designs sells stickers to hospitals so they can make their medical devices more accommodating to children.
- Brainable (Loyola Marymount University): Brainable makes 15-minute games for personalized brain training, where players can choose to strengthen their memory, reaction, concentration, logic or speed.
- Breaking Crucial Boundaries (Western Michigan University): Breaking Crucial Boundaries was started as a podcast and has evolved to be an entertainment and dating app for LGBT+ communities and allies that prioritizes mental health.
- Tadpole (Northeastern University): Tadpole is a software platform to make tutoring more accessible.
- Chemco (University of St. Thomas): Chemco recycles materials from lithium-ion batteries.
- DioTeX Diagnostics (Johns Hopkins University): DioTex Diagnostics is developing a tool intended to diagnose internal hemorrhages.
- Elythea (Brown University): Elythea is a platform that uses machine learning to help obstetricians detect complications in people experiencing pregnancy.
- Epiblock (University of St. Thomas): Epiblock is a medical device that is inserted into the mouth to restrict blood flow to the nasal cavity. The device can be used to stop nosebleeds or used with surgical facial procedures.
- Evendtor (Beloit College): Evendtor is a company designed to simplify event planning.
- FullFlock (University of Pennsylvania): FullFlock makes a chicken feed with antiviral proteins intended to prevent avian flu outbreaks in poultry.
- Greenscapes (University of Minnesota-Crookston): Greenscapes wants to alleviate the global sand shortage by recycling glass into sand for golf courses.
- Just Pause (Grove City College): Just Pause is an app that monitors an individual's monetary spending and will alert a designated accountability partner when it detects signs of manic episodes. The app was designed specifically for people living with bipolar disorder.
- Lectra (West Chester University): Lectra makes wireless electric athletic tape to help speed muscle recovery.
- Menta (Loyola Marymount University): Menta is a mental health educational program for teachers and Japanese school children.
- Mitey Bites (State University of New York at Plattsburgh): Mitey Bites is a snack food company that makes products with cricket powder.
- NextMed (University of British Columbia): NextMed is a company that makes and cleans reusable IV bags.
- Nix Labs (Florida Gulf Coast University): Nix is a device that helps with nicotine addiction.
- Omnis (Auburn University): Omnis is a social platform that allows individuals to borrow money from people in their communities through short-term, micro loans.
- OnPoint Ventilation (Johns Hopkins University): OnPoint Ventilation is a lung medical device to help patients breathe.
- ParaWave (Ohio State University): ParaWave develops drones for first responders to help coordinate emergency situations.
- Rarities Market (University of Wisconsin-Whitewater): Rarities Market is a database and marketplace for rare coins.
- ReadyCloth (Florida Gulf Coast University): ReadyCloth makes a microfiber cloth that fits in your wallet.
- Recreated by Rey (University of Northern Iowa): Recreated by Rey is a sustainable clothing brand that makes "one-of-a-kind leisure wear" through up-cycling and reworking pre-existing materials.
- Smart Dorm (University of Montana): Smart Dorm is helps managed living facilities improve their energy efficiency through hardware and software solutions.
- Sprout to Life Microgreens (California State University Sacramento): Sprout to Life Microgreens is a farm that delivers organic microgreens to customer's homes.
