Innovations from the George Washington University community were celebrated Thursday evening as entrepreneurs walked away with thousands of dollars in funding during the New Venture Competition, hosted by the Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (OIE). The competition, one of the largest collegiate startup events in the country, awarded more than $100,000 in total cash prizes to student-led ventures. From an initial 215 teams in the first round, 65 advanced to the semifinals. Nine of the 10 GW schools were represented.
This year’s finalists pitched their ideas across five industry tracks: Consumer Goods and Services; Business Goods; Health Care and Life Sciences; Social Innovation; and, new this year, Food Innovation. In each category, first-place winners received $10,000, with second- and third-place teams earning $7,500 and $5,000, respectively.
Leave No Trace of Clinical Research Waste, an all-GW team, won the $10,000 first-place prize in Social Innovation and the $5,000 Innovation in Sustainability Prize. The team includes Riley Lima, a senior majoring in public health; Aditya Loganathan, a Master of Business Administration student; Andrew Meltzer, a professor of emergency medicine; Daniel Shpigel, an assistant professor of emergency medicine; and Deeksha Ravi, a sophomore majoring in health data science. Their venture is expanding from a pilot project into a redistribution platform for surplus medical supplies from clinical research sites to hospitals and clinics in underserved communities in Washington, D.C.
“We found that clinical research sites are accumulating waste in large amounts, while underserved clinics are interested in receiving supplies at a discounted rate,” Lima said. “Together we can ensure that commonly wasted products are actually used on patients before they end up in the landfill.”
Also taking home a top prize was Kaizen Analytics in the Business Goods Track. It was founded by GW Master of Business Administration student Ozioma Scott, as well as Olujimi Scott. The company replaces scattered training logs and spreadsheets with an integrated platform for track and field coaches, helping them plan workouts, track performance and improve athlete outcomes.
In the Consumer Goods and Services Track, Dear Curls took the top prize. The team includes Judy Marouf, a senior engineering student; Riya Bundele, a junior studying international business; and Rand Attallah and Fatimata Diagana, both senior business students. The team created an AI-powered hair care app that provides personalized routines for users with curly and textured hair, based on hair type, product ingredients and local climate.
Learn more about the competition and winners in the full article by GW Today, "GW Startups Win Big at GW New Venture Competition."
Congratulations to the winners within the GW School of Business:
- Aditya Loganathan - Leave No Trace of Clinical Research Waste
- Social Innovation Track 1st Place
- NextEra Innovation in Sustainability Prize
- Aditya Loganathan - LucidSono
- Healthcare & Life Sciences 2nd Place
- Aditya Loganathan - HighEnroller
- Explorer Track 1st Place
- Ozioma Scott - Kaizen Analytics
- Business Goods & Services Track 1st Place
- Riya Bundele - Dear Curls
- Consumer Goods & Services Track 1st Place
- Rand Attallah - Dear Curls
- Consumer Goods & Services Track 1st Place
- Fatimata Diagana - Dear Curls
- Consumer Goods & Services Track 1st Place
- Eamon Walsh - Savor SNAP
- Food Innovation Track 2nd Place
- Jonathan Maschio - Brāv Buddies, Inc.
- Best Customer Discovery Prize
- LiSha Powell - Simply Joined
- Best Storytelling Prize
- Viewer’s Choice Award
- Margaret Pittman - Victory Lane
- Best Market Assessment
- Talal Tamimi - View Point [v.]
- Explorer Track 2nd Place
- Sofia Corral - View Point [v.]
- Explorer Track 2nd Place
- Mukul Seem - View Point [v.]
- Explorer Track 2nd Place
- Chelsea Acheampong - Nova Hospitality
- Social Innovation Track 3rd Place
- Nicholas Elger - AssetReady
- Business Goods & Services Track 3rd Place
- Best Financial Understanding Prize
A full list of winners can be found on the NVC website.
