During the summer of 2021, computer science student Neil Sanghavi and computer science recent grad Ahan Shah, both from Fairfax, VA, reconnected to catch up with one another and discuss the projects they were working on. In doing so they discovered a mutual resolve to create something using innovative technology and solve a problem relating to intellectual property, specifically patents. Both Neil and Ahan had just started to get into crypto trading and realized that NFT technology had more to offer than its collectible aspect. Here the idea of PatentX was created: to use NFT technology to provide utility in an antiquated space that lacked efficiency.
“It is estimated that we have $1 trillion in unused IP in the United States currently. Additionally, it is reported that there is $25.6 billion worth of patent monetization available today. This is why we created PatentX, a blockchain-backed marketplace to facilitate intellectual property transactions. We built this to make sure the little man innovators and entrepreneurs have an outlet to monetize and connect their patents with the world. Not only that, we are creating tools for large businesses, law firms, venture capitals to manage all of their IP on the blockchain that can handle transactions in seconds.”
Neil and Ahan describe their product launch process as a great learning experience and are firm believers that there can never be too much help. They are currently supported by DXPartners and have received help from various mentors and blockchain professionals. They have been able to traverse obstacles and learn about the marketing, finance, and business aspects behind building a startup despite coming from a technical background.
Their vision for PatentX is to disrupt the traditional way intellectual property is being transacted and to become the World’s Next Web3 Patent Office. PatentX will be releasing an NFT collection of the most historic patent innovations this early March and encourage interested individuals to stay tuned for their launch.
To learn more about PatentX visit their social media:
Twitter: @PatentXNFT
Instagram: @PatentX.io
To learn more about student innovation at Georgia Tech visit: https://innovation.cae.gatech.edu/
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On April 2, 2022, Team carSEAL will represent Georgia Tech in the 6th annual ACC InVenture Prize Competition hosted this year by Florida State University. Team members Shovan Bhatia, Joshua Cruz, Nicholas Lima, Derek Prusener, and Giancarlo Riccobono will compete against other teams in the ACC Conference for a chance to win up to $30,000 in prizes.
carSEAL began with five biomedical engineering students collaborating on a capstone project. After being accepted into the highly sought-after Mayo Clinic Capstone Project, they received mentorship from Dr. Rabih Tawk, a world-renowned neurosurgeon. With his guidance, they learned that surgeons currently lack the tools to close the carotid artery after endovascular procedures. Through a pragmatic approach, the team developed 100+ conceptual designs and iterations. After numerous discussions with attending surgeons across the nation and preliminary testing, they developed carSEAL – a vascular closure device for the carotid artery.
So far, the team has found the InVenture Prize process to be exhilarating.
“Through each round of this process, we have seen incredible teams working on impactful projects and it is exciting to be surrounded by such brilliant minds from numerous backgrounds. It has been especially rewarding working with so many supportive advisors from Georgia Tech, who have been through the startup process and have freely offered their expertise. Along each step of this process, we have learned something new to refine our pitch and ensure we are presenting our most competitive self at the ACC.”
Currently, aside from preparing for the ACC InVenture Prize, the carSEAL team is performing benchtop lab testing to evaluate its efficacy in animal models. Soon after, the team will be moving to pre-clinical studies on their path to obtaining FDA clearance before carSEAL is commercialized. Winning the ACC InVenture Prize would help them gain more traction and gather sufficient funds to help them with this process.
“I am extremely proud of our team’s achievements in the short 6 months that we have worked together. carSEAL has gained a lot of traction already and we are excited to see how far we can take this, hopefully bringing carSEAL to clinical practice within a few years,” Bhatia stated.
The Georgia Tech community can support carSEAL in the competition by voting for them for the People’s Choice Awards by visiting: https://accinventureprize.com/peoples-choice-voting. Online voting begins March 28.
To learn more about the ACC InVenture Prize visit https://accinventureprize.com.
]]>After almost a year of preparation, practice, and refinement, Georgia Tech’s annual InVenture Prize is down to six finalists competing in the final round on March 16th. In this televised round, the final teams will pitch their inventions to a panel of judges and compete for the top prize of $20,000, assistance in patent-filing, and a spot in CREATE-X’s Startup Launch program.
In its 14th year, the InVenture Prize competition features different innovations created by Georgia Tech students from all disciplines and backgrounds. For months prior to the final round, the finalists received coaching and assistance from mentors and coaches on building their prototypes, developing business models, and rehearsing their pitches to investors. The final six teams were chosen from previous preliminary and semifinal rounds that included a broad range of competitors.
The finals of the InVenture Prize will air live from Georgia Tech’s Ferst Center for the Arts at 7:30 p.m. on March 16th on Georgia Public Broadcasting.
The 2022 finalist teams are:
The Foambuster: The Foambuster is a unique handheld tool that allows construction contractors to drastically cut down on the mess, hassle, and money spent that comes with installing exterior insulation.
Edward Diller, Mechanical Engineering, Los Angeles, CA
Davis Waln, Mechanical Engineering, Atlanta, GA
Christophe Senghor, Mechanical Engineering, Peachtree City, GA
Katelyn Sand, Mechanical Engineering, Westlake Village, CA
Jaime Paris Meseguer, Mechanical Engineering, Spain
Magic Crop: An application that uses the power of Artificial Intelligence and the rule of thirds to format any number of inputted pictures into the perfect headshot within seconds and without ever sending any images to the cloud or to a third-party server.
Megan Dass, Computer Science, Woodbridge, VA
Reflex: Emergency Medical Drone Response System to deliver life-saving medical equipment.
Nevin Gilbert, Computer Science, Boulder, CO
Usman Jamal, Computer Science, Tucker, GA
Sola: Sola provides a data-driven supplemental insurance plan which covers immediate out-of-pocket expenses for US homeowners following losses from tornadoes.
Brayden Drury, Mechanical Engineering, Park City, Utah
Wesley Pergament, Mechanical Engineering, Old Westbury, NY
StrideLink: Accessible gait analysis wearable for remote monitoring of walking asymmetry.
Marzeah (Zea) Khorramabadi, Computer Engineering, Birmingham, AL
Cassandra (Cassie) McIltrot, Biomedical Engineering, Sykesville, MD
Neel Narvekar, Computer Engineering, Arcadia, CA
Tony Wineman, Electrical Engineering, Woodstock, GA
Tabnam: AI-powered shopping assistant that leverages the knowledge of user experience data.
SooHoon Choi, Computer Science, South Korea
Daksh Gupta, Computer Science, Noida, India
Robert (Davis) Liddell, Computer Science, Lutherville, MD
Ethan Perry, Computer Science, Wellesley, MA
To request tickets for the event visit: https://inventureprize.gatech.edu/form/inventure-prize-ticket-request-f
To learn more about InVenture Prize visit: https://inventureprize.gatech.edu/
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The Undergraduate Research Ambassadors have announced that they are piloting a new platform – created by students for students – to facilitate undergraduate research engagement. After launching last year for students in the BME department, PairMe is now expanding to students of all majors and departments. On this virtual platform, mentors (professors, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and research scientists) can post openings to recruit students to perform research. Students can then view postings by signing in with their GT credentials and applying directly to open positions. PairMe is available for all undergraduate students and research-affiliated members of Georgia Tech, as well as the joint Biomedical Engineering Department at Emory University.
The idea behind the website started when biomedical engineering student, Amy Liu, saw a disparity in the access between mentors and BME students. In the summer of 2020, she began to research the need from the perspective of mentors. She conducted surveys of graduate students in BME as well as other College of Engineering and College of Sciences departments. She found that mentors were largely passive when seeking a mentee — with most just waiting for emails to come in through their principal investigators (PIs) — yet many had the desire to actively recruit students. So, to address this issue, Liu created a website where mentors could post and manage project openings (with the PI’s approval of course) for undergraduate students to apply to. First going live in October 2020 in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, she hoped that this continually updated virtual platform would facilitate communication among groups and bring benefits to all three parties involved — the mentee, the mentor, and the PI — especially during the height of the pandemic.
“I would like Tech students to know that PairMe was created to fill a gap," Liu said. "As Georgia Tech is a research-driven institution, every student should have equal opportunities to conduct research. With greater awareness, increased visibility of options, and a broader reach, I believe this platform has the potential to reduce the barrier to getting involved in undergraduate research at Tech."
Both mentors and students can benefit from PairMe as it presents an opportunity for mentors to directly recruit Tech students through public postings, while undergraduate students can strategically apply to labs with openings instead of blindly emailing professors. PairMe is now live for all Georgia Tech students and postings can be made at any time.
Georgia Tech researchers can post opportunities and students can access PairMe by visiting pairme.aep.gatech.edu.
To learn more about undergraduate research at Georgia Tech visit undergradresearch.gatech.edu.
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On December 3, 2021, Startup Exchange presented the Fall 2021 Fellowship Pitch Competition sponsored by the Georgia Tech Student Innovation Program, Office of Undergraduate Education. The event took place at ATL Social Club in Tech Square, a major startup hub situated on Georgia Tech’s campus and perfect for those eager for innovation at GT. The event also welcomed partner companies and recruiters such as NCR and Stord.
At this pitch-style event, six founder teams presented their innovative pitches and competed for first, second, and third place, each with a cash prize to aid in the advancement of their ideas. The first and second place winners of the competition were determined by three guest judges: Kathryn Petralia, co-founder of Kabbage and Drum; Thomas Suarez, co-founder of Teleport and Thiel Fellow; and Evan Jarecki, serial entrepreneur and BM at Startup Atlanta. The event commenced with a brief introduction by Startup Exchange executive board members, followed by presentations from the 6 teams including Fino, InSite, Jargon, and Tokenstack. After hearing each team’s pitch, the judges had time to deliberate and select the top two winners while the audience voted for the People’s Choice winner. Meanwhile, attendees were also able to hear from the partner companies and network while enjoying free perks such as food and beverages.
“There are students everywhere across campus really starting on their start-ups and pursuing their dreams. Atlanta is a growing city and Georgia Tech is the perfect hub for that. These teams, we’re introducing them to entrepreneurship and giving those resources and intro-connections. By doing so, we’re inspiring them in a way. It’s just a great learning experience for them,” explained Startup Exchange’s Director of Fellowship Revanth Tiruveedhi.
Following the intermission, the judges presented the first-place award of $750 to Jargon, a browser extension that points out red flags in user contract agreements, as pitched by team members Kaleb Rasmussen and Devansh Khunteta. Second place of $500 was awarded to Eartheal by team members Colin Burnett, Philip Colt, Neal Austensen, and Brandon Sherrard. People's Choice of $250 was awarded to Tokenstack by team members Nitin Paul, Samrat Sahoo, Yatharth Bhargava, and Mohit Sahoo. The event then closed with remarks by Startup Exchange’s board members and photos with the participants.
To learn more about student innovation at Georgia Tech visit https://innovation.gatech.edu/
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After almost a year since the completion of the 2021 InVenture Prize Competition, we caught up with Matt McMullen and Emma Bivings who competed as finalists on the SPOT Harness team, a harness that uses sensors and vibrators to help blind dogs navigate. Their experience in the competition exposed them to multiple experiences, environments, and demands necessary for startups for the first time. As a result, they were able to distinguish their areas of growth, gain valuable insights, and make potential changes in the direction of their product.
Today, Matt is currently a graduate student seeking a master’s in music technology and Emma is a full-time operations management trainee at McMaster-Carr. The team is still developing the SPOT Harness and has even grown its team to five members. Through funding and participating in Georgia Tech’s CREATE-X Startup Launch program, they have been able to launch their company Saving Grace Pet Solutions LLC. They plan to launch SPOT Harness under this company as well as develop other future products.
To future InVenture participants, Matt advises, “Don’t give up on your idea! The most important part of making it the distance is having a team with a passion for your product.”
The SPOT Harness team will be launching a kick-starter soon for preorders ahead of the official market launch of the SPOT Harness for blind dogs. They also advise anyone who has or knows someone who has a dog suffering from vision loss to visit their website to sign up for their newly refined prototype!
Visit their website here: www.savinggrace.tech
To learn more about the upcoming InVenture Prize Competition visit https://inventureprize.gatech.edu/ . Registration closes on Jan. 19.
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Several months after the completion of the 2021 InVenture Prize Competition, we caught up with John Wooten to see what he’s been up to! In 2021’s competition, John’s innovation Block Transfer, a decentralized stock transfer agent protocol for global financial markets, placed as a finalist.
Today, John Wooten has been actively working to grow Block Transfer by securing final SEC approval, acquiring funding by US Bank, and submitting utility patents. He believes that by combining blockchain tech with traditional financial markets, we can fundamentally change the world. John describes his experience as a finalist in the competition as being invaluable and advises, “We didn't know we could partake given prior admission to CX. Biggest advice is to just TRY!”
You can learn more about Block Transfer here: https://www.blocktransfer.io/consult
To learn more about the upcoming InVenture Prize Competition visit https://inventureprize.gatech.edu/ . Registration closes on Jan. 19.
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After almost a year since the completion of the 2021 InVenture Prize Competition, we caught up with finalist Sammie Hasen to see what she’s been up to over the past couple of months! For 2021’s competition, Sammie’s invention, BCase, placed as a finalist for its accessible, discreet, and secure birth control storage that attaches directly to the back of your phone.
Today, Sammie successfully launched BCase in New York City on World Contraception Day as one of five brands featured by Medsur Inc, the consumer goods company founded by Sammie. On September 26th, Medsur was even invited by The Pill Club, a leading contraceptive company, to participate in the launch of their uterus-shaped vending machines in New York. Medsur now continues to garner the attention from many leading health companies in the birth control space and this is just the beginning for Sammie.
“I plan to keep growing Medsur and follow our vision of creating a suite of innovative products for uterus owners. I am slowly growing the team, and I have now added the incredible Alexa Graham as COO. She is a rockstar, and she will help me grow Medsur to be all that we envision it to be!”, she explained.
Sammie adds that Medsur is always looking for new ambassadors to join the team and encourages anyone passionate about the femtech space and building innovative products to consider signing up!
You can learn more about Medsur and BCase on their website here: https://www.medsurinc.com/
To learn more about the upcoming InVenture Prize Competition visit https://inventureprize.gatech.edu/ . Registration closes on Jan. 19.
]]>Representing TiE Atlanta, the Insight Optics team consists of Tech students Aaron Enten and TJ Lagrow. Their business venture delivers a mobile-adapted platform that enables primary care physicians to efficiently detect early signs of avoidable blindness before permanent damage is done. They were mentored by Greg Cory, Neeti Dewan, and Eric Ensor from TiE Atlanta.
The team received a $5,000 cash prize sponsored by the Naadam Foundation and a $4,000 grant from the REAN Foundation. Insight Optics was also “Best In Class” at the startup boot camp hosted by TiE (The IndUS Entrepreneurs) in Silicon Valley in early May.
Insight Optics competed with 27 winning teams from across the globe including teams from TiE chapters in seven countries and three continents. The teams were mentored by local TiE chapters and supported by global workshops, startup boot camps, and mock sessions.
First prize went to TiE Toronto’s ALT TEX, whose founders are from York University and the University of Toronto. Their venture focuses on sustainable textiles engineered from food products, tackling two important issues — food waste and pollution caused by textile production.
The second prize winner was TiE Dallas’ SURVIVR, whose founder is from the University of Texas at Dallas. The company aims to make communities safer by providing immersive police training using virtual reality.
Chapter winners went through a semifinal round on May 15. The virtual event was viewed by more than 500 audience members from around the world, and TiE Atlanta’s executive director, Amyn Sadruddin, hosted a semifinals track. Teams pitched business ideas such as bio-toilets, career fulfillment tools for higher education, technology-enabled artificial limbs, and tech kits for 21st-century education, among others.
The event also featured a fireside conversation between Jagdish Sheth, professor of business at Emory University, and Mumbai-based entrepreneur Ronnie Screwvala. The co-founder and chairman of Upgrad, an online edtech startup, Screwvala inspired young entrepreneurs to take risks.
“This year, TiE University extended the concept of entrepreneurship to form a stronger ecosystem, even more strategically focused to dovetail multiple enablers,” said Paul Lopez, founder and co-chair of the TiE University Program. “Thanks to the generosity of sponsors, this year’s total cash prizes were $65,000, plus in-kind awards of over $600,000 to empower college entrepreneurs.”
Eight university teams made it to the finals of the global pitch fest. In addition to the top three winning teams, the other finalists were TiE Austin’s Clocr, a digital legacy management and emergency planning platform; TiE Chennai’s Kitab, a digital PDF reader that redefines the way technical literature and textbooks are consumed; TiE Dubai’s Small World that connects NGOs and high school students; TiE D.C.’s Early Intervention Systems that builds software and algorithms to enhance eldercare; and TiE New Jersey’s Sulis, a low-cost water sanitization device.
The keynote speaker was Sheel Tyle, founder and CEO of venture capital global firm Amplo. Interviewed by TiE Coimbatore’s Pradeep Yuvaraj, Tyle had some advice for entrepreneurs: “Whether you spend time doing something small or doing something big, it actually takes the same time. If you’re going to spend your precious time on something, do it where your time has the greatest impact on the world.”
]]>Georgia Tech’s InVenture Prize is an interdisciplinary innovation competition open to entries from all undergraduate students and recent Tech graduates. In the first two rounds, inventions are evaluated by a panel of expert judges before six finalists are selected to advance to the final round, which is shown live by Georgia Public Broadcasting. In this round, finalists have the opportunity to win cash prizes, a free U.S. patent filing by Georgia Tech’s Office of Technology Licensing, and admission into CREATE-X’s Startup Launch program.
In 2017, the InVenture Prize received an award for Outstanding Director, and from 2014 to 2016, the program garnered Emmys for both Outstanding Director and Special Event Coverage.
The 2022 InVenture Prize Kickoff will take place on September 15 at 6:30 p.m. Attendees can network and hear from past participants in the groundbreaking innovation competition. Register for this in-person event by going to bit.ly/2022inventureprizekickoff.
The InVenture Prize is a program within the Office of Undergraduate Education (OUE). Learn more about OUE by following @gtoue on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
]]>On April 21, 2021, biomedical engineering student Michael Pullen will serve as Georgia Tech’s representative in the fifth annual ACC InVenture Prize. Here he will compete with teams from twelve other universities for the chance to take home $30,000 in prizes.
Pullen’s invention first took root when he experienced the struggle of getting turf burn while playing football. While most players seek protection through regular compression sleeves, this often leads to decreased grip, more fumbles, and difficulty in maneuvering plays.
While working in sports medicine with the Atlanta Falcons, Pullen found a way to directly avoid this problem. LZRD Sleeve is a compressive sleeve that integrates gripping and moisture-wicking technology to deliver protection and control without sacrificing mobility nor comfort.
Since then, LZRD Sleeve has secured its place in non-athletic arenas. A year ago, the world of sports halted due to COVID-19 shutdowns. It was then that Pullen sought other applications for his innovative sleeve — LZRD Sleeve has expanded its market to delivery drivers, gardeners, and maintenance workers seeking better performance and protection from harm.
LZRD Sleeve is now being used by the largest U.S. courier service, and it has also been featured in Neil DeGrasse Tyson’s podcast StarTalk. On the same hand, Pullen has been in contact with a whopping five Fortune 500 companies. He ultimately hopes that InVenture Prize will show that with hard work, nothing is impossible.
“Never in a million years would I have thought I would be representing Georgia Tech in the ACC InVenture Prize. Getting out of your comfort zone and trying new things is important, and by winning, I hope to set an example so that others might do the same,” Pullen stated.
Overall, winning the ACC InVenture Prize would allow LZRD Sleeve to expand even further through capital investments, uptakes in production, and coverage of associated legal fees.
The Georgia Tech community is encouraged to show Pullen its support through voting for the People’s Choice Award of $5,000. Voting is open from 8 a.m. on Monday, April 5 until midnight on Tuesday, April 6.
To vote, please text GATech to win the ACC InVenture Prize People’s Choice Award to 415-965-7445.
Winners will be announced on Wednesday, April 21 at 7 p.m. on PBS stations throughout the ACC region.
More information about LZRD Sleeve can be found at lzrdtech.com.
]]>Office of Undergraduate Education
]]>Earlier this month, 2018 InVenture Prize winner, entrepreneur, and CEO Kolby Hanley celebrated the milestone of surpassing $1M in revenue. His Duluth-based company ULTRAVIEW Archery offers state-of-the-art products to competitive archers across the world. Hanley, a 2019 Georgia Tech Materials Science and Engineering graduate, is still fond of his roots as the company sees more and more success.
“I was a competitive archer, and we used lights all the time for low-light conditions. However, there was never really a solution for it. You’d have to buy an external light kit that mounted to your bow, and it just wasn’t good,” Hanley described.
Deciding to take matters into his own hands, Hanley worked to develop his very own scope with integrated lighting, ultimately taking it to the 2018 InVenture Prize. Here he refined his product, began his startup, and later took home the $20,000 grand prize with StarLight, a scope since updated and sold as The ULTRAVIEW 2.
Since graduation, Hanley has been working to bring a wider variety of products to the competitive archery community. The company’s most recent one is The Hinge, a hand-sized release designed for compound archers.
“The goal behind ULTRAVIEW is to offer the best product in each category for competitive archers,” Hanley stated. Judging by their product reviews, Hanley and his team seem to be doing just that. With their array of scopes, releases, and grips, ULTRAVIEW seeks to prioritize archers’ performance and comfort above all.
By the end of the year, ULTRAVIEW is projected to reach $1.2-1.4M in sales, and revenue growth should reach 450%. The team has expanded to approximately ten members since Hanley’s one-man InVenture victory in 2018, and the company is currently recruiting a COO.
“With InVenture, you’ll know what product you’re offering and what problems you’re solving — it really helps you clarify what you’re doing with your business idea. It definitely changed my life,” said Hanley in reflection of his time spent competing.
With the holidays approaching, Hanley and his team expect to see an increase in orders, and their dedication to competitive archers remains strong. The company has a presence on Facebook and Instagram, and more info can be found at www.ultraviewarchery.com.
Applications for the 2021 competition are open now on the InVenture Prize website, and the competition will move briskly toward the finals:
404.385.5379
]]>The winning team, Aerodyme Technologies has created a novel device that saves fuel costs for tractor-trailers by minimizing aerodynamic drag. Ambii, which came in second, provides an in-store music streaming platform for retail outlets, cafes and restaurants without the hassles of licensing. Third prize winner, LSK Technologies, created a diagnostic device for testing infectious diseases such as Covid19 at the point of need.
Congratulating the winning team, Mahavir Pratap Sharma, Chairman of the TiE Global Board of Trustees said, "We are proud of these young talented entrepreneurs. Their growth story from pitches at their local TiE Chapters till the Global Finals has seen a massive expansion and iteration of thought and structure. This is a complete team effort put forward by the program co-chairs and charter member mentors who helped them grow their idea, giving them thorough guidance and mentoring the students over the last few months to compete on a global stage.”
Aerodyme Technologies participated in Georgia Tech’s CREATE-X Startup Launch program during summer 2019. During the startup accelerator program, the Aerodyme team was able to conduct customer discovery and receive mentorship and funding to take their product to market. The team also won 2nd place in the 12th annual InVenture Prize competition in March 2020. As part of the competition, Aerodyme received $10,000 in cash and patent filing assistance funded by the Georgia Tech Research Corporations.
The second edition of the TiE University jointly organized by TiE Atlanta & TiE Hyderabad had 13 teams representing TiE chapters from India, Israel, UAE, Israel, USA, and Canada. These teams were previously the chapter winners and were then mentored to participate in the Global finals. After the Semi-final round on Saturday, seven teams were selected for the finals. Teams had a 10-minute pitch to an eminent Jury panel and a 5-minute live Q&A.
Speaking at the Presentation Ceremony the TiE University program co-chairs Dr. Paul Lopez, SubbaRaju Pericherlaand Viiveck Verma, said they are looking to expand the program participation to 40 chapters and 400+ universities worldwide by 2022.
The worldwide jury panel for the finals, consisting of VCs and investors, included Bodhi Capital’s Dharti Desai, Silicon Valley Bank’s Priya Rajan, Elevate Capital’s Kumar Sripadam, and Inflexor Ventures’ Venkat Vallabhaneni. Semi-finals judges from across the globe included Craig Abbott, Rakesh Bhatia, Radhika Iyengar, Rama Devi Kanneganti, Doc Parghi, and Sonia Weymuller.
Apart from the top three winners, prizes were announced in various other categories. Silicon Valley’s Ambii and New Jersey’s Volant from New Jersey Institute of Technology jointly received a $1,500 Best Elevator Pitch award. Similarly, Teams Clean Electric from IIT/BHU, Varanasi representing TiE Mumbai, and Aruga Technologies from Carnegie Mellon University representing TiE Pittsburgh jointly received $1,500 Best Technology prize. Frinks, from IIT Hyderabad, representing TiE Hyderabad took the $500 People's Choice Award. Apart from this, all participating teams walked away with technology and service prizes worth $2500 per team.
The competition also hosted a keynote address by serial entrepreneur Thejo Kote. Thejo sold his connectivity startup, Automatic for $115 million to SiriusXm. He inspired the university startup teams and online audience alike by saying, “The biggest lesson I’ve learned along the way is to make sure you enjoy the journey (of building a startup) and it’s something that you learn from and grow from. Else it will be a lot more challenging.”
About TiE University:
TiE University program focuses on enhancing the learning objectives of university students globally through the creation and presentation of business pitches for startups and new small business ventures so that they aspire to become entrepreneurs. TiE University is looking to expand its reach to 40 chapters and 400+ universities worldwide. If you’re interested, reach out to the below-mentioned media contact. For more information, visit - https://tie.org/tie-university/
About TiE Global:
TiE Global, is a non-profit organization dedicated to fostering entrepreneurship around the World. TiE strives to inspire entrepreneurs through mentoring, networking, education, incubating and funding programs and activities. With nearly 2000+ events held each year, TiE brings together the entrepreneurial community to learn from local leaders, as well as each other. Few of the annual flagship events conducted by TiE are TYE, TiE Women, TiE University, TiECons and TGS. For more information, please visit our website at https://tie.org/
Media Contact:
Aparna Mishra Aparna@tie.org
]]>On Wednesday, September 16, the Office of Undergraduate Education (OUE) hosted the kick-off session for the 13th Annual InVenture Prize. With over $35,000 in prizes, the competition is the holy grail of college entrepreneurship. Although the InVenture Prize officially starts in January 2021, students have already begun their preparations and idea declarations.
Unlike previous years, the kick-off was hosted online through Gatherly, a virtual event platform recently built by none other than Georgia Tech students. Despite this, attendees did not miss a beat. The kick-off marked a return to normalcy for the Georgia Tech innovation community from learning key information about the competition to directly speaking with past winners.
After a welcome from interim Assistant Director of Student Innovation, Recha Reid, students were given an overview of some upcoming InVenture Prize events, including the ongoing Pitch Your Idea and IdeaBuzz sessions. Students were given an overview of OUE’s customer discovery, financial forecasting, marketing, and patent/copyright workshops. From there, the floor was turned over to Dr. Chris Reaves, executive director of the office for Academic Enrichment Programs.
“At its core, the InVenture Prize is an invention startup competition, but we work together — even the teams work with each other — to help one another. We achieve more, grow more, and develop our companies better when we’re helping each other, and that’s a big part of what we’re doing,” Reaves explained.
Later, students were given the opportunity to speak with representatives from Queues and Aerodyme, the respective first- and second-place winners of the 2020 InVenture Prize. Students learned firsthand what it takes to succeed on the InVenture Prize stage; the teams later offered advice on the invention process, their lessons learned, and the visibility benefits of participating in the competition.
“If you’re on the edge right now about doing InVenture Prize, definitely do it. We actually had that same thought before we did it, and we’re just so glad that we did. It’s a lot of work, and you’re going to step outside of your comfort zone, but it’s so worth it”, said Joy Bullington of team Aerodyme Technologies.
Queues team member Sam Porta similarly had some words of encouragement for those looking into the 2021 InVenture Prize.
“The difference between an entrepreneur and someone who’s just engineering something is persistence, and the InVenture Prize is a great opportunity to test this. If you think you’ve come up with something great that has a lot of value, then, by all means, do it,” Porta emphasized.
Towards the end of the session, students were invited to visit virtual “booths” dedicated to areas of health, retail, fintech, transportation, education tools, gaming, and networking.
“InVenture is honestly one of the reasons I chose to come to Tech, and I’m just so excited to come into with something that I’m really confident about,” an attendee said.
“The most interesting thing about tonight was hearing from the past winners and having them talk about their experiences. Definitely super excited to apply, and hopefully we do really well,” another stated.
Registration for the 2021 InVenture Prize will remain open until January. Student innovators are invited to check out OUE’s information and development sessions to be held throughout the Fall semester. All dates and related topics can be found at innovation.gatech.edu and inventureprize.gatech.edu.
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE 2021 INVENTURE PRIZE BY CLICKING HERE
Visit us on
Instagram @gtinventure
Twitter @InVenturePrize
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What good shall I do this day?
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Summer Rolls On.
]]>Connect.
]]>Change the world.
]]>Keep going.
]]>This is the sign you've been looking for.
]]>Work hard
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]]>On March 13, 2019, the lives of team members Dev Mandavia, Lucas Muller, and Cassidy Wang began to change. Once Ethos Medical was announced as the winner of the 2019 InVenture Prize, the team witnessed the transformation of their startup. They would now have full confidence in their ultrasound-guided needle system, not to mention $20,000 (sponsored by the TDK Corporation) and a patent filing in their hands.
As the team explained in their pitch last year, most spinal punctures require specialized expertise from medical professionals to place a needle into the spine and, even then, it is done blindly. Seeing this issue, Ethos Medical sought to alleviate the uncertainty by developing a system that shows the needle’s trajectory and location in real time with ultrasound. Their device has the potential to change the face of procedures such as epidurals and spinal taps, increasing safety for both patients and medical staff.
Product and Team Updates
Since winning the InVenture Prize, the team has been working fulltime on the development of Ethos Medical. All three members graduated in 2018, and they are dedicating all their time to bringing Ethos Medical to hospitals and medical schools. The team now has a WEBSITE in which medical personnel can explore Iris, their official needling device that works together with the commonly used Philips Lumify portable ultrasound.
Ethos Medical has also collaborated with prominent medical professionals. Since last year’s competition, the team has onboarded several clinical advisors such as Dr. Rich Duszak, Emory University’s vice chair for Health Policy and Practice, and Dr. Mike Blaivas, an ultrasound expert and emergency physician at St. Francis Hospital in Columbus, Georgia.
Future Endeavors
As the year comes to a close, the team reflected on their current and future plans.
“Our business model will be to sell the devices to hospitals. We’re pre-revenue, and we’re planning to participate in a training bootcamp at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in January,” Mandavia said. As far as the InVenture Prize goes, the team will be able to draw on some of the experiences gained from competing and taking home the grand prize. “Through the pitch practices, we learned how to pitch and tell a story, which will certainly come in handy throughout the course of our startup,” the team stated.
Thoughts on the 2020 InVenture Prize
With the registration deadline a little over a month away, the members of Ethos Medical offered some advice on how to get going with the InVenture Prize process.
“Find a genuine problem in the world and talk to the people who experience that problem the most in order to understand what they need in a solution. Then, build the solution as fast as you can.”
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE 2020 INVENTURE PRIZE BY CLICKING HERE. Registration ends Jan. 13.
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As the Institute welcomes the beginning of a new decade, it also welcomes a new group of dedicated student innovators. Only a few days remain until the Preliminary Round of the 2020 InVenture Prize, and in preparation for this, the Office of Undergraduate Education hosted an all-day Q&A session for students heading into the competition.
On January 17, representatives from several teams met with Recha Reid, Program and Operations Manager for Student Innovation, in order to discuss their products, pitches, and remaining questions before the competition revs up.
“We wanted to join InVenture because we wanted to do something humanitarian, and we wanted to do something that might potentially help the world,” one team stated. This ideal was reflective of many groups’ mantras, and this year should present some of the most compassionate inventions yet.
“All the students had really robust ideas that can actually make a change in the world, even in a little way. I think their ideas are way past what we would expect at this stage in the competition, or even in their years at Georgia Tech,” Reid stated.
Throughout the day, topics ranged from poster designs to pitch suggestions and from simple advice to locating on-campus innovation resources. When asked about any surprises from the Q&A session, Reid mentioned one standout discovery.
“Surprisingly, a lot of this year’s groups actually talked to last year’s finalists to get advice, and that was unexpected. I don’t think many of the teams did that last year,” she noted.
It is evident that this year’s teams seem to be some of the most resourceful ones yet, and the connections formed between past and present competitors should prove to be interesting in the beginning stages of the competition.
On Wednesday, January 22, the Preliminary Round will host approximately forty student teams as they compete in a round-robin-type atmosphere. Here they will receive scores and feedback on their presentations from Institute faculty before the Semifinal and Final Rounds on February 4 and March 11, 2020, respectively.
Read more about the InVenture Prize.
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]]>Since the conclusion of the 2019 InVenture Prize, team Unfoldit has continued to advance their recreational app geared toward logical and cognitive development. The gaming app, which was highly popular among viewers of last year’s live Final Round, features numerous levels in which users play to punch holes in folded paper in order to achieve a certain pattern when the paper is unfolded.
The app requires careful planning and spatial reasoning, and it serves as a stimulating, brain-beneficial way to spend time and destress.
Team members Cliff Panos, Jackie Elliot, Michael Xu, Max Brauer, and Ryan Miles, all computer science majors, reflected on their time participating in the 2019 InVenture Prize Finals.
Software Updates
In correlation with Apple’s release of the much-anticipated iOS 13, the team has taken steps to increase user accessibility within their own app. The app now features compatibility with Dark Mode, a notable feature on the new iOS update. Similarly, the team has released more levels to be unlocked, new designs, and reimagined features to enhance user experience.
Despite it being nearly a year since they entered the competition, team Unfoldit remains hard at work to constantly improve user experience across multiple platforms.
“A new Android version with enhanced features to match the iOS version should be released in early 2020 with a beta version coming this December. We plan to add even more features as well as all remaining levels within the coming months,” Panos said.
Moving Forward
During the live broadcast of the 2019 competition on Georgia Public Broadcasting in March, Unfoldit received nearly 500 downloads on the iOS App Store. Now with the development of the app’s Android version, the team is sure to continue seeing more and more downloads. In fact, their user base has nearly doubled since gaining public exposure through the InVenture Prize.
As some of the team members are reaching their final semesters here at the Institute, they plan on applying the various lessons learned throughout the competition. Memories of laser-focused late nights spent developing their pitches and fine-tuning their product will come in handy in future business endeavors.
“The process of developing the product and creating a compelling pitch involved a lot of teamwork and exposed us to the marketing side of creating a product. Everything we do in the business world impacts people, either positively or negatively, and the InVenture Prize emphasized this philosophy,” the team said.
Thoughts on the 2020 InVenture Prize
With initial planning for the 2020 competition already underway, team Unfoldit considered the greatest benefits they gained from last year.
“As we refined our pitch each week and reflected on what made our product unique, we were better able to understand our mission, what was special about our app, and why we should be confident in what we created. The most valuable part of participating in the InVenture Prize was the experience we were able to gain practicing our pitches to some of the innovation leaders at Georgia Tech,” they explained.
With respect to students interested in competing for this year’s grand prize of $20,000, a free patent filing, and guaranteed acceptance into the CREATE-X program, the team offered some advice on making it to the final round.
“Create a product with a strong potential user base, that cares about its users, and develop an interesting piece of technology that sets the product apart from others. For us, this meant putting a lot of effort into the design and experience of the app to create the best user experience possible. Our app’s algorithm represents and understands paper-folding in such a way that it is able to find the solutions to the levels before we know them ourselves.”
EXPLORE THE UNFOLDIT APP HERE.
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE 2020 INVENTURE PRIZE BY CLICKING HERE. Registration closes on Jan. 13.
]]>A team of materials science and biomedical engineers, TremorTrainer finished in second place at the 2019 InVenture Prize. Nicolette Prevost, Colten Spivey, and Nisha Goddard captivated audiences with their intuitive, weighted glove designed to help patients struggling with hand tremors.
The glove depends on counterweight technology to allow patients to carry out everyday tasks such as writing, tying shoelaces, and buttoning shirts. Depending on the severity of their tremors, patients can add or subtract weights to meet their individual needs.
Product Updates
Since the InVenture Prize, TremorTrainer has continued to focus on making the glove more accessible and personalized.
“We are coordinating with a local seamstress to supply our gloves, and we are working on our patent,” Prevost said. “We will be providing a variety of sizes and, potentially, colors. We are working on branding the weights and we’ve completed the packaging design.”
As the team members approach their final semesters at Tech, their future looks bright. The final pieces for the full production of TremorTrainer are coming together, and the team is continually applying the knowledge gained from competing in the InVenture Prize.
“Beyond engineering, there is a lot that goes into advertising, logo design, slogan creation, and more than we would have ever known. We can now apply these lessons during design processes to optimize product performance down the line,” the team said.
Moving Forward
Since participating in the 2019 Finals, TremorTrainer has proven itself a valuable addition to the medical field. The team has been working with medical professionals to gauge the need for therapeutic devices, especially for tremor patients. Interactions like these have opened new doors for the team, and they look forward to continued growth.
“We have come into contact with so many people who are interested in trying and buying the glove. We have received requests to expand the business outside of the United States,” they said.
The team is also thinking of ways to make TremorTrainer a truly advanced device for motor skill therapies, including incorporating sensors to gather data on an individual’s tremor to more accurately quantify the appropriate weight.
Thoughts on the 2020 InVenture Prize
When asked about the most valuable part of their InVenture Prize journey, the team had one definitive answer.
“The coaching. We have had so much support from experienced professionals,” they said. “The InVenture Prize has taught us an immense amount about marketing, sales, and communication. Additionally, the product exposure and funding has launched us forward. On a personal level, the public speaking development was unparalleled.”
For those students interested in the upcoming 2020 competition, the team offered some words of advice.
“If you are passionate about your design, pursue this! Give it a shot! Think critically about the value your product provides, and why it’s needed. Think about your business strategy for manufacture, production, and sale.”
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE 2020 INVENTURE PRIZE BY CLICKING HERE. Registration ends Jan. 13.
]]>A two-man team, Jacob Parker and Austin Condict amazed audiences at the 2019 InVenture Prize Finals. The mechanical engineering and computer science duo quickly advanced through the competition with their unique, finger-controlled quadcopter drones.
The initial prototype, constructed wholly on the Georgia Tech campus, featured a small finger port structure that allows users to dock and launch the drone with the movement of their fingers.
Since demonstrating their product in the competition, Finger Flyer has continued to gain momentum in the development of their new generation of recreational flying devices.
Product Updates
The team is now focused on making the drone more accessible and user friendly for consumers.
Users now have more personalization options, as the drones now have enhanced hand controls, manual trick capabilities, and personal preference settings that include interchangeable finger-port boards.
Finger Flyer was a standout at the 2019 InVenture Prize, and although it was aimed at providing a modernized drone system for today’s youth, audience members of all ages were intrigued by the fact that the drones do not require a radio controller.
“With the wave of the hand it can be passed or set to perform preprogrammed tricks,” Parker stated. This novel feature makes the device fun and easy to use regardless of consumers’ technological background.
Future Production
The team is currently working with production companies based in Guangdong, China. With the help of the InVenture Prize, they are working toward releasing Finger Flyer on a large scale.
According to the team, one of their main goals was to create a user-friendly and affordable drone for consumers across the world. Soon it will be available for around $50. In the meantime, the team is locking in their ideas on the legal side of things.
“The [Patent Cooperation Treaty] claims have been deemed novel, non-obvious, with utility, and the U.S. patent is going under examination within the month,” Parker said. The team looks forward to expanding their user base and continuing to inspire the next generation of college students.
EXPLORE THE FINGER FLYER HERE.
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE 2020 INVENTURE PRIZE BY CLICKING HERE. Registration ends Jan. 13.
]]>Last year, team Nix won the People’s Choice Award at the InVenture Prize, and along with it, $5,000 and a place in CREATE-X’s Startup Launch program. Team members Cory Stine, Robert Patterson, Thomas Olson, Mohammed Aamir, Dustin Sloan, Vishwa Shah, and Milan Smart’s device appealed to people struggling with nicotine addiction.
Product Updates
Since competing, team Nix has focused on developing a fully functional prototype, which is an autonomous e-cigarette that automatically tapers users’ nicotine intake over time. By collecting data xaon individual usage habits, the device gradually reduces the amount of nicotine in the e-cigarette’s vapor stream.
Of the original seven team members, Stine, Olson, and Aamir are still working on the prototype. Nix now has a WEBSITE where users can preorder the e-cigarette device, and the team is gathering groups of users to participate in an upcoming beta test.
Moving Forward
With their website up and running, the team is reaching more people who are looking to turn their lives around. As Nix continues expanding, the team hopes to implement some of the knowledge gained from participating in the InVenture Prize.
“The pitch practices for the InVenture Prize really helped us communicate concisely and effectively. We’ll be using these lessons everywhere — marketing campaigns, the website, and more,” the team said.
Currently, preorders are set to be delivered by early 2020. The team hopes to continue making strides toward helping individuals overcome their nicotine dependence and take away the stress and shame surrounding their addiction.
Thoughts on the 2020 InVenture Prize
For students who want to participate in this year’s competition, the team offered advice about getting started.
“Focus on finding a good problem to solve. Finding a problem that people care about is more important than the solution in the early stages,” Stine said.
When asked about the most valuable takeaways from 2019, the team identified three: exposure, mentorship, and prize money. The exposure they received from the live final round and the resources provided by the competition organizing committee helped the team develop their algorithm, app, and e-cigarette. After countless hours of planning, mentorship, and product development, the team is now ready to launch Nix as a legitimate competitor in the growing nicotine replacement therapy industry.
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE 2020 INVENTURE PRIZE BY CLICKING HERE. Registration ends Jan. 13.
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]]>The competition is known as one of the most rigorous undergraduate competitions in the nation. Finalists of previous years’ competitions have been featured on ABC’s Shark Tank and have even had their inventions tested by former President Barack Obama.
On Wednesday, Sept. 11, students gathered in the Clough Undergraduate Learning Commons to discuss this year’s competition. It marked the official kickoff to the many sessions dedicated to helping students with prototype building, business modeling, pitch development, patents and copyrights, and mentorship.
Members of the InVenture Prize Organizing Committee, Chris Reaves and Recha Reid, welcomed students and led them through the steps involved in the competition including the timeline of this year’s InVenture Prize. The competition will again be broadcast on live television via Georgia Public Broadcasting as well as streamed online. The classroom setting provided a low-pressure information session for those both familiar with and new to the InVenture Prize.
Team members from last year’s first and second place winners, Ethos Medical and TremorTrainer, also addressed the gathering. They shared what their lives looked like leading up to and after the InVenture Prize, how their ideas came about, and how they balanced the InVenture Prize on top of the rigor of studying at Georgia Tech. “It’s a lot of work, but so incredibly worth it,” said TremorTrainer team member Colten Spivey.
Students also received advice from past participants on how to start formulating their ideas and business concepts for this year’s competition. Attendees then broke into small groups to discuss ideas based on invention categories such as health technology, entertainment, consumer products, communication, and fintech.
Registration for the 2020 InVenture Prize began Oct. 1 and will remain open until Jan. 13, 2020. For a schedule of events leading up to the competition’s preliminary round in mid-January, visit the InVenture Prize website. The preliminary and semifinal rounds will take place Jan. 22 and Feb. 4, respectively, with the much-anticipated finals scheduled for March 11, 2020, in the Ferst Center for the Arts.
In the meantime, students can sign up to be paired with an Innovation Coach for one-on-one guidance by going to IdeaBuzz. Students who are looking to join a preexisting team or form a team are encouraged to visit Cofounder Buzz.
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]]>The event took place throughout the majority of the day, as teams were called to present during their allotted times. Upon entering, teams were granted three minutes to conduct their idea pitches, and then ten minutes of discussion were held for feedback from the judges. The judge panel was composed of experts in multiple fields of discipline and whose numbers varied from five to eight throughout the day.
As opposed to the more clamorous, round-robin-type environment of the preliminary round, teams were able to present their pitches in a more collected and private manner. Teams presented their ideas one at a time, and this allowed for a much more personal experience between the parties.
This close dynamic also allowed for increased concentration on the logistics behind each team’s invention, and the judges were allowed the opportunity to comment much more in depth on the students’ past and future business models. Judges focused more on tangible results and product developments rather than generic concepts like in the preliminary round.
Discussions between the judges and the contestants was predominantly centered on statistics, monetary value of prototypes, intellectual property plans, and even endeavors for large-scale production and customer outreach. Teams received much input that could be applied to their final pitches for the next round of the competition.
It should be noted that representatives from the Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB) channel were again present for this round, and the students’ presentations and interactions with the judges were filmed. Students gained their first real taste of the format of presenting both on stage and on camera in preparation for the Finals.
After this round’s decisions have been made, the six remaining teams will receive notification that they will be moving on to the Finals. These competitors will have roughly a month to further prepare themselves before presenting their inventions for the last time.
The final round of the competition will take place at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 13 in the Ferst Center for the Arts. Prizes will be awarded for the overall winner, runner-up, and a People’s Choice. Tickets to the event are available for free to those both in the Georgia Tech community as well as those outside of it, and the event will be aired live on GPB and streamed online for those who cannot attend.
]]>Student Innovation and InVenture Prize writer
]]>Teams were composed of students ranging from first-years to those who had graduated within the last year. Although such an age gap existed among some of the competitors, the quality of the students’ inventions and business endeavors showed no evidence of this.
This year’s notable inventions included those of data collection websites, educational apps, medical devices, and even those made for daily use by the average consumer. Each team was prepared with their respective “quick pitches” and explanations, and judges undoubtedly had difficulty in narrowing the contestant pool down to the twenty-seven teams to move on to the next round of the competition.
This year, teams will be competing for a first-place prize of $20,000 and immediate acceptance into Create-X’s Startup Launch, a state-of-the-art program for creating profitable business plans for student innovators. The runner-up will receive $10,000, and a People’s Choice prize of $5,000 will be granted to the team with the most online and text votes received. Monetary prizes will be equally distributed among team members.
The first- and second-place teams will be granted a free patent filing from the Institute’s Office of Technology Licensing, which is valued at approximately $20,000. It should also be noted that all teams participating in the final round of the InVenture Prize will be guaranteed to have an interview for acceptance into the Create-X Startup Launch program despite any placing outcomes.
Previous years’ competitions brought students national acknowledgement, airtime on shows like ABC’s Shark Tank, and even the chance to see former President Barack Obama trying out an invention for himself.
Described by students as “highly competitive, innovative, and currently guiding the future”, the 2019 Georgia Tech InVenture Prize is one worth keeping up with — teams that surpassed the first round of evaluations have already paved the way for their future success, and the competition only gets more difficult from here.
The next round of evaluation will be conducted on Tuesday, Feb. 5. Here students will again be scored on their inventions and business plans but this time on stage and before a panel of judges. Teams will be allowed three minutes to give their pitches, and then ten minutes of discussion will be held.
During this round, six distinguished teams will be chosen to move on to the final round of the competition, which will take place on Wednesday, Mar. 13 at 7:30pm in the Ferst Center for the Arts. The event will be televised live on GPB, and tickets to attend the event will be available this month.
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The Georgia Chamber of Commerce announced the Georgia InVenture Prize, which is open to students attending public and private colleges across the state. The contest aims to foster innovation, entrepreneurship and start-up creation.
Partners in the Georgia Chamber initiative include: the University System of Georgia, the Technical College System of Georgia, private colleges and Georgia Tech.
The concept is modeled after Georgia Tech’s InVenture Prize, which started in 2009 to leverage the maker culture on campus and encourage students to push their ideas even further. Over the years, Tech students invented a system to protect first responders, a first-of-its-kind aiming device for competitive archery, a visual, color-based, rapid and disposable test for anemia and much more.
The Georgia Chamber said the new contest further establishes the state as a leader for entrepreneurship and small business success. The initiative will strengthen Georgia’s pipeline of inventors and startup companies.
“As the largest statewide business advocate, the Georgia Chamber of Commerce understands the importance of entrepreneurship and innovation, as it is a longstanding Chamber position to support the implementation of policies that promote commercialization, research activity and collaboration among the private and public sectors,” said Chris Clark, Georgia Chamber president and CEO. “We encourage participation and look forward to working with our Georgia InVenture Prize partners in our continued efforts to develop local talent and increase access to venture capital.”
Georgia Tech’s own InVenture Prize continues to reward students for innovations that aim to solve the world’s big problems. The 2019 competition kickoff will take place Sept. 12.
It also inspired a similar annual innovation competition among the colleges in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The ACC InVenture Prize started in 2016.
]]>As a serial entrepreneur-turned-investor myself, here are a few of my tips for successfully approaching VCs to raise capital for your business.
BIP Capital VP Cres Ferrell
#1: Tell Me About the Problem and How You’ll Solve It
When I’m looking to invest in a company, I want to know immediately about the problem at hand, how you discovered it and how your solution resolves it. Is the problem a real one? Is the pain high enough that buyers will pay for your solution? If so, how much will they be willing to pay? How is it different from similar solutions? And lastly, will the solution increase a company’s revenue, reduce expenses or both? These are the things I really have to know as a VC before making an investment decision. Your presentation needs to tell me that you’ve done your homework.
#2: Show Me Your Tenacity, Resiliency and Drive
You’re the kind of entrepreneur I want to hear from if you have made it your business to know your industry inside and out. You may have encountered roadblocks but you’ve rolled up your sleeves and remained in the trenches until you found a working solution to a real, significant problem. And while you know that past success is often indicative of future success, that doesn’t mean that you’ve never failed. If you have experienced failure, you extracted every single lesson you could from it to help you create future successes. I’m interested in entrepreneurs who make me believe that they can make a difference in their industry. In fact, I need you to make me so excited about what you’re doing that I absolutely have to be a part of it.
#3: Tell Me About Your Customers
While I want to know about your core team, I also want to know about your customers—the early ones, especially. Are they friends turned customers who would simply just support anything you do? Or are they customers who genuinely believe that you have the solution they’ve been looking for and decided to take a chance on you? Will they refer you to others? This latter type of customer speaks volumes about the viability of your business, and I want to know how your solution has made things better for them.
#4: Be Prepared to Invest Time in Building a Relationship
Entering into a relationship with a VC can in some ways be like a marriage. In other words, can we live, grow and work together during the good times and the bad? And here’s the truth (99 percent of the time, at least): No VC worth his or her salt is going to invest in you right on the spot. Usually, it takes some time to evaluate compatibility, ask the in-depth questions and get clarifications. Stay focused on building the relationship. And don’t forget that VCs are busy just like you are. We hear pitches from a lot of entrepreneurs. If you haven’t heard back after a few days following a meeting, a polite and casual reach-out is fine. This might be in the form of a quick email that says something like, “Hey, I just wanted to touch base since I haven’t heard from you in a while.” Such a message often jogs my memory and can lead to reopened discussions. If I seemed excited at the pitch, remind me what I was excited about in the email. However, if a VC is taking more than one or two weeks to get back to you post-pitch, he or she has either forgotten about you or simply just isn’t interested.
#5: Curate Your Pitch Deck
Be mindful of what you do and don’t add to a pitch deck. Don’t include more than an eighteen-month projection for a startup, for instance. Also, skip the part about the “collective experience” of the team—it’s useless. When you create your presentation, don’t just take a PowerPoint template, add some SmartArt and call it a day. Invest in your deck. Be creative. Show that you’ve given consideration to the personality of your brand and its voice. What you say should engage and stimulate further conversation, not just be a regurgitation of dry data from spreadsheets.
If you’re looking for hundreds of thousands of dollars—or even millions—in an investment, your presentation should be of a caliber that deserves that kind of funds. It should look polished and professional and make the data come to life. You should be enthusiastic about it, but not too salesy. Have confidence but be authentic. Most of all, you should clearly lay out why your solution is going to be successful and how you’re making a special company.
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]]>An earlier iteration, called PickAR, was a finalist for the 2017 InVenture Prize, Georgia Tech’s annual invention competition.
The application recently finished second in the Imagine Cup, a worldwide innovation competition sponsored by Microsoft.
Two other computer science majors, Cheng Hann and Wenqi Xian, were part of the team during InVenture and assisted with the Microsoft contest.
“We have never forgotten how helpful our mentors and peers at Georgia Tech and the CREATE-X program have been,” Srinivas said. “We have made a lot of great progress on our product and have migrated to a new development environment based on Android.”
As part of the Collegiate Inventors Competition, teams will travel to Washington, D.C., for the event, which will take place from Nov. 1-3. The judges include National Inventors Hall of Fame inductees and leaders from the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Student winners and their advisors will be awarded cash and prizes ranging from $2,500 to $10,000.
The competition, which started in 1990, is considered one of the nation’s foremost competitions encouraging innovation, entrepreneurship, and creativity by recognizing and rewarding college students working on cutting-edge inventions.
Oculogyx also recently won the Atlanta Startup Battle, which awarded the company $100,000.
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]]>The Georgia Institute of Technology’s Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC) and its Enterprise Innovation Institute are the hosts of Tech Square Innovation Week.
“With this week, we and our partners really wanted to show all the various components that make Tech Square the vibrant innovation ecosystem that it is,” said Jen Bonnett, ATDC general manager.
“Tech Square is a national model of economic development, ideation, and technology disruption. With Tech Square Innovation Week, this is the opportunity for visitors and event attendees to see how and why we’re succeeding and possibly join to continue that momentum.”
The week’s events include a “portfolio night” at Engage, the private startup accelerator and venture fund owned and operated by its 10 founding companies, the Georgia Tech Innovation Showcase of up-and-coming research ideas Georgia Tech students and faculty have developed, and the Atlanta Startup Battle at Tech Square Labs, with $100,000 at stake.
Tech Square Innovation Week also includes the Technology Association of Georgia’s FinTech South 2018, a two-day summit focused on the latest trends in the financial technology sector, and the ATDC RetailTech Summit, which will explore technological disruptions and opportunities in that sector.
Tech Square Innovation Week will culminate with the 2018 ATDC Startup Showcase on May 10 at the Georgia Tech Academy of Medicine and the Renaissance Atlanta Midtown Hotel.
Now in its 32nd year, the ATDC Startup Showcase is Georgia’s largest spring startup confab. The event, which draws nearly 1,000 attendees,features more than 80of disruptive technology companies from the state of Georgia.
About Tech Square Innovation Week:
Tech Square Innovation Week — May 7 through May 10, 2018 — is a weeklong celebration that highlights and celebrates different components that combined, make Technology Square in Atlanta’s Midtown neighborhood, a national economic development model that entrepreneurship, disruption, research, corporate partnerships and investment. For more information, please visit techsquareinnovates.com.
About the Advanced Technology Development Center:
The Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC), a program of the Georgia Institute of Technology, is the state of Georgia’s technology startup incubator. Founded in 1980 by the Georgia General Assembly which funds it each year, ATDC’s mission is to work with entrepreneurs in Georgia to help them learn, launch, scale, and succeed in the creation of viable, disruptive technology companies. Since its founding, ATDC has grown to become one of the longest running and most successful university-affiliated incubators in the United States, with its graduate startup companies raising $3 billion in investment financing and generating more than $12 billion in revenue in the state of Georgia. To learn more, visit atdc.org.
Here's the rundown of Tech Square Innovation Week events:
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