Eleven WashU student and recent alumni ventures have been selected as finalists in the fall 2022 Skandalaris Venture Competition (SVC). Twenty-two semifinalists gave their best pitch on October 19 to a panel of judges, who voted for which teams would advance to the next stage of the competition. Teams then pitched again at an open IdeaBounce® where members of the WashU and St. Louis communities gathered to watch and cheer on them on.

Cyril Loum, Assistant Director of Venture Development, announced the finalists at the end of the evening saying, “All of the semifinalist teams went through a process to get here today, and should be proud of the work that they’ve put into their ventures. Big congratulations to the teams moving on to the final round of the competition and we look forward to the amazing things you’ll do.”

On November 16, 2022, the 11 finalists will pitch to another panel of judges for a chance to win up to $25,000 in awards to launch or expand their ventures. SVC is made possible through generous support from Skandalaris National Council member, Kishore Kanakamedala.

The fall 2022 Skandalaris Venture Competition (SVC) finalists are:

Article 26 is a mobile budgeting app that incentivizes users to improve financial capabilities through a personalized algorithm. Helen Telahun (LA ’24), Zoe Al-Tawiti (LA ’24)

ChiChi is an ultra-healthy breakfast food made from chickpeas, instead of oats. Chiara Munzi (LA ’23), Isabelle Gorton (LA ’25), Yemane Kidane (LA ’23)

Euler Science has created an interactive semantic search engine for patents and scientific literature that visually clusters results to enable the rapid discovery of related works. Jared Lalmansingh (GR ’21), Daniel Van Hoesen (GR ’20)

Flexure Medical is changing spine care through the creation of 3D printed, motion preserving implants that match natural biomechanics. Samuel Brehm (ME ’25), Aspen Chadderdon (EN ’23, TG ’24), Hau-Ju Ting (EN ’24), Aneesh Syal (LA ’23)

MiDoc is an at-home medical device that allows physicians to remotely conduct heart and lung physical exams during telemedicine. Linda Wu (GB ’22), Katie Thai (EN ’23, SI ’24), Lili Hostetler (GB ’23, SI ’24), Hanyang Liu (PhD Candidate), Arthur Zhou (GB ’22), Alec Fields (EN ’22, SI ’22)

Papertrail helps enthusiasts keep important records of cars, motorcycles, and boats safer and more accessible than ever. Kuo Wang (EN ’24, TG ’25), Drew Kassman (LA ’25), Christian Robinson (BU ’26)

Pool is a mobile dating app that reinvents online dating as a social activity for singles to get help from their friends. Sarah Lands Ramrup (PM ’23), Rebecca Brosch (PM ’23)

SideQuest is creating a behavioral science research-backed goal-setting social media app. Leslie Ligier (LA ’23), Rohan Gupta (LA ’24), Katherine Ge (EN ’24), Will Triantis (BU ’24), Adam Schwartz (BU ’24)

Sobriety Hub provides operations management software and systems for sober living homes. Clayton Canfield (BU ’23), Joseph Lanfersieck (EN ’24)

StockSwap is daily fantasy but for the stock market where instead of creating a team of players, you build a portfolio of stocks. Blake Berg (BU ’23), Matthew Fisher (BU ’23)

Tutors for Us connects Black high school students to Black college students from Top 20 schools who provide college counseling, interview preparation, ACT, SAT, and AP tutoring. Angelica Harris (BU ’21, SI ’22), Brianna Chandler (LA ’23), Artorius Zhang (EN ’24)

The audience had an opportunity to cast their vote for our People’s Choice Award, where the winning team receives $250. The SVC People’s Choice winner is: MiDoc!

All 22 semifinalist teams will receive feedback from the judges, allowing them the opportunity to make improvements to their ventures and pitches. “We hope all of the teams, whether or not they were selected as finalists, will continue to connect with us and take advantage of the resources and opportunities available through the Skandalaris Center. Our team has a strong commitment to supporting and empowering the WashU community,” said II Luscri, Managing Director and Assistant Vice Provost for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

The fall 2022 SVC winner will be announced at The Washington University Innovation and Entrepreneurship Awards Presented by the Skandalaris Center on November 16.