WashU startup founders are no strangers to competition, as most of them participate in several of the Skandalaris Center’s competitions each year. Today we are highlighting a few entrepreneurs who are also finding time to compete outside of WashU and it’s paying off. We’ve highlighted a few who are having success.
If you are thinking about entering a competition, make an appointment with Cyril Loum, Skandalaris Center’s Assistant Director of Venture Development. Cyril can help with competition prep, materials review, practicing your pitch, and more.
MiDoc
MiDoc is an at-home medical device that allows physicians to remotely conduct lung and heart physical exams, revolutionizing the patient-provider telehealth experience and improving healthcare access, affordability, convenience, and quality. The team at MiDoc includes Linda Wu (GB ’22), Lili Hostetler (GM, SI ’22), Michael Newbold (GB ’22), Shivaen Ahuja (EN ’22), Ben Graue (BU ’22). Austin Cahn (LA ’23). Darren Lee (LA, BU ’22).
The team at MiDoc has been busy this year! They’ve placed as a finalists and won several competitions:
- 2nd Place Winner of $10,000 in the UMKC Regnier Venture Creation Challenge, BlueKC Healthcare Innovations Awards
- 2nd Place Winner of Poets & Quants BIG IdeaBounce, $5,000 awarded
- 5th Place Winner of Olin’s Big IdeaBounce, $250 awarded
- Finalist in UGA’s Collegiate Great Brands Competition
- Skandalaris IdeaBounce® Winner
- Skandalaris Venture Competition Finalist
ClosetSwitch
ClosetSwitch is an online clothing trading platform made for college and high school students. To trade, members simply list unwanted clothes on the website, collect ClosetCoins, shop for clothes available for trade on their campus, and pick up their new trades on campus. The founder of ClosetSwitch is Chiara Munzi (LA ’23).
ClosetSwitch’s activity shows that even if you are not a finalist or winner, there is still value in getting out there:
- 1st Place Winner of $10,000 in the Skandalaris Venture Competition
- Finalist in the Draper Competition for Women at Smith College. Munzi said, “I ended up winning the ‘Special Recognition’ prize and 5-6th place. Overall, it was very empowering and there were many amazing female speakers. If you are a female entrepreneur, I would recommend applying!”
- ClosetSwitch was a semi-finalist in the UMKC Regnier Venture Creation Challenge. According to Munzi, “I, unfortunately, was not picked as a finalist. But I got good feedback from the judges!”
- Featured in St. Louis Business Journal’s “Inno Under 25” list
- Skandalaris IdeaBounce® Participant
Hormonetopia
Founded by Najjuwah Walden (Ph.D Candidate, Public Health Sciences ’23), Hormonetopia is a web-based patient education tool that teaches women how to adopt diets that prevent BV. The program provides weekly step-by-step guidance to prepare three meals each week. For 52 weeks, women receive modules that contain low-cost groceries, preparation time, recipe steps, and interactive games aiming to encourage behavior change. To prevent barriers to adoption, users have the option to attend virtual studio recordings and participate in synchronous Q&A, receive perks to purchase produce, and submit requests for recipe adaptations due to allergens or sensitivities. The vision for Hormonetopia is to operate as an evidence-based patient education tool. As a patient education tool, Hormonetopia helps Ob/Gyns provide access to the only patient education tool developed to improve the vaginal microbiome by improving diet.
Founder Najjuwah Walden is finding success by sharing her venture concept:
- In the UMKC Regnier Venture Creation Challenge won the “Outstanding Social Venture Honorable Mention” prize of $2,500
- Finalist in the Skandalaris Venture Competition twice
- Skandalaris IdeaBounce® Participant
Speak IT
Speak IT is a St. Louis-based software company that specializes in voice-enabled assistance tools for healthcare providers. Their solution leverages dictation-based automation to turn voice into action. In doing so, Speak IT reduces clinical documentation time, improves physician quality of life, and ultimately improves patient care. The Speak IT team includes: Kai Skallerud (MD/MBA ’23/22), Maxwell Popper (LA ’22), Chris Callan (MBA ’22), Quan Khuc (EN ’23), Ajla Salic (BU ’22), Maddy Singleton (LA ’24) Issa Cook (JD/MBA ’23/22), Julian Lu (LA ’24), and Michael Cafiero (LA ’24).
Speak IT’s activity in pursuing competition awards shows that you don’t know how much you can win unless you try:
- 1st Place Winner of $15,000 in the UMKC Regnier Venture Creation Challenge
- Skandalaris Venture Competition 3rd Place Winner of $5,000
- 1st Place in Olin’s Big IdeaBounce, $2,500 awarded
- Finalist in the Baylor New Venture Competition, $1,500 awarded
- 2nd Place in The Hatchery Class at Olin
- Finalist in the Arkansas Heartland Challenge
- Finalist in the Johns Hopkins Healthcare Design Challenge
- Semi-finalist in the TCU Values and Ventures Competition
- One of eight ventures chosen to be a finalist in the University of Oregon New Venture Championship
Tylmen Tech
Tylmen is creating a universal sizing method to help people shop the web with confidence knowing their exact size and fit when buying fashion and apparel. The team includes Lloyd Yates (GB ’22), Bill Qin (LA ’25), Veronica Hsu (BU ’25), Jamie Nicholson (BU ’25), James Dutton (GM ‘22), Chris Mertens (BS ’16), Sharon Tang (GB ’22), Leah Li (GB ’22), Doug Villhard (Advisor), and Mary Ruppert Stroescu (Advisor).
Tylmen Tech found success with recent competition wins:
- Skandalaris Venture Competition 3rd Place Winner of $5,000
- 3rd Place Winner of Pitch, a competition for Black student founders, $2,000 awarded
- Skandalaris IdeaBounce® Participant
- Featured in St. Louis Business Journal’s “Inno Under 25” list
Did your startup enter a competition this year or win a special recognition? We’d love to hear about it! Send us your story and be featured in a future Skandalaris Center blog!
Check our External Competitions page for new opportunities to compete and win funding money. We update this page on a rolling basis, so check back often; new competitions are always being added.