Thirteen WashU student and recent alumni ventures have been selected as finalists in the spring 2023 Skandalaris Venture Competition (SVC). A total of 26 semifinalist teams gave their best pitch to a panel of judges during closed sessions this afternoon. Scores were then tallied to determine the teams moving on to the final round of the competition, where they will compete for funding and the chance to hoist the SVC cup.
“Wow! We are blown away by the semifinalist teams today – they truly did such an incredible job,” commented Chris Ramsay, Associate Director of the Skandalaris Center. “We are excited to see what the finals bring, but look forward to helping any of the teams as they look to the future with their ventures.”
On April 20, the finalists will pitch to another panel of judges in their final bid for up to $25,000 in funding to launch or expand their ventures. The Skandalaris Venture Competition is made possible through generous support from Skandalaris National Council member Kishore Kanakamedala.
The spring 2023 SVC finalists are:
Booster helps musicians grow on TikTok by connecting them to content creators and allowing them to pay for promotions with royalties. Jordan Rivera (LA’23), Jacob Dodd (EN ’23), Alex Welch (EN ’23), Cadi Zhang (BU ’25)
ChiChi is a healthy and delicious chickpea based breakfast company. Chiara Munzi (LA ’23), Izzy Gorton (BU ’25)
Contrast AI is rethinking the electronic health record charting experience so providers can focus on what matters most – patient care. Julian Lu (LA ’24), Michael Cafiero (EN ’24)
Ice Cream For Bears is ancient ice cream-sweetened only with raw honey. Timothy Berg (GM ’22)
LabLink is a centralized platform that increases accessibility to opportunities in STEM research for undergraduate students. Arnav Desai (LA ’25), Kiran Mammen (LA ’24), Isha Vasil (EN ’26), James Baba (EN ’25), Pranav Palakodety (EN ’26)
Lumilin Therapeutics is developing a closed-loop autonomous stem cell therapy for management of insulin-dependent diabetes. Grayson Derossi (EN ’22)
Magnifi is a recruiting platform that uses AI to connect companies to non-traditional talent. Sydney Nagorsky (EN ’23), Jared Mantell (BU ’26), Isabel Silverman (EN ’23), Jayce Borderlon (EN ’25), Ryan Lo (BU ’25)
Mend is a platform that connects individuals with clothing repair and redesign needs to local creatives & seamstresses. Olivia Baba (FA ’23), Nisha Mani (LA ’23) Elisha Tibatemwa (GM ’23), Ryan Yang (GB ’24)
OneCard is a proxy card that automatically routes transactions to the specific credit card in your wallet that provides the greatest reward for any given purchase. Christopher Kim (LW ’23)
Papertrail is a cross-platform application that help car enthusiasts keep, present, and transfer their car’s records and stories. Kuo Wang (EN ’24, TG ’25), Jimmy Lancaster (BU ’25), Drew Kassman (LA ’25), Christian Robinson (BU ’26), Josh Magare (EN ’25), Andrew Padousis (BU ’25)
PassBack is where soccer meets sustainability – a social enterprise that creates balance and opportunity through the redistribution of soccer cleats. Magdalen Pike (PM ’23)
Top Tutors For Us is designs educational programs and curriculums for predominately Black public schools. These curriculums work hand-in-hand with our supplementary private tutoring services. Angelica Harris (BU ’21, EN ’21, SI ’22)
Trinity Systems is an application that automates unplugging of electronic appliances using smartwatch and actigraphy technology in order to eliminate Phantom Energy losses from households. Sourav Pal (GH ’23) David Mok (GH ’23)
Following the closed judging, each team had an opportunity to present a condensed 90-second pitch to an audience of WashU and St. Louis community members. Attendees then voted for their favorite venture to win a $250 People’s Choice Award. The SVC People’s Choice winner is: LabLink
All 26 semifinalist teams will receive valuable feedback from the judges that will help them make improvements to their ventures and strengthen their pitches moving forward. “We encourage teams to take the feedback from the judges and come back to future competitions – IdeaBounce®, Skandalaris Venture Competition, etc. Our door is always open to support our community on their path to success,” said Cyril Loum, Assistant Director of Venture Development.
The spring 2023 SVC winner will be announced at The Washington University Innovation and Entrepreneurship Awards Presented by the Skandalaris Center on April 20. We hope you can join us for an exciting evening!