HPU students participate in the annual Elevator Pitch Competition, a part of Global Entrepreneurship Week on campus. Each student had two minutes to pitch their business ideas to four judges and compete for cash prizes.
HIGH POINT, N.C., Nov. 21, 2018 – High Point University celebrated Global Entrepreneurship Week Nov. 12-18 with a variety of activities for students, including an opportunity to win start-up funds for their business ideas.
Twenty-five HPU students were given two minutes to pitch their business ideas to four judges and compete for cash prizes at the annual Elevator Pitch Competition.
This year’s panel of judges included Jeff Drobny from Minneapolis, Minnesota, the founder, CEO and Chief Investment Officer of Garda Capital Partners; Jackie Eastwood, the retired founder and CEO of TissueLink Medical (now Salient Surgical); Kelly McCarthy, the CEO of InfusionCapital LLC and CEO of Medinex Healthcare Solutions; and Nasser Rafiee, the founder & CEO Transmural Systems.
Allie Bollman received the first place prize of $2,500 for her idea, Eat Safe: The Food Allergy Test Strip. This strip will test for proteins found in one’s specific allergen. To start, they will have available the eight most common allergens: milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, soy and wheat. This will allow allergy sufferers to test their food when eating out to prevent an allergic reaction sometimes caused by cross-contamination.
“I’m so thankful for the opportunity that I was given to be a part of this competition,” said Bollman after winning first place. “I am honored the judges saw something in my product, and I can’t wait to see where this will take me.”
Second place Caitie Gehlhausen received $1,500 for her business idea, Socket Lock-It. The Socket Lock-It is an adhesive cardholder for the back of your phone that has a receptacle to exchange your phone grips to match your style, mood, or outfit. It allows the user to no longer choose between the cardholder and phone grip.
“Each year we are seeing more and more of our students embrace entrepreneurship, and that reinforces the fact that our students are extraordinary and will be future leaders,” says Kathy Elliott, assistant professor and director of entrepreneurship at HPU. “It’s exciting to see how the number of great ideas grow – great ideas that we hope will become companies one day.”
This year’s third place winner was Jared Brumm who received $900 for his business idea, Easy Reach Crutch. Manon Zijlmans received the People’s Choice which was for $100 for her idea, The Sticky Sleep Mask.
The Business Accelerator Fund and McKee Entrepreneurship Fund were established to support the annual Phillips School of Business Elevator Pitch Competition. The competition provides HPU students with the opportunity to pitch their business ideas to a panel of judges who are experienced entrepreneurs, with cash awards going to the top presenters. The award money allows students to invest in their business ideas and move forward in making the ideas a reality.