Six student teams have been selected as semifinalists for the annual Tulane Business Model Competition, presented by the A.B. Freeman School’s Albert Lepage Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.
Each year the student-led teams from universities across the country compete for over $40,000 in cash prizes. The competition is designed to highlight startups and early-stage ventures that demonstrate high growth potential and a market-tested ability to adapt to customer needs.
“On behalf of all of the judges who helped us select these six companies, I want to congratulate our six semifinalists,” said Rob Lalka, executive director of the Albert Lepage Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. “The competition was fierce, but these business models truly stood out. We look forward to hearing them pitch at the start of New Orleans’s weeklong celebration of entrepreneurship and innovation.”
Meet the semifinalists below:
- AssistENT (Johns Hopkins University) is developing Schnozzle (patent pending), the first nasal dilator designed for use during the day.
- Boost Linquistics (Drexel University) develops artificial intelligence that works alongside marketing teams to help produce content that engages customers.
- Eye C You (University of Missouri) develops vision devices to assist the population of individuals with simple and chronic sensory perception impairments.
- Imperent (Tulane University) is an app-based peer-to-peer documentation and payment technology that simplifies rental payments and keeps security deposits safe.
- STEM Library Lab (Tulane University) is a resource center that lends science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) material and trains teachers and schools to improve inquiry-based learning in the classroom.
- Uchooze Lunchbox (University of Arkansas) provides healthier kid-chosen school lunch options through engagement of an on-line platform.
All six teams will pitch during the qualifying round on March 19 during New Orleans Entrepreneur Week (NOEW), the annual local festival of innovation and entrepreneurship. The final pitch will take place n April 19 at the Goldring Woldenberg Business Complex on Tulane’s campus.
The winning team will take home the $25,00 grand prize and go on to compete in the International Business Model Competition, run by Brigham Young University in Utah.