NEW YORK -- At the end of February the BIG EAST hosted its second Startup Challenge, a competition featuring innovations and products from teams of student entrepreneurs representing all 11 Conference institutions. This year, the competition, went virtual on zoom. The winners of the challenge were Owen Delaney, Jacquelyn Ryan and Faith Linscott from Providence College with their innovation: "Umeal."
The three-student PC team won first place and $750 for “UMeal,” a meal kit that can be assembled from ingredients in a college dining hall and prepared in a student room.
Under the UMeal concept, college students would create an online profile with “pickiness preferences” and dietary restrictions, order ingredients for their kit, and pick them up from the dining hall at their convenience. Meal preparation videos would be available online, with new recipes added weekly, tailored to whatever kitchen equipment students had available — microwaves, blenders, or stoves.
The judges were seasoned entrepreneurs, innovators, venture capitalists and business leaders, A few have ties to BIG EAST institutions. Judges include:
- Brandon Andrews, Entrepreneur and Co-Founder of Guage
- Joe Charles, Senior Vice President, Alliant Insurance
- Gary Coichy, Head of Partnerships, Pod Digital Media
- Wes Day, Partner and Deal Management, TEALL Capital
- Chad Stender, Managing Director, SeventySix Capital
- Rick Stravato, Senior Vice President, Business Development, PIMCO
- Kristy Wallace, Chief Executive Officer, Ellevate Network
Teams were judged on idea and concept, market need, value proposition, feasibility, and passion, and presentation. The top two teams receive an honorarium to be used to help grow their startup business.
Watch the competition below. For more on the Startup Challenge click
here.