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Undergraduates with plenty to say were given just 60 seconds to pitch a panel of judges their business proposal during the second annual Boston College Venture Competition Elevator Pitch Competition, held last Wednesday in the Carroll School of Management.
A precursor to the BCVC business plan competition during the spring semester, the so-called “elevator pitch” contest draws students from throughout the University. This year there were nearly 40 entrants, with 20 picked to compete in the finals, according to Jingni Wei ’12, chair of this year’s BCVC organizing committee.
First place went to Strive, a mobile and web-based live stream application to connect college students, presented by Cristina De Leon ’13. Second place went to Neuro Tone, a music consulting service, presented by Sven Benson ’12. Third place went to Future Suits, an innovative design and material for suits, presented by Derek Switaj ’15.
A social entrepreneurship award went to Muhan Zhang ’14, for Augmentide, an online curriculum to integrate technology into the lives of senior citizens and retirees. The Audience Choice award went to Maji, a non-profit created to provide water for the poor in Tanzania, presented by Maxwell Ade ’12.
The judges were Bijan Sabet ’91, of Spark Capital, Greg Dracon of .406 Ventures, and Katie Rae of TechStars Boston.