Congratulations and thank you to Husky Innovate’s Bob Mark Business Model Pitch Competition contestants and winners! On January 27th, 16 Michigan Tech students, representing diverse majors, participated in the competition either virtually over Zoom or in-person, and pitched their business models to a panel of judges and to a live audience. Each contestant was provided 4 minutes to pitch key components of their business models, including the value proposition and customer segment.
A highlight of Michigan Tech’s Innovation Week, this legacy event celebrates entrepreneurship and is a tribute to the late College of Business Professor of Practice Bob Mark. There were three categories of prizes: business model, social impact, and breakout innovation. The business model category looked at how well the solution addresses the customers’ needs, the path to revenue, and the overall presentation. The social impact category examined the significance of the social problem and how well the solution addressed it. The breakout innovation award considered the solution’s novelty, ease of implementation, and time to implementation.
Congrats to all the contestants who took a big step forward with their entrepreneurship goals when they pitched their business models. Special congratulations to our award winners:
Business Model Category
Presented by College of Business, thank you to sponsors Rick and Jo Berquist, and Dan and Jane Green for sponsoring the Audience Favorite award.
- First prize – Akhil Kurup with Sense ($2,000)
- Second prize – Maggie Zimmermann with Famealia ($1,000)
- Third prize – Jakob Christiansen with ProBoard ($500)
- Honorable Mention – Nick Peterson with NOMAD ($250)
- Audience Favorite – Maggie Zimmermann with Famealia ($250)
Social Impact Award Category
Sponsored and presented by Dr. Elham Asgari, Gates Professor College of Business, with a $1,000 matching contribution from Arick Davis and Jake Northey of Creative Mines.
- Bayle Golden with STEMPOWER ($2,000)
Breakout Innovation Award
Presented by Patrick Visser, Chief Commercial Officer, MTEC SmartZone, sponsored by the MTEC SmartZone and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation.
- Akhil Kurup with Sense ($1,000)
First Place and Breakout Innovation Award – Akhil Kurup with Sense
Second Place and Audience Favorite – Maggie Zimmermann with Famealia
Third Place – Jakob Christiansen with ProBoard
Honorable Mention – Nick Peterson with NOMAD
Social Impact Award – Bayle Golden with STEMPOWE
Husky Innovate extends a special thanks to those who provided their time and resources to make the competition a success.
Our Sponsors
- Dean Johnson, Dean, College of Business
- Elham Asgari, Gates Professor, College of Business
- Rick and Jo Berquist
- Dan and Jane Green
- Arick Davis and Jake Northey, Creative Mines
- MTEC SmartZone and the MEDC
Our Judges
- Jim Baker, Associate VP Research Administration, Co-Director Husky Innovate
- Michelle Jarvie-Eggart, Assistant Professor Engineering Fundamentals
- Eric Roberts, Executive Director 20Fathoms
- David Shull, Senior Director Skills Partnerships, Handshake
- Elham Asgari, Gates Professor, College of Business
- Dan Green, Entrepreneur, and Principal at BlackFin Group, MTU Alumnus
- Arick Davis, Entrepreneur, Co-founder Last Mile Cafe, Creative Mines, MTU Alumnus
Our Emcee
Gary Tropp, Computer Network and System Administration, Pavlis Honors College Student, University Innovation Fellow, and Husky Innovate Pitch winner ‘18, ‘19.
Our Marketing Team
Vienna Leonarduzzi, Marketing and Communications Director, Pavlis Honors College, and Laura Vidal Chiesa, Michigan Tech Ph.D. Student, College of Sciences and Arts and Husky Innovate Intern.
Our Production Team
Special thanks to Stefan Hurthibise and the Michigan Tech IT team, Sound and Lighting Services’ James Langsford, Elijah Nation, Luke Schloemp, and the rest of the team, and Photo Services provided by Alok Shelar of University Marketing and Communications, and Dining and Catering Services for their support.
A special thank you to the Office of Advancement and Alumni Engagement for inviting all Bob Mark pitch contestants to watch the January 29th Michigan Tech Hockey game from the Presidential Skybox.
Thanks to all who attended! We look forward to next year’s event!