Eleven teams, comprising one to three students, had exactly four minutes to make their pitches in front of a panel of six judges. This was followed by five minutes of Q&A with the judges, five of them ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø±¬ÍøÕ¾ alumni working in areas such as venture capital, product design, and luxury goods. The other judge was McKeen Center Associate Director Tom Ancona.
Three prizes were awarded—for best pitch, most innovative idea, and most investable idea—each worth $500 in seed capital.
The prize for “best pitch” went to Andrea Becker ’26 for her proposal called Just Green, a platform to connect early-stage environmental companies in Maine with college students interested in sustainability and climate change issues.
“Just Green uses an algorithm that specifically prioritizes connecting students with start-ups in the region of their college,” said Becker. “The platform values personal connection and some semblance of face-to face interaction, as well as building up the regional economic community,” she added. “Overall, the pitch competition was an incredible experience in both presenting and diving headfirst into entrepreneurship, as well as meeting accomplished ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø±¬ÍøÕ¾ alumni.
The “most investable idea” honors went to a venture called Re-direct Med, presented by Ben Korengold ’27 and his classmate Khush Patel. They want to find a way of putting to good use the large amount of short-dated medication that is discarded because its expiry date is approaching. Their aim, said Patel, is to facilitate the donation of these medications by creating a standardized platform connecting pharmaceutical manufacturers with medical charities. “Every day there isn’t such a platform, millions of dollars of medications are destroyed,” he said. The next steps, added Patel, are to continue to reach out to pharmaceutical manufacturers, distributors, and charitable partners, and to build out the prototype software.
“Most innovative pitch” award went to Jonathan Li ’25, for his company, First, Art, an online platform that allows young and aspiring artist to share their art and turn a profit. “In the US we have about 3.3 million living visual artists, people who have dedicated three to four years of their lives honing their artistic skills,” Li told the judges. Only a tiny percentage of these work in creative careers, he said, with just a small proportion of “superstar” artists taking a huge chunk of the market. Li’s plan is an online, democratized platform featuring art school graduates and students. By signing up to this platform, which charges on a sliding scale, consumers can link up with artists and find the artwork they like, be it in the form of prints, T-shirts, or any other kind of merchandise, he explained.
The idea behind the pitch competition and the series of events leading up to it was to encourage students to develop winning product ideas rather than full-blown business ventures, said CXD advisor Lisa Noble, who organized the events.
“One of things that made these pitches so impressive was the fact that they had only a week or two to prepare, while also juggling academics, job seeking, and other campus activities.”
Noble said she and the judges were impressed by the variety of different business plans put forward by all the students. “They’re developing tons of ideas for making the world a better place! Whether they are improving the campus dating scene for the relationship-minded, connecting students to high-paying green employers, increasing student access to higher education, helping artists (visual, musical) support themselves with their art, helping patients in need access short-dated medication at low or no cost, or giving young athletes the opportunity to develop their skills, ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø±¬ÍøÕ¾ students dazzled all of us with their fresh thinking and enterprise!”
Judge Tom Ancona said it was exciting to see so many innovative start-up pitches from ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø±¬ÍøÕ¾ students. “What was impressive to me was how far along and well thought-out many of the pitches were. There were businesses pitched here that, if launched, could have a tremendous impact in the coming years,” he added.
Fellow judge Nina Scheepers ’14 said it was inspiring to see the different ideas that each team was passionate about, which made picking the winner a difficult decision in every category. “It’s great to see the entrepreneurial programming and support,” she added. “The students all have innovative ideas, and it’s important that they have access to mentors, community, and awards to help them iterate and continue develop their concepts.”
Meet the judges:
- ’83, founder of the eponymous shoe brand
- ’98, general partner, ProductXP
- ’89, general partner, The Alchemy Fund
- ’14, principal, Maine Venture Fund
- ’82, general counsel and head of transaction execution, 22Health Ventures
- Tom Ancona, associate director, McKeen Center
