Ian Mashiter, Innovate@BU interim executive director (from left), Li Liang, BUild Lab managing director, husband-and-wife duo Noah Flynn (ENG’21) and Astha Flynn (CAS’18, Questrom’23), and Tom Samph (COM’10), Innovate@BU program director, with the Flynns’ winning check for their start-up MetNet. Photo by Jesse Wang (CAS’24)

Accolades

Entrepreneurial Students, Alum Take Home $64,000 in Cash Prizes at Recent Innovate@BU’s New Venture Competition

12 finalist teams, all in early stages of entrepreneurial ventures, competed for funding to further their initiatives

At last Thursday’s annual New Venture Competition, Jonathan Allen (LAW’19), Innovate@BU’s innovator in residence, issued a simple reminder to the crowd: “We have the capacity to make real change.”

Boston University’s Photonics Center Colloquium Room was abuzz with excitement that night. Innovate@BU’s annual competition saw a dozen finalist teams, all in early stages of entrepreneurial ventures, pitching their original concepts to a crowd of 200 people. Networking segued to two-minute presentations and then the celebratory announcement of the night’s winners. The event, BU’s largest pitch competition, marked the first time in three years that the competition’s prizes—totaling $64,000—were awarded in person. 

The New Venture Competition is open to BU students and alums (who graduated within the last year) developing solutions to address largely unmet needs within the community that have the potential to grow into scalable ventures. The evening was the final of three rounds of competition that started in February and included written applications and several rounds of pitching. Ahead of the event, finalists presented their pitches before a closed panel of judges. 

Teams compete in either the social impact track (for-profit, nonprofit, or hybrid ventures that incite positive change on an economic, environmental, social, or cultural level) or the general track (for-profit ventures with a focus on creating value for a larger market). Three teams from each track were awarded to further their initiatives: $18,000 for first place, $8,000 for second place, and $6,000 for third place. 

The $18,000 first-place winner in the social impact track was Ollie, a toy doll that connects to an app, allowing children to play positive affirmations on repeat, and listen to them as they fall asleep. “Children like my siblings—and my younger self—are going to have the confidence-building tools they need to flourish into great adults,” said Tiana Catala (COM’22), Ollie’s inventor. “This win gives me hope.” 

First-place prize for the general track was awarded to husband-and-wife team Noah Flynn (ENG’21) and Astha Flynn (CAS’18, Questrom’23) for their computational-based AI screening tool MetNet. The platform analyzes prescription drug toxicity and prevents problematic drugs from reaching the market, while also reducing research and development costs for pharmaceutical companies. 

“It’s great to see that [pharmaceutical companies] are looking to these young, eager collaborators in order to work together to create actual solutions,” Astha Flynn said. 

The $8,000 second-place social impact track prize went to Phil Reason (SSW’21, SPH’22), a graduate student who dreamed up Daily Living, a Black-founded recovery house. Reason said his ultimate goal is to provide Black people who are either reentering citizens or unhoused with access to affordable and substance-free housing. Daily Living also offers coaching, group sessions, and trauma-informed clinical care. 

“I’ve been sober for over 11 years,” Reason said before the crowd on Thursday. “I think that’s important to say, because I’ve committed my personal and professional life to giving back to the community which I come from.”

Airflow Seating System Technologies won second place for the general track. The team, Harin Lee (ENG’22), Irving Li (ENG’22), Jessica Man (ENG’22), Dhvanil Nanshah (ENG’22), and Cooper Shifrin (ENG’22), are developing a medical-grade mattress for people with limited mobility that prevents pressure injuries like bed sores. 

Hutch, the third-place winner in the social impact track, consists of Ryan Dunfree (Questrom’23), Camryn Williams (ENG’22), and Michael O’Brien Crayne (Questrom’22). The team is working to bring energy-efficient and electrification upgrades to homeowners, which in turn could eliminate 20 percent of the US carbon pollution, they said.  

N. J. Umoh (CAS’23) used the challenges he faced as a computer science major as inspiration for CompSciLab, his third-place venture in the general track. The platform makes computer science concepts more easily understood, thanks to its multiuse online calculator, professional explanations, and resources for students and professionals. Umoh said that after launching in February, CompSciLab has over 60,000 unique page visits from 100 different countries. 

The audience also got their say and voted for two Audience Choice winners: CrewLab and Dollars & $ense, which received $500 each. 

Among the list of accolades was the announcement of Innovate@BU’s Student Innovator of the Year. Glo Robinson (COM’22), a familiar face around the BUild Lab, credits her win to her love of solving societal problems. Robinson transformed her WTBU podcast Go Off! into a social media platform that she presented at the 2020 New Venture Competition and built out during her stints in Innovate@BU’s Innovation Pathway and Summer Accelerator program. Robinson has also served as a member of the student advisory board at the BUild Lab.