New Venture Competition Winners & Innovator’s Night Recap
Inspiration, Competition, and Recognition for BU’s Trailblazers
Innovator’s Night was a momentous occasion where nearly 300 excited attendees gathered to celebrate the remarkable students and colleagues making waves in our innovation and entrepreneurship community.
The New Venture Competition, BU’s largest pitch competition, was the highlight of the evening. After competing in the final rounds earlier this week, the 12 finalists presented their ventures to the audience in 1-minute pitches. Once all the teams in each track finished, the audience voted for the team they thought lit up the room.
Before announcing the teams that would take home a piece of the $72,000 prize pool, we still had a few more awards to deliver!
Community members who contributed significantly to BU’s innovation ecosystem were also recognized. The prestigious Henry Morgan Award and the inaugural Mentor of the Year Award were presented to Wendy Swart Grossman and Cynthia Cohen, respectively, for their dedication to fostering student success and innovation.
The Student of The Year Award was presented to Maria Gorskikh (QST’23), winner of the 2023 BU Refugee Challange with her DREAM Lab Ventures. She’s also the Co-founder of StanchionSaver and of Sharing Ground.
The event also honored students accepted into the prestigious Summer Accelerator and Enlight Social Impact Incubator programs, talented individuals who are dedicating their summer to nurturing their ventures and refining their skills.
And finally, we are delighted to announce the winners of the 2023 New Venture Competition!
Enlaye, a revolutionary cloud-based platform for contract writing, negotiation, and deep collaboration, claimed first place and $20,000 in the General Track. Meanwhile, The Sweaty Penguin, an award-winning PBS climate program that injects humor and solution-focused reporting into environmental news, won first place and a $20,000 cash prize in the Social Impact Track.
In the General Track, Astra Wellbeing took second, winning $10,000, and third place went to INIA Biosciences, winning $6,000. AutoPCB won the $500 Audience Choice award.
And for the Social Impact Track, second place went to PalmFronds, winning $10,000, and third place went to Glamour City Technologies, winning $6,000. Shop Swapp won the $500 Audience Choice award.
About Innovate@BU’s New Venture Competition
For more than 20 years, hundreds of BU Terriers from every BU school and college have put forth new and innovative ideas through the New Venture Competition. For some, the competition has served as a launching point to take their venture and social impact projects to the next level or to make entrepreneurship their full-time role. And for others, it’s given them the skills, confidence, and mindset needed to create impact through their careers and in their communities.
How it Works
The New Venture Competition is open to BU student-led or recent alumni (graduated within one year) ventures in the seed, start-up, or early stages. Ventures of all kinds – tech, consumer, creative, social impact, nonprofit, etc – are welcome to apply and participate in either the General Track or the Social Impact Track.
Teams compete in up to three rounds, ultimately awarding $6,000-$20,000 to the top six teams (three from each track). Audience Choice Awards also come with additional prize money.
Related posts:
Announcing the Winners of the 2022 New Venture Competition!
Mount and RefEd Take Top Prize at Boston University’s $64k New Venture Competition Finale
CleanSeat and Patient First Win First Place at Boston University’s $64k New Venture Competition Finale
Applications Are Open for the 21st Annual New Venture Competition