Congrats to our 2019 winners!
1st place - uvm - REcovery Robe
Max Muller, Grayson Glosser, Sevda Beridze, Ross Elkort
Recovery Robe is a novel redesign of the age-old hospital gown that has plagued patients and medical professionals for generations. The Recovery Robe is easier to put on, and unlike traditional gowns, it preserves patients’ dignity, provides accessibility for hospital staff, and reduces risk of infection and injury.
2nd place - Middlebury - Loveland Armaments
Kyle Loveland
Loveland Foam Armaments designs, builds, and sells foam dart blasters for adults that combine the convenience and safety of Nerf guns with the excitement of paintball. Our team is committed to creating high-performance blasters that are ready to use out of the box -- without modification or hassle. It’s time to play like a kid again!
LaunchVT Collegiate is a pitch competition for entrepreneurs from Vermont's colleges and universities. Teams of student entrepreneurs from around the state compete in pitch competitions at their respective schools, and the winners are invited to the LaunchVT Collegiate Competition. Schools will send their winning teams to pitch their businesses and vie for thousands of dollars in cash prizes. Come see what the next generation of VT entrepreneurs are working on and network with the teams and their advisors. The event is FREE and open to the public, register to attend by submitting form above.
Participating Schools
Program overview:
Pitch Competition
Each collegiate team will have 7 minutes to present their pitch, followed by three minutes of Q&A. A panel of three judges will determine if the plan is viable and offers a likelihood of meaningful growth and successful business using the following criteria:
Market-Opportunity: How well defined is the target market? How great is the opportunity based on the size and value of the market?
Problem-Solution: How well does the product or service solve the customer problem? How compelling is the value proposition?
Business Model: How well defined are the revenue streams? How scalable and profitable are the revenue model, cost structure and pricing?
Competitive Advantage: How valuable are the advantages the business has over their competition? How clear is the strategy for using these advantages?
Presentation: How compelling was the presentation? How clearly did it demonstrate the business model and likelihood of success?
Use of Funds: How well defined is the planned use of prize money? How well positioned is the company to take advantage of the funding?
Cash prizes will be awarded to the winning teams.
Check out the complete list of Rules
Advisory Session
After the pitch competition each team will work with an advisor from a different school during an intensive feedback and strategy session. During the advisory session, teams will receive feedback on the their pitches and business models, and they will get strategic advice from a business expert.
2018 Launch VT Collegiate judges
Gwen Pokalo
Gwen is the Director of the Center for Women & Enterprise Vermont, an economic development non-profit that helps people start and grow their businesses. She got started as an entrepreneur when she developed one of the first student-run retail incubators in the country featuring products from emerging Vermont entrepreneurs. She owned an artist representation and business consulting firm and has worked in rural development research and held positions directing women’s business development organizations. She teaches small business, finance, and accounting at the college level. She holds a Master’s in Applied Economics and Community Development from the University of Vermont and serves on the boards of LaunchVT, the Vermont Community Loan Fund, and the Women’s Business Owners Network (WBON).
Scott Gale
For 20 years, Scott has been leading teams that build software to solve acute business problems. Scott started at Dealer.com when it was an 8-person company and spent 17 years there through two acquisitions. During Scott's tenure, he ran multiple development teams with a concentration on websites, then moved on to solution architecture across Dealer.com and subsequently Cox Automotive.
Today, Scott is a founding member and VP of Engineering of Fluency, a company helping large businesses scale advertising. Scott is an active angel investor and sits on the board of directors for the North Country Angels.
Bonnie Reese
Bonnie Reese is an entrepreneur and student of entrepreneurship. Her career began in San Francisco where she grew her book of business at the Citigroup Private Bank from $10 MM to $100 MM through strategic partnerships and an education-based marketing campaign. She then moved on to the world of entrepreneurship, leveraging her understanding of how large firms make purchasing decisions and set up structures and processes to manage growth. She earned an MBA at Babson College and subsequently co-founded Radius Tracking Systems, an RFID-based technology start-up in Cambridge, MA, where she served as CEO for three years. Now Bonnie lives in Vermont where she works with small and medium sized companies on business development strategies in addition to pursuing a PhD in Natural Resources from the University of Vermont.