Student entrepreneurs win big in final round of UVA E-Cup – Darden Report Online

Student entrepreneurs at the University of Virginia collectively won $50,000 in prize money and in-kind services to further develop their ventures, focusing on an emergency action plan app, memory documentation, pickleball paddles and Indian spice blends.

Ten startups competed April 18 in the final phase of the UVA Entrepreneurship Cup, hosted by the Batten Institute for Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Technology at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business. The E-Cup is an annual three-part series of pitch competitions for UVA students, including students from UVA’s College at Wise. The capstone competition, Launch, was held in the Irving Theater of the CODE Building in downtown Charlottesville before an enthusiastic evening crowd.

Jacob Swisher (now ’25) and Anthony “AJ” Peppers (SEAS ’24) won first place and $20,000 for their venture, EZ-EAP. The students work together to create an app for athletes that provides easy access to emergency action plans.

Swisher said he got the idea for EZ-EAP while working as a sports medicine intern.

“I was frustrated with the current industry standard of paper Emergency Action Plans (EAPs), which lacked functionality. I knew there was an opportunity to improve the standard, so I worked with AJ to build a solution. We built EZ-EAP in hopes of helping athletic trainers and improving athlete safety,” he said.

Moment earned second place and $15,000, along with the Audience Choice Award worth an additional $5,000, which was determined in real time using polling software. Founded by Ayush Bhatia (Col ’24) and Rohit Rajuladevi (SEAS ’24), Moment’s product is an app that allows users to document memories in various formats with varying levels of privacy.

Darden sophomores Ellie Jamison and Grace Collins took third place and $10,000 for their business, Play Henry, which produces the first official pickleball paddles for UVA with plans to expand into apparel and other products.

Rounding out the winners were Mom’s Magic, awarded an honorable mention and $5,000. Mom’s Magic, founded by Darden second-year students Darshan Savalia, Garima Seth and Aniket Chaudhari, produces spice blends for home cooks creating Indian recipes.

The 2023-2024 Entrepreneurship Cup series kicked off with the Concept Competition in November and continued with the Discovery Competition in February, in which student entrepreneurs apply principles of effectuation, a method developed by Professor Saras Sarasvathy, to their business plans to reduce risk Reduce .

To participate in Launch, participants must demonstrate a serious commitment to their business and convince the judges that it is both sustainable and capable of growth. MJ Toms, director of education and experiential learning at Darden’s Batten Institute, finds that the competition attracts enterprising students who enjoy solving problems.

“It is fun and exciting to see the problems students solve with passion and the energy and creativity they bring,” she said.

Brett Brohl (MBA ’09), managing partner at Bread & Butter Ventures, was one of four judges for Launch. He says that his participation as a judge has given him a special perspective on supporting entrepreneurship at UVA.

“As judges, we have the privilege of meeting founders building companies in so many different spaces, from vertical SaaS, like our winner EZ EAP to our third place winner, Play Henry, who takes a fun approach to pickle ball. It gives you an appreciation for the innovation that is happening across the UVA ecosystem,” Brohl said.

Other judges included Wayman Newton (Law ’07), real estate entrepreneur and attorney at Community Lawyers; Dana Warren, venture partner at Canaan; and John Woolard (Col ’87, MUEP ’92), CEO of Meridian Clean Energy.

The next chapter of their entrepreneurial journey has begun for EZ-EAP and the other winners.

“We are super excited about what the future holds, especially after this win. The prize funds will be extremely helpful as we launch our application, but the real prize was the validation from the four incredible judges and the support that followed,” said Swisher.

Carr Award goes to enterprising UVA alumni with healthcare startups

Rithika Kormath (SEAS ’23) and Haeley Wotnosky (McIntire ’23) received a $25,000 award from Darden’s Batten Institute to further the advancement of their venture, Synersia.

Rithika Kormath (SEAS ’23) and Haeley Wotnosky (McIntire ’23) received a $25,000 award from Darden’s Batten Institute to further the advancement of their venture, Synersia, which is developing a patented numbing cream technology to address the shortcomings of other topical pain treatments to deal with. Products.

Wotnosky and Kormath met at UVA and quickly discovered a shared passion for making a meaningful difference in the lives of others. As students and alumni, they found a robust network of support, including mentors, workshops and the i.Lab Incubator program hosted by the Batten Institute.

“We founded Synersia after witnessing firsthand the inadequate pain management solutions available in dermatology clinics. The serious side effects and even fatalities associated with current treatments were particularly alarming. Synersia was born out of the desire to provide safe, effective pain treatment, especially to women, who are the predominant patient population in aesthetic procedures,” said Wotnosky.

Each year, the Kathryne Carr Award for Entrepreneurial Excellence is presented to a company that has participated in the Darden i.Lab Incubator, whose founders best exemplify characteristics important to Carr, including grit and community spirit, while pursuing commercial success .

Jason Brewster, director of ventures at Darden’s Batten Institute, was pleased to see how many companies qualified for consideration.

“The Kathryne Carr Award was particularly competitive this year, with the majority of the i.Lab cohort continuing to develop their businesses after completing the incubator program. Most of all, Synersia’s Haeley and Rithika showed “moxie,” a quality we associate with Kathy. I like to think Kathy would love to see what these enterprising students have accomplished and the directions they are heading.”

For Kormath and her co-founder, the connection between their entrepreneurial journey and Carr’s legacy is clear.

“We draw inspiration from Kathy’s legacy as a mentor and leader, and her integrity, generosity and commitment to innovation. We are grateful for the opportunity to share our journey, give back to the community, and we are excited for the future,” she said.