Katherine Olives
Almost 200 students, faculty, staff, venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, mentors, sponsors, and family members watched in awe as eight startups gave it their all and pitched for the chance to win the grand prizes in each of our four competition categories. To us, everyone was a winner last night. And as CCNY President Vince Boudreau put it: “What you'll see here tonight is the future of CCNY–nimbleness, adaptiveness, that entrepreneurial thinking, is the future, and there's no better time to be here.”
But, there can only be four grand prize winners. It is with great excitement that I announce the top startups in each category:
Kaylie Prize:
The Coach, an interactive, automated boxing device that trains you & makes working out fun, won the Kaylie Prize for $50,000.This prize is part of an endowment sponsored by City College alum Harvey Kaylie, founder of Mini Circuits. The Coach team is dedicated to fitness and believes its the best preventive medicine. However, they know working out isnt always easy, and it certainly isnt always fun. Their goal is to bring an engaging boxing HIIT workout into the home to fit busy lifestyles, almost like a Peloton for boxing. They'll use the funds to manufacture their device. The Coach is made up of Mechanical Engineering majors Okiermute Oyiborhoro and Mahutin Paul, Computer Engineering major Krongchai Praponpoj, Computer Science major Nicholas Weatherley, and graduate student Granville Parker.
Zahn Social Impact Prize:
Beyond the Margins focuses on supporting “middle school deserts” with supplemental education designed to help students understand their passions and figure out what high schools would be best for them. They won first place in the Zahn Social Impact Prize, sponsored by the Moxie Foundation and worth $25,000. For the past month theyve held workshops for middle schoolers in the NYC area, introducing them to a variety of different topics to supplement their education. Their goal is to help students go beyond the margins of the page and explore things that theyre passionate about. Beyond the Margins is led by Arielle Gallegos, an International Studies and Anthropology major; Jasmine Martin, an Advertising and Public Relations major; and Francisca Vallejo, a Mechanical Engineering major.
Standard Chartered Women + Tech4NYC Prize:
STEM Hive is a non-profit organization dedicated to engaging young girls in STEM fields, and they won first place in the Standard Chartered Women+Tech4NYC Prize, sponsored by Standard Chartered Bank and worth $25,000. The idea was born at a Hackathon here at CCNY when the founders realized that they werent the only ones who questioned careers in STEM even after loving science and robotics all their lives. STEM Hive is on a mission to make sure that girls never lose their interest in STEM and pursue careers in the field. Theyll use a combination of near-peer mentorship, workshops, skill-building curriculum, and more to keep young girls engaged in STEM. The team is made up of BIC student Penelope Herrera, Biochemistry major Karla Jacome, Biology major Carolina Perez, and Computer Engineering major Daniel Gaston.
Zahn Technology Prize:
MoneyMiles is a fitness app centered around runners. Through running competitions and personalized analytics, their goal is to encourage everyone to get out and run more! They won a first place of $25,000 in the Zahn Technology Prize, also sponsored by the Moxie Foundation. Although entering a crowded space, the MoneyMiles team is excited to focus on the motivations of runners, and they spend a lot of time talking to runners to truly understand what they need. A group of fitness junkies themselves, the team believes in the power of exercise to relieve stress, stay healthy, and make friends. The MoneyMiles team is made up of Computer Environmental Engineering student Jennifer Duong, Computer Engineering student Simranjit Kaur, Computer Science student Bhavesh Shah, and Anim Xhafa.
These winning startups were chosen by four separate panels of elite judges, one for each track. Read more about our panels of judges here.
We are so thankful for those who joined us in supporting these outstanding startups last night (and for those who were there in spirit!). In the upcoming months, well work closely with these startups to maintain goals and meet specific milestones. We cannot wait to share their progress with you, but in the meantime, check back next week for some exciting news about our Summer Accelerator!