00:00 - Hi, my name is Anna Ottman and I'm the creator of Local Loop.

00:04 - I am the founder of Easy Sasa.

00:07 - My name is Su Ally and I develop the cancer learning kit.

00:10 - I'm just.

00:11 - And I'm Katelyn and we are the inventors of Forced Out.

00:14 - My name is Emmanuel, England.

00:16 - I am the creator of Meiling.

00:17 - I'm Abby, and I'm Jason.

00:19 - And we're teammates, best friends and co-founders of Club Rally

00:23 - club rally is the go to platform for athletes who want to keep

00:26 - playing the sports they love, no matter where life takes them.

00:29 - Local loop is a personalized local discovery app

00:32 - that connects customers with small businesses nearby.

00:35 - Forced out as an innovative underground liner meant for all glove bearing

00:39 - athletes.

00:39 - Cancer is a miniature satellite the size of a soda can.

00:43 - My link is a personal assistant created for college students to help them

00:46 - through any stage of their career, but not only going to create jobs,

00:50 - but also going to address the challenge of food waste disposal in the city.

01:05 - Good evening everyone.

01:07 - Welcome to Biz Pitch 2026.

01:09 - My name is Steve Stammers and I founded and have directed

01:15 - Biz Pitch for the last 14 years.

01:19 - In those years I have never seen a team,

01:22 - a group of presenters more ready for the finale.

01:28 - So to start with, I'd like to invite everyone

01:32 - in this amazingly packed and energetic room to give a fantastic

01:36 - round of applause to our best pitch competitors.

01:48 - In directing this pitch, I have the honor of serving as a staff

01:51 - fellow for the Paris Elie Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation

01:56 - and additionally, my role at Bucknell includes

01:59 - directing the Small Business Development Center.

02:02 - So in both of these roles, serving entrepreneurs,

02:05 - connecting them with resources to help them launch new companies,

02:10 - to help companies of the region to grow and be successful.

02:15 - This is what makes my heart

02:18 - beat faster, and I am so excited to be seeing

02:22 - these students share their stories, share their pitches with you tonight!

02:28 - Before we get started hearing from our students,

02:31 - I encourage you to share your experiences.

02:35 - You will see and I hope you have had a chance to, to

02:38 - to preview even some of the students involved.

02:42 - On Instagram. Bucknell biz pitch.

02:45 - I encourage you to tag Bucknell biz

02:48 - pitch in your stories and your posts.

02:51 - Our student team who assists with this pitch

02:55 - will be watching those who will be highlighting some of those

02:59 - and awarding some audience prizes at the end of the night.

03:04 - So check your DMs for your opportunity

03:08 - to win your own prizes in biz.

03:11 - Pitch.

03:15 - Through this Pacelli Center for entrepreneurship,

03:20 - the focus is on building people before ventures.

03:25 - So seeing these students grow, seeing these students develop is,

03:31 - if not as important as the progress that they take with their startups.

03:37 - Even more important.

03:38 - We're educators and we're here to see them grow.

03:42 - In addition to our students here tonight,

03:45 - I am very pleased to welcome our alumni judges.

03:49 - Thank you each for coming back to campus. Yes.

03:52 - Please give Matt, Jasmine, and Sabrina.

04:00 - Briefly introducing Matt, Jasmine, and Sabrina.

04:03 - And I also encourage all of you to learn about their experience

04:07 - and industry, their successes

04:08 - in their own, in companies, in the programs with you tonight.

04:12 - But Matt Hornbuckle is a member of the class of

04:16 - 2007, is a brand builder, is a company founder.

04:20 - He's currently working on a new venture

04:23 - in the better for you food space.

04:26 - Previously, he founded stents.

04:30 - Technology driven men's wear company.

04:34 - Early in his career.

04:35 - He, gained experience at Johnson and Johnson.

04:38 - So, Matt, thank you for being here.

04:41 - Jasmine joins us.

04:43 - Jasmine young broker, class of 2011,

04:46 - co-founding co-founder of Bright Wood Design and Build.

04:50 - She joins us from the Washington, DC area.

04:53 - The commercial and residential projects that Brightwood undertakes.

04:58 - She focuses on the customer experience as well as execution.

05:04 - She has a background in strategic consulting.

05:08 - And I'm very pleased to have you joining us.

05:10 - Our final judge, Sabrina Coutts, is a class of 2006

05:15 - alum, has a career and over

05:18 - 20 years in consumer packaged goods.

05:22 - She has had leadership roles in, major brands,

05:27 - across the PepsiCo, company

05:30 - and has seen the scale up and success of emerging brands

05:35 - that have found, rapid growth, such as Sabra hummus.

05:39 - So, Matt, Jasmine, Sabrina, thank you very much

05:43 - for joining us tonight.

05:51 - They have the toughest job in the room in front of them on their clipboards.

05:55 - Clipboards are a score sheet in which they will evaluate the pitches tonight

06:01 - based on a rubric of five categories

06:05 - how each pitch is describing a problem

06:09 - and what their solution for that problem is.

06:13 - How they have demonstrated an understanding of the market

06:17 - for their products and their specific customers.

06:21 - Third, how innovative this idea and their pitch is.

06:25 - Fourth, how feasible this company

06:29 - is for these students to run to, to launch and to grow.

06:33 - And fifth, the pitch.

06:36 - They're here telling stories.

06:38 - They will be memorable.

06:40 - We hope they will inspire you.

06:42 - We hope they will compel you to follow up with them

06:45 - and provide them the introductions, the advice,

06:49 - the further resources that they need to grow these companies.

06:53 - So, fifth, the pitch,

06:55 - those are the categories that our judges will be evaluating.

06:57 - We'll also ask them to select

07:01 - one more prize winner, the change maker.

07:04 - The change Maker award is a special prize for Bucknell University.

07:09 - The mission of these companies has so thoughtful,

07:13 - so well developed by each of our students.

07:17 - The Changemaker Award will recognize the pitch

07:21 - that seeks to have the greatest positive impact in the world.

07:25 - So in addition to the scoring of our our,

07:28 - our score sheet, the change maker will be selected by our judges.

07:34 - But it's not just them who has a vote.

07:38 - Everyone here in the terrace Room tonight,

07:41 - as well as viewers on our live stream,

07:45 - can vote on the fan favorite award.

07:49 - The significance of this is engaging with the community.

07:53 - And the amount of this prize is also relevant

07:56 - and and meaningful to the Bucknell community.

07:59 - Founded in 1846, Bucknell University is is backing

08:05 - the $1,846

08:09 - fan favorite prize after the final pitch.

08:12 - Look to the QR codes on screen.

08:14 - The QR codes in your programs, and for those viewing online on our live stream.

08:21 - Look to book now at this page, Instagram and find the link for the fan favorite.

08:26 - Vote in the profile.

08:29 - Coming up.

08:30 - Our presenters.

08:31 - We will have six finalists vying for the top prizes.

08:37 - But even before those six finalists, we're going

08:40 - to hear a special presentation from Buck block.

08:44 - Buck block is a team of three first year engineering students who we are

08:49 - recognizing with, with a special part of this pitch as our rising stars.

08:56 - Since applying for Biz Pitch,

08:58 - we have been impressed with the engagement

09:02 - that they have shown with the center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

09:07 - The progress they have made, and we are delighted

09:11 - to invite Henry Melrose, Carter Applegate

09:15 - and Vance Johnson to share Buck block with you tonight.

09:20 - Please welcome them.

09:28 - Hello.

09:29 - My name is Vance Johnson.

09:30 - I'm studying electrical engineering, and I'm from New York City.

09:33 - I'm Carter Applegate, I'm a computer science engineer, and I'm from new Jersey.

09:38 - I'm Henry Melrose,

09:39 - I'm solid in biomedical engineering, and I'm from outside of Philadelphia.

09:43 - Students want to succeed,

09:44 - and they're willing to put in the time and effort it takes to study.

09:47 - However, oftentimes they find themselves unable

09:50 - to escape distractions and cultivate deep focus

09:54 - even when they actively pursue less distracting environments like the library,

09:58 - they have to bring along the greatest distraction of all their phones.

10:02 - According to our survey, 40% of Bucknell students polled

10:06 - spend 40 minutes out of every two hour study session on our phones.

10:11 - Most of us have

10:11 - experienced sitting down with the intention to focus, only

10:15 - to check one notification and suddenly realize 20 or 30 minutes have gone by.

10:20 - We've done research on our competitors who have both hardware

10:23 - and software components, and we found they have some pretty solid program

10:27 - products, but we knew we could do better.

10:30 - That's why we built Buchla, a tool for institutions to help their students

10:34 - succeed.

10:35 - It starts with an NFC tag powered block block station.

10:38 - We embedded NFC tags into 3D printed mounts,

10:40 - where users will interact with block, block.

10:43 - Once user taps their phone against a block station, the NFC tag activates our app,

10:48 - disabling all distracting notifications and social media simultaneously.

10:53 - We are creating a physical, physical commitment to study

10:56 - within our app.

10:57 - We offer a customizable interface where users can block or unblock apps

11:01 - as they wish.

11:02 - So you can use your calculator for studying just on Instagram

11:06 - with Block block.

11:07 - We're offering a service for students to escape the noise of their digital lives

11:11 - by creating an environment where focus is the first priority

11:14 - and the pricing of block block is extremely cheap.

11:17 - The hardware components of block Block cost under $1 to manufacture

11:20 - per component.

11:22 - Fun distraction isn't a willpower problem.

11:25 - Each app on your phone is engineered by billion dollar companies,

11:28 - with one goal in mind to keep you on it.

11:31 - We think it's time schools start spending

11:33 - a fraction of that fighting back.

11:36 - The three market, the three apps on the market

11:40 - currently charge students $60 to use their product.

11:45 - This fixes a problem that they didn't create themselves.

11:48 - We flipped that model,

11:50 - but block is free for students to use because the institutions pay a simple

11:54 - annual subscription

11:55 - that gives our students access to the app and hardware ecosystem.

11:59 - Our market for this spans three distinct channels

12:02 - colleges, high schools, and corporate workplaces.

12:05 - We plan to start right here at McConnell's library.

12:08 - It's about an undeniable case study.

12:11 - From there, the high school market is where our distribution gets interesting.

12:15 - Through bug Blocks ambassador program, high school students pitch our product

12:19 - to their local district in exchange for a resume, credential and certificate.

12:24 - This drops our cost of acquisition in that market to practically zero.

12:29 - Once we're able to prove that our

12:32 - model works in education,

12:34 - any open plan office in the country is dealing with the same

12:37 - problem that we're solving.

12:40 - One case study at Bucknell opens every door.

12:43 - After that,

12:44 - we really appreciate the opportunities that biz pitches providing us.

12:47 - And that's why we're here

12:48 - seeking mentorship and advice as we continue to grow both work

12:52 - and get it in the hands of all students who deserve a fighting chance or focus.

12:56 - Thank you.

13:06 - So, judges, I invite you to pick up your microphone.

13:09 - And who would like to ask the first question

13:12 - or learn more about the clock?

13:18 - So you guys are freshmen? Yes.

13:20 - Super impressed.

13:21 - I mean, nowhere near as much progress

13:23 - on my business as a freshman, so congrats on that so far.

13:27 - I mean, I love how you kind of switch

13:28 - the model from consumer facing to more of a B2B model.

13:32 - When are you going to roll this out at Bucknell

13:34 - to actually start getting real data and usage?

13:36 - So we scheduled like an appointment with our library for next week.

13:41 - And so we're going to talk to her

13:42 - and we're aiming for next semester where we got seed funding.

13:47 - So we're going to be here over the summer working on this for a little bit.

13:50 - But we also have

13:51 - like our prototype here, which actually takes you to our,

13:54 - like, demo website if you want to scan your phone to it.

13:58 - Yeah.

13:58 - And those, those of you in the crowd are really focused.

14:02 - Those of you in the crowd, if you want to scan that QR code, it's

14:04 - going to bring you to the same place that he's showing them right now.

14:08 - You tap that.

14:11 - And, so it.

14:15 - Yeah. All right.

14:16 - Yeah.

14:17 - While Matt looks at the demo block.

14:20 - Yeah.

14:21 - You have to unlock your phone first, and then you just tap it to there

14:26 - and, click it

14:27 - so you can actually go in and choose which apps you want to actually close off.

14:30 - Yeah.

14:32 - It would be interesting to see how what your acquisition speed

14:35 - looks like on corporate versus institute, like, education institutions.

14:41 - I have to imagine there might be a faster speed to market from a corporate side.

14:43 - So just something to think about as you start

14:45 - to get some real data and get out there. Yeah.

14:48 - Thank you. All right.

14:49 - Very impressed.

14:51 - I know I could use this in my daily life.

14:55 - What are some of, like what?

14:57 - What are you concerned about going to market?

14:58 - I mean, it feels like a very big plan and idea, but

15:03 - what what what are you concerned about?

15:04 - What have you not really thought about?

15:07 - So in order to get this whole the show rolling,

15:10 - we have to apply and become an Apple developer to access their screen time

15:14 - and things of that nature.

15:16 - But also we want to make sure that this is a product

15:18 - that everyone at Bucknell and further or further on would like to use.

15:22 - So our first goal really is just getting this case study done

15:25 - and trying to implement it at Bucknell.

15:27 - And we want to get feedback from our users and figure out what they like,

15:30 - what they don't like, and how we can improve.

15:34 - Yeah,

15:35 - it sounds like from, from the presentation that you

15:39 - for the colleges and universities are focusing on more B2B,

15:41 - where as the high schools is more straight to the students.

15:44 - What made you decide to kind of switch that that target as you thought

15:48 - about different, university and high school profiles?

15:51 - So with with the high schools, there's,

15:55 - greater regulations in college.

15:57 - Well, Henry, touch up.

15:59 - Yeah.

15:59 - I think being able to put high school students

16:01 - in sort of a college standpoint and pitching the product,

16:06 - just as we're doing now to their school districts,

16:09 - I mentioned it lowers our cost of acquisition in the high school market.

16:12 - That saves us time

16:13 - and money from having to reach out to all the high schools in America.

16:16 - I think if you saw the slide, there's about 25,000 high schools in the US alone.

16:22 - So it really lowers our cost of acquisition there.

16:27 - And we just we want this in

16:29 - all places of education, not just college and high schools.

16:33 - So so I think we also see like as students and stuff,

16:37 - you just can get sucked into your phone

16:39 - like we have this thing like two factor authentication where you have like dual.

16:43 - So you have to go on your phone and type in a code.

16:46 - Then you're on there and then like your friend texts you

16:48 - and then like, next thing you know, you're like watching a cat video

16:51 - or something like that.

16:55 - Well once again, thank you.

16:56 - Buck block judges. Thank you.

17:00 - One more round of applause.

17:05 - And Henry, Carter and Vance, I'll invite you to stay here.

17:09 - I'm going to invite Aaron Chip Blonsky up to the podium.

17:13 - We have a special recognition for you.

17:15 - As I mentioned, as our rising star.

17:18 - So I'm very pleased to introduce Aaron Blonsky,

17:21 - director of the Paris Elegance Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

17:25 - Share a little bit more about the center and recognize Buck block.

17:30 - Welcome, Aaron.

17:35 - All right.

17:35 - So we want to say congratulations to Carter.

17:38 - Henry advanced

17:39 - over the course of the last seven weeks from the time that they pitched at prelims

17:43 - until today has been an amazing amount of progress, which just shows your passion

17:46 - for your project and how much you want to get this launched.

17:49 - And I'm really looking forward to working with you later

17:52 - this summer as they develop the next iteration of it

17:54 - and get it launched in our library this fall.

17:57 - I'm just

17:58 - manifesting that right now for them, but we want to give you some recognition.

18:02 - So because you put in so much work,

18:05 - so great for us to.

18:15 - You guys, you really have done so much work for so.

18:22 - Thank you.

18:26 - I'll say a very brief

18:27 - couple of words about the center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

18:31 - The PGCE, which is very fortunate to be able to support

18:35 - further work on projects like theirs and others

18:38 - and things like the business pitch prizes and summer awards.

18:40 - And so forth, all made possible by gifts to the center.

18:43 - The PGCE is here to help any Bucknell

18:46 - and founder, wherever they are in their career.

18:49 - Geographically, wherever they are and stage of their venture,

18:52 - essentially anywhere along the journey.

18:54 - And more information is actually available at your seat to keep my time brief,

18:59 - we provide extensive individual consultation with solo founders or teams.

19:04 - We provide resources like workshops, seed funding, summer awards,

19:08 - and the opportunity to even seek investment from our alumni angels.

19:12 - We work on connecting founders with experienced mentors

19:16 - from across the Bucknell network, and we also like to call it connect

19:19 - alumni who have fantastic ideas with undergraduate startup interns

19:24 - at no cost to the alumni, because we want our students

19:28 - to get that experience of having worked in a startup.

19:31 - We are discipline agnostic because we know that anyone can be a founder.

19:35 - The entrepreneurial spirit, as you'll see tonight, transcends major

19:40 - and it definitely transcends the industry in which people work.

19:44 - There are many PGCE initiatives on the horizon, all aiming

19:47 - to strengthen the Uni ecosystem here and the broader Bucknell community.

19:51 - And so now I'll hand it back to Steve so we can keep this show rolling.

19:55 - Thank you.

20:04 - We're now readying to hear from our finalists again.

20:08 - They have been asked to address a scoring rubric

20:12 - of innovation and,

20:15 - solution of customers and markets, of feasibility and innovation

20:20 - and how to balance

20:21 - all those things in the context of actually starting up a company.

20:25 - We have seen each of these competitors go far

20:30 - further than just US score sheets.

20:33 - Judges, you're going to be impressed.

20:37 - Thank you all.

20:38 - One more time for joining us for Biz Pitch 2026.

20:43 - I am very pleased to introduce our first finalist,

20:47 - who are focusing on improving performance and comfort

20:52 - in a sports product where small details make a big difference.

20:58 - You will see their introductory video

21:00 - and then hear about Forced Out from Jessica Benatar

21:05 - and Caitlin Scott.

21:10 - Hi, I'm Jess

21:11 - and I'm Caitlin, and we are the inventors of Forced Out,

21:15 - Forced Out as an innovative under glove liner

21:17 - meant for all glove wearing athletes,

21:19 - specifically goalkeepers, to wear underneath their big, bulky

21:22 - goalkeeper gloves to protect their hands during cold and wet conditions.

21:26 - When athletes play in cold weather, they are far more susceptible to injury

21:29 - and that includes breaks and sprains, especially in their hands.

21:33 - As a Division one goalkeeper, I've played in all types of conditions

21:37 - and the cold weather makes my hands numb and prune under my gloves.

21:40 - I've tried many different options of gloves underneath.

21:43 - Nothing seem to work.

21:44 - That's why we created an all encompassing under gloves.

21:48 - Our research has shown that using a variety of different materials

21:51 - and fabrics on specific areas of the hand ensures maximum warmth and comfort.

21:55 - We've developed a product that has never been seen before in the

21:58 - sports apparel market,

22:01 - forced out comfort under pressure.

22:22 - Has always.

22:26 - Now entering

22:26 - the pitch is Buckfield, single season record holder for goals

22:30 - against average and a top five all time leader in shutouts.

22:34 - Senior goalkeeper number zero and second time

22:38 - in 24 new Scholar-Athlete and All-Academic honoree.

22:43 - Sinner midfielder number 17 Caitlin.

22:50 - Good evening, everyone and judges.

22:52 - Thank you for your time.

22:54 - To start off, I want to set the scene

22:56 - when temperatures drop below freezing, the body constricts blood vessels,

22:59 - limiting blood flow to the fingers and hands.

23:03 - Also, when the fingers and hands

23:05 - reduce blood flow, reaction time drops by 20%.

23:08 - Grip strength drops by 30%, and overall feelings of the hand are cut in half.

23:12 - And that's it for the real challenge of and begins.

23:15 - Now imagine trying to stop a shot

23:16 - going over 70mph, reaching the net in under half a second.

23:20 - That hurts.

23:21 - I broke it and sprained my fingers for my entire soccer career.

23:24 - And it's no coincidence that it's almost always happened in the winter.

23:28 - This is why we created forced out, an under glove liner designed to keep

23:32 - athletes hands warm and cold conditions without sacrificing performance.

23:37 - We've combined three key materials that are purposefully placed

23:41 - on each section of the hand.

23:42 - We have merino wool on the back for optimal warmth,

23:45 - mesh between the fingers for breathability.

23:48 - And polar tack on the palm for stretch and moisture control.

23:51 - And to keep our gloves nice and fresh

23:53 - you can throw them right in the wash just like any other piece of gear.

23:57 - Also, like many other goalkeepers, I've yet to come across

23:59 - a mainstream goalkeeper specific liner.

24:02 - I've tried winter gloves and latex gloves.

24:04 - Nothing really seems to work.

24:05 - Our design is all encompassing.

24:07 - And we're cost effective.

24:09 - It cost us around $5 to make each gear and will retail at around $25,

24:14 - giving us very strong gross margins at 80%, while also leveraging

24:17 - being quick and easy, I don't know, check out alongside actual goalkeeper gloves.

24:21 - Our price point considers not only the athlete, but the parent

24:25 - because when it comes to a child's

24:26 - comfort and confidence in sports, parents do not hesitate.

24:30 - And the market is massive.

24:32 - There are approximately 194 million glove wearing athletes worldwide.

24:37 - On top of that, the international sports apparel market as a whole is growing fast.

24:41 - To put it into perspective, by 2029, growth

24:44 - is projected to reach $220 billion.

24:49 - Well first launched direct to consumer, leveraging our personal connections

24:52 - with leading goalkeeper brands and college teams for early exposure.

24:56 - As demand grows, will collaborate with larger athletic apparel brands

25:00 - to expand into both the youth and professional sports markets.

25:04 - With your support, will perfect our prototype,

25:07 - begin larger production, and strengthen our market appeal

25:10 - as we bring for sale to athletes around the world.

25:13 - This isn't just about fighting the cold.

25:15 - It's about protecting performance and everything that comes with it.

25:18 - Thank you.

25:29 - How do you plan to,

25:31 - find your your target market and make them aware of of the product?

25:37 - It's like that.

25:38 - Yeah.

25:38 - So our target market at first we started off

25:40 - with just regular goalkeepers and how many there would be.

25:43 - So we concluded that there were around 44 million goalkeepers.

25:47 - And we expanded further research to see other glove wearing athletes,

25:50 - because anyone that wears a glove in cold weather could benefit from our product.

25:54 - So we concluded that there around 194 million in our total accessible

25:58 - market of glove wearing athletes to give our glove,

26:02 - you know, more optionality when it comes to who can wear.

26:05 - Yeah.

26:06 - And just to expand on that, how we got to that 44 million, we took FIFA estimates

26:10 - of total soccer players worldwide, which comes at around 487 million.

26:15 - And then you presume that there's one in every 11 players.

26:18 - That's a goalkeeper.

26:19 - So you take that for 87 divided by 11.

26:22 - That gives you around 44 million.

26:25 - Added on to that 150.

26:26 - That's where that 194 comes from.

26:30 - So very cool.

26:31 - I was a goalie as well.

26:33 - So I say I appreciate the warm hands.

26:37 - But I'm also thinking about is.

26:46 - Square.

26:48 - Outside.

26:49 - So I'm in construction.

26:50 - I'm thinking about installing with sure.

26:53 - It's very cold.

26:54 - And I want to make sure people are, you know,

26:57 - that element of performance is is it something else that's pattern

27:00 - that you've thought about taking elsewhere besides the athletics?

27:05 - So we're currently looking on putting a provisional Pat.

27:07 - And on the current prototype we already have.

27:09 - And our allocation of the materials

27:11 - and where they're placed on the hand is completely new.

27:13 - And with our further testing as well, we think that where we've decided

27:17 - to put the mesh

27:18 - and the merino wool and the Polar tech, it's like optimally optimizing

27:22 - every kind of component we want from even other competitors in the market.

27:25 - So that's where right now. Cool. Yeah.

27:27 - And so as athletes, we're soccer players on the women's soccer team here.

27:31 - That's our expertise.

27:32 - But we totally see it expanding into other fields like blue collar work, too.

27:35 - Yep. Now, Matt, having been, the founder of an apparel company,

27:39 - I know you're going to have some strong insights, but I also want to invite you

27:43 - to check out the prototype that's right next to you and share that with Jasmin.

27:48 - And Sabrina as well.

27:49 - That's a small I would say you could try it on, but it might not.

27:54 - I would love this situation.

27:55 - Yeah.

27:57 - I feel like I have to give you guys all five.

27:58 - Is based on the cheering section back here.

27:59 - I might get a shout out for,

28:04 - How have you all thought about manufacturing?

28:06 - To Steve's point, that's, you know, the crux of so much apparel.

28:09 - Where are you now and what are you thinking for next phases?

28:12 - Yeah.

28:12 - So we have our first initial prototype.

28:14 - So like I said, our next goal would be really perfecting this.

28:18 - And then we have a full product cost breakdown over here.

28:22 - So we sourced from three different companies for our three different fabrics.

28:26 - And we bought a yard of each.

28:28 - Turns out that was way more material than we actually needed.

28:30 - So then we took that total number and, multiply it

28:33 - by the fraction of a yard that we actually used per pair of gloves.

28:38 - So that gave us direct materials cost of around $2.67.

28:42 - We took into account direct labor

28:44 - manufacturing overhead and then our freight or shipping costs.

28:48 - We took our total shipping cost from our actual order

28:51 - and then divide it by that divide that by our presumes,

28:54 - like bulk order, that in theory would make 100 pairs to start off with.

28:58 - So we took that total shipping cost divided by 100.

29:00 - And that gave us our shipping.

29:02 - And then summing all those together you get around $5 cost of goods sold.

29:06 - So that's where we're at now.

29:07 - But we have strong gross margin at 80%.

29:09 - So we have a lot of wiggle room to account for other costs

29:13 - that would come in with larger production and just food for thought as you go.

29:17 - Pursue that.

29:19 - Don't be so focused on margin right away.

29:21 - Right.

29:21 - If you wanted to go to the manufacturers are going to give you the good margin.

29:23 - They're going to want 10,000 units, for example.

29:25 - So don't be afraid to start small.

29:28 - Iterate fast.

29:29 - Tie up as little cash as possible just to get to market

29:31 - and get as much feedback as you possibly can.

29:34 - You know, even in the US, Central America, whatever that may be.

29:37 - And be really careful about the patent side too.

29:40 - We have we have three patents that my clothing company.

29:43 - We have four and five in the works.

29:44 - But we've spent so much money trying to get those patents.

29:48 - And the references the Patent Office brings up are so ridiculous sometimes.

29:51 - So just food for thought there.

29:53 - I think the protection is really, really important.

29:56 - But that can eat up a lot of cash very quickly.

29:58 - Definitely. Thank you once again.

30:00 - Thank you Jessica. Thank you guys. Thank you.

30:11 - Our next presentation comes from a students

30:14 - focusing on the challenges that all students face.

30:18 - But rarely manage well, staying intentional as they build plans

30:24 - for their future.

30:26 - We're going to hear from Emmanuel pitching my link. To.

30:47 - Video coming right up.

30:56 - Hi, my name is Emmanuel.

30:58 - I am the creator of MyLink.

31:00 - MyLink is a personal assistant created for college

31:02 - students to help them through any stage of their career.

31:06 - As a student, I used to want to become a banker,

31:09 - and what this would do is take me through the process of thinking about like,

31:13 - what is my end goal in terms of becoming a banker?

31:16 - Where do I want to work at target industry type of specific areas,

31:20 - and create a plan

31:21 - to help me visualize myself from when I'm a first year,

31:24 - or any stage of the board to where I actually want to be, and create tasks.

31:28 - I'll be tracking them.

31:29 - Help me prepare for everything from interviews.

31:32 - If it is elevator pitches, any stage of the process

31:35 - just to make sure that I'm better prepared at any step

31:37 - and I'm less anxious in terms of where am I going?

31:40 - And am I actually doing enough to get big where at the end of production

31:44 - and we are ready to launch MyLink, your personal query assistant?

32:06 - Good evening.

32:06 - Class services, as it stands for

32:10 - both of us, is starting from the first year.

32:13 - This whole is in between and hopefully by your senior year, you're going to have

32:17 - a full time of junior year, maybe an internship at Goldman Sachs.

32:21 - But for most of us who are students, myself included, this is confusing.

32:25 - I don't know if I'm doing enough.

32:27 - I don't know if I'm doing the right things, talking to the right people.

32:29 - And this is the reality for over 19 million college students

32:32 - in the United States.

32:33 - As it stands, when I talk to Buckner's Career Center,

32:36 - as I was going through this issue, they told him, help us, help you.

32:41 - When I came to them the second time, they also told me

32:44 - that this is a consistent problem with most students.

32:46 - They don't know where they are, what they have done,

32:48 - what's the next big step for them?

32:50 - And the recruiting process has become so competitive

32:54 - that thousands of applications,

32:55 - if not millions of applications and our own target companies.

32:59 - That is why I created MyLink.

33:01 - MyLink is a personal assistant created for college students

33:04 - to help them through those most important parts.

33:06 - Of course.

33:06 - Number one, the first thing you have to do is network.

33:09 - Hopefully we will see you right?

33:11 - My link with my link will do for you.

33:13 - Unlike handshake correlation and of course a Google Doc and a Google sheet,

33:16 - it will make sure you cultivate those relationships.

33:18 - You follow up, you remember a birthday,

33:20 - you remember to tell them when you even apply.

33:23 - And that's hopefully how you can become more than just a statistic in the numbers.

33:27 - The second thing of what my link does with students

33:30 - is to help them prepare at any stage of the process.

33:32 - So I pathetically, you gave for a career,

33:34 - so you want to know if you elevator pitch is top class,

33:37 - you want to know if your resume is the best in the world,

33:39 - and hopefully you can impress that recruiter.

33:41 - That's what my link will help you do.

33:43 - The second part is planning.

33:44 - If you're a freshman coming into college, we all know it's confusing a

33:48 - you want to join the best clubs and go to the best places

33:51 - and also be in the back of your mind.

33:53 - You don't know if you're the right spot

33:54 - doing the right things, and my link will help

33:56 - you understand just that to make sure you're doing the right things.

33:59 - And of course guys, we have too many apps in our phones.

34:02 - We don't even remember these.

34:04 - My link is not just another app

34:05 - which is just out on your phone and you forget what my link does for you.

34:09 - It helps you integrate all these applications you already use

34:12 - to help them use those subscriptions most effectively, and not just be paying

34:15 - bills at the end of the month, which you don't even know where they come from.

34:18 - Our own target market is currently college students.

34:22 - That's the end user.

34:23 - But we know parents love their children so much that they would be willing

34:26 - to actually indulge in this and actually give their own kids.

34:30 - So our second target market in parents, and of course, the last end user is,

34:34 - of course, the kid college query centers who hopefully can get a better brand

34:37 - for their own schools.

34:39 - Now we have two revenue models

34:41 - a subscription revenue model for students and parents directly,

34:44 - and also a career center licensing, which is focused into licensing.

34:47 - Our current market is over

34:49 - 90 million college students, over 3900 college career centers.

34:53 - And this, as it stands, is a $17 billion market.

34:56 - That's our current projection revenues.

34:57 - And when we did launch after our beta testing of 48 users,

35:01 - we had over 21 users in our first week.

35:04 - But we're currently talking to Bucknell Career Center. I hope they're in there.

35:06 - They know I am nagging them, and we are currently ready

35:10 - to launch what this $6,000 would do for us.

35:13 - Help us launch in marketing, help us get those Bucknell

35:16 - and career partnerships, and of course, grow our platform.

35:19 - And this smiling thank you.

35:35 - Right, judges, what was your hiring process like?

35:39 - Job search process like

35:43 - questions for Emmanuel.

35:47 - That, so there are a lot of,

35:50 - as you mentioned, a lot of apps and a lot of things out in the market.

35:54 - How does MyLink stand out or set?

35:56 - It's kind of set itself apart.

35:59 - Okay.

36:00 - Of course I would hit this on various points,

36:02 - but of course we'll come on to the costs of it

36:04 - as it stands for career centers, hypothetically will be the cheapest.

36:08 - But also coming on to that big thing, which we all want to know is

36:12 - are we doing enough?

36:13 - And what's happening with all of our data as it currently stands,

36:16 - most of I absolutely have the students don't interact with it.

36:19 - I mean, if it's a Google Calendar,

36:20 - maybe a Gmail and maybe context that will link because it's Google, right?

36:23 - But outside of those things, we just don't know.

36:26 - And a lot of the times we forget, I know LinkedIn learning,

36:30 - I have not checked that thing for like, three months now.

36:33 - I don't even remember the last time I opened it,

36:35 - but but what my link is would help you do is not just shrink things

36:39 - to what you already have in terms of connect connected applications,

36:43 - but it will help colleges make sure those platforms are managed

36:46 - more efficiently and students are getting the best insight.

36:49 - So of course, most of these individuals like anti cohesion,

36:53 - don't have a lot of the features we have which they could easily copy,

36:56 - but the amount which we're going for is making sure we can integrate

37:00 - in all of those platforms, which students really use.

37:06 - Have you

37:06 - done any thinking around like I've used handshake

37:09 - and some of these other ones to either higher entry level or interns?

37:14 - Have you thought on the flip side about people that are looking for

37:18 - for college students to come into their business,

37:21 - how you show up to them, or is this just for

37:24 - kind of the college student to see their opportunities on on that side?

37:27 - So if I get you quickly, is can employers maybe post jobs

37:32 - or maybe look into like what are students doing on my link?

37:35 - As it stands, we don't do that because we definitely don't

37:38 - have the market share for that.

37:40 - But as we go forward, when we start getting more traction,

37:43 - getting more people,

37:44 - that is definitely a composition would want to have with employers,

37:47 - because currently my link does give students job suggestions

37:51 - because it pulls from various APIs, even handshake, even various other places

37:55 - jobs which are open and it gives the students suggestions on those jobs.

37:58 - So we're pulling from other sources, but when we have the traction,

38:01 - we can always say,

38:02 - okay, if you have a job, you want to post a link, please go ahead.

38:08 - I love the confidence you showed up there around.

38:10 - Great work.

38:10 - You got better style than I did.

38:11 - I'm trying to figure out,

38:14 - you know, the the inherent challenge of software is the paradox of choice, right?

38:17 - You can build so many features.

38:18 - Are there certain features that your beta testers

38:21 - are really gravitating towards and finding the most value out of so far?

38:24 - Yes. So when we did our beta testing, of course,

38:27 - and also did our initial launch, most people wanted this networking piece.

38:31 - So I mean, as a college students,

38:32 - I know a lot of the people which my, my advisors told me use a Google

38:36 - Docs is an Excel spreadsheet, but we oh, people will forget what we did.

38:40 - We forget to follow up. We forget to do all these are the pieces.

38:43 - But what my link would help you do is put those into,

38:46 - should I say a pipeline to help you better cultivate those relationships

38:50 - and at the end of the day, get that referral.

38:52 - So this is the biggest piece students are trying to go for.

38:56 - That is why we ended up segmenting our pricing.

38:58 - So if I go to the end here,

39:00 - that's why we ended up doing that,

39:01 - because some students don't even need the career center part.

39:04 - But you just need networking. So

39:06 - that would be the biggest piece.

39:08 - All right once again thank you. My link.

39:10 - Thank you.

39:20 - Our next finalist has created a startup that exists

39:23 - at the intersection of education and experience,

39:28 - creating new ways to engage with engineering.

39:33 - Please welcome Sue ally with Abacus Lab.

39:48 - Hi, my name is Sue ally and I develop the Consult Learning Kit to help

39:51 - middle school and high school students experience real engineering system.

39:57 - Casa is a miniature satellite the size of a soda can.

40:00 - In this kit, student build their own satellite system.

40:03 - They assemble, program, pass,

40:06 - and launch it into a high altitude to collect real time data.

40:10 - Through this project, student explore how mechanical,

40:13 - electrical coding, and aerospace engineering come together to one system.

40:17 - Just like a real space mission,

40:19 - many young students are excited by the idea of exploring space

40:23 - between rockets and satellite, and eager to learn

40:25 - about the engineering behind them, but most don't know where to start.

40:29 - And that's why I created the Cancel Learning Kit.

40:32 - This is not just about satellite.

40:33 - It's about turning curiosity into creation, showing students

40:37 - that space and engineering of theirs to build and explore.

40:54 - When you are in New, you can also do that.

40:57 - So we're going to help with your microphone for just a moment.

41:01 - Ready.

41:02 - When you were in middle school, did you know what you were good at?

41:06 - Did you have any small success that you're confident in your field?

41:10 - Because for most students, the answer is no.

41:12 - School often focus on theory with hardly any room for hands

41:16 - on opportunity that connects them to a real world problem.

41:19 - Growing up in Cambodia, I wanted to go to the moon and I still do,

41:23 - my dad told me I could be an astronaut, but neither of us knew where to start,

41:28 - and it wasn't until later on that I have the chance to build, explore,

41:32 - and solve a problem that I began to discover what I capable

41:35 - of through those small successes.

41:37 - And I realized the problem isn't just mine.

41:40 - Many young students are curious and eager to learn,

41:42 - but they don't have the guidance and opportunity to start.

41:46 - And that's why I create the cancel learning kit in my hand.

41:49 - Here is a miniature satellite, but what I'm offering is more

41:53 - than just a small size. I like the size.

41:55 - So full hands on engineering opportunity

41:58 - that built around real space exploration concepts.

42:02 - Students explore multiple engineering field through something they own can that

42:07 - they called the electronic, and launch it using a high altitude balloon

42:10 - as it rise, it collects real atmospheric data

42:13 - and land back down using the parachute that they design themselves

42:16 - through the programs to then explore mechanical electrical coding

42:20 - and aerospace engineering within one integrated system.

42:23 - But most importantly,

42:24 - they begin to discover what they're good at and what path might be right for them.

42:29 - Our customers include middle school, high school, as well as school

42:32 - and educational organization serving students ages from 12 and above

42:37 - and at 15 million students in the United States, and a global market

42:41 - size of Stem kit of $1.7 billion,

42:44 - this kit is priced at $149,

42:47 - making hands on engineering accessible and scalable.

42:51 - We have piloted two programs at Buckner

42:53 - and an educational a local education organization called CSU,

42:58 - and after completing the program, 100% recommended across two program

43:02 - and 95% reported a better understanding of different

43:05 - engineering fields.

43:08 - The program has also gained local media coverage attention

43:12 - that highlighting its impact and the need for more Stem hands on opportunities.

43:17 - I bring both technical and teaching experience to build this kit

43:20 - and the program.

43:21 - As a student in Mechanical Engineering and minor in computer Science, and.

43:25 - But over five years of teaching experience

43:28 - working but middle school and high school student in math and science,

43:31 - I know how to turn a complex system into a fun and engaging experience

43:35 - for young students.

43:36 - I am now seeking support to help launch this consult learning kit to market

43:40 - and to reach more students.

43:42 - So judges, help me get the chance to student to bill

43:45 - to achieve those more success and to explore what they can become.

43:49 - Thank you.

44:04 - For the device.

44:05 - Is it a single use or can?

44:08 - Can you use it more than once? Can you?

44:10 - It can be used all at once, more than once. Yes.

44:12 - And like the whole thing, it can be used more than once.

44:15 - Or is there anything do. Okay.

44:18 - So how are you kind of thinking about the experience

44:21 - from the target market, given you're obviously targeting, classrooms?

44:27 - Is there more than one lesson that can be taught around the device,

44:30 - or is it kind of we're doing this as one lesson,

44:33 - and then the rest of the curriculum would look, would look different.

44:36 - This is clear.

44:37 - It is a five days program, but it doesn't have to be five days.

44:40 - It can be five weeks.

44:41 - It can be a club activity, or it could be a summer program.

44:45 - Perfect.

44:45 - I was an engineer at Bucknell and,

44:48 - did not know that was what I wanted to do prior to coming here.

44:51 - So, really appreciate you bringing Stem into

44:54 - to more people's lives at younger, at younger ages.

44:57 - Okay.

45:00 - Thank you.

45:01 - This is really inspiring and very timely with Artemis and stuff.

45:04 - I've learned.

45:05 - So, so I feel like your your timing

45:08 - is really great on this.

45:11 - In regards to the students.

45:19 - You said this is marketing mostly to, like,

45:21 - classrooms and stuff, but also the individual at home.

45:24 - Or is it mostly like institutions?

45:26 - It can also be for individual at home, especially for homeschool

45:30 - student, that they don't have the opportunity to experience hands on.

45:33 - So this is perfect for them too.

45:35 - And I saw that timeline.

45:37 - So do you think you're like two years out like where where you're ready to go.

45:42 - Yeah. Like launch.

45:44 - Part of partner with, CSU.

45:47 - And I've also have a workshop submitted to ASC.

45:51 - It's a, American.

45:53 - Associate society of Internet education.

45:56 - And that's the way I am going to market it to school a to teachers school

46:00 - and also students over there as well.

46:01 - So this is ready to launch.

46:03 - And we've have already launched a two program. So yes.

46:06 - And for those of us who aren't Sam, are there like instructions in this?

46:09 - There will be instruction for. Yes.

46:14 - This is a good point for this one.

46:15 - So the learning kit include, the kits itself, the balloon

46:20 - and the parachute, and also an access to a web based learning platform.

46:24 - And this program is off offer to students with no prior knowledge to anything.

46:29 - So they learn from ground up

46:31 - so the student will have access to the communication.

46:34 - This is where they text each other within their own group and also instructor

46:38 - that they're going to be assigned to.

46:39 - And also they will learn how to code from scratch using this.

46:45 - So with no hardware and software needed in the computer,

46:48 - they only need to go to the website, log in and start coding.

46:52 - And another feature is also the learning package

46:56 - and learning lessons is already included in there as well as coding package.

47:00 - And this feature real engineer aerospace engineer would do is they get the data

47:05 - from this ground user interface as well as for instructors.

47:10 - They get the chance to communicate with student tracks, the student

47:14 - progress, as well as lock, lock in their own timeline.

47:17 - If it gets used in organizational school and also an admin, they create account.

47:22 - They can upload more materials and also monitor activities.

47:27 - Yeah, yeah.

47:29 - Matt a final note for Swat.

47:31 - I loved how much authenticity you brought to the story.

47:34 - You could tell.

47:34 - Like, this actually means a lot to you.

47:37 - Where do you stand on the manufacturing side

47:40 - as this is looks pretty complex overall?

47:43 - So where do you stand there?

47:44 - So this is very, the base and the PCB.

47:48 - All of this is going to be sent out to, PCB manufacturers.

47:53 - And the students don't do this themselves.

47:55 - I know it looks complicated, but they learn each sensor

47:59 - on board and they plug it in.

48:02 - But first they need to know each of, what each of us do.

48:07 - And this is already market ready for buy, with all the sensor and everything.

48:11 - So what, what,

48:14 - what they need is just the kit ready, and then they're ready to go.

48:17 - And what I need to, send out to manufacturing is the PCB.

48:22 - All the other components or stock that you can buy? Yes.

48:24 - Okay. Yes.

48:25 - You know, something to think about too,

48:26 - if there's other, you know, one of the hardest things

48:29 - in something like this is customer acquisition, right?

48:31 - It's very expensive, especially these days online.

48:33 - I wonder if there's some retailers out there,

48:36 - whether it's brick and mortar online, that offer this type of product

48:39 - already, and people go to who are looking for this type of thing.

48:42 - So you can tap into that. Yeah.

48:44 - You know, kind of a bottom up funnel demand inherently,

48:46 - because I think the forecast you had up there,

48:48 - I think you could blow that out of the park with with what you have.

48:51 - Yes. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

48:54 - Yeah.

49:04 - We will next hear from Club Rally.

49:07 - They are creating a platform to explore how athletes can stay connected

49:12 - to community and to their own

49:15 - identities after structured competition ends.

49:19 - Please join me in welcoming Club Rally.

49:23 - Abbie Platt and Jesse Merritt. Oh.

49:31 - Hi. I'm Abbie and I'm Jason, and we're teammates, best friends

49:35 - and co-founders of Club Rally club rally is the go to platform

49:39 - for athletes who want to keep playing the sports

49:41 - they love, no matter where life takes them.

49:43 - For as long as we can remember, tennis has shaped our daily

49:45 - lives, our schedules, our purpose and our wrenches.

49:48 - But we started to notice something that happens to athletes all the time.

49:51 - When you step out of that team environment,

49:53 - whether it's moving to a new city, graduating,

49:56 - or just going home for the summer,

49:58 - the built in structure and community that sports once provided all disappears.

50:02 - Finding the right people to play with becomes hard.

50:04 - And that's why we're building the rally app.

50:06 - In the app, you can filter by sport and skill level, join with one tap

50:10 - or create your own rally, build rosters with friends, meet

50:13 - new competitors and stay connected through a social feed.

50:16 - Gyms, clubs and venues

50:17 - can also host their own events so you know what's going on in your area,

50:21 - because the game's not over and your story isn't done.

50:24 - This is Club Rally. The athletes network.

50:37 - And help!

50:39 - Hi, I'm Abby, this is Jake, and we're on the Bucknell women's tennis team.

50:43 - When you've been playing a sport

50:44 - your whole life, it's hard to imagine it coming to an end.

50:47 - This weekend will be my last tennis match as a college athlete,

50:50 - and I'm not ready to lose that part of who I am.

50:53 - Millions of athletes face this problem every year,

50:55 - but there's no system to keep them in the game.

50:58 - That's why we created Club Rally for those

51:00 - who found identity structure and belonging in sports.

51:04 - When athletes move on, they struggle to stay connected to that part of themselves.

51:08 - And in a generation craving real connection, sport

51:10 - is one of the most powerful ways to bring people together.

51:14 - Club rally is about getting out, getting active and finding your friends.

51:18 - Here's how it works.

51:19 - You create a player profile based on what sports you play, your activity level,

51:23 - and your skill set.

51:24 - Once we know your location,

51:25 - we'll set you up with people you'll actually want to play with.

51:28 - You can create or join rallies from social play to competitive training.

51:32 - And through our feed you can see what your friends are up to and stay connected.

51:36 - So it's not just about finding a game, it's about finding your players.

51:41 - What makes rally so powerful is how the ecosystem grows.

51:44 - Users trying to find players in games.

51:46 - Some users go on to become captains where they organize consistent events,

51:50 - and clubs utilize the platform to build their spaces.

51:53 - As rally grows, everyone creates value, generating a revenue generating ecosystem

51:59 - leading us to our revenue streams are engaged.

52:02 - User base attracts

52:03 - partnerships and sponsorships to this highly active community

52:06 - within the app, captains and clubs pay a subscription to monetize their events

52:10 - and we take a percentage of their registration fees.

52:14 - We also offer targeted native ads with brand to align with our values.

52:19 - With 50,000 users in just one city, we project $1.1 million annually.

52:24 - That's $11 million when scaled across ten cities.

52:28 - So we tested this idea.

52:30 - After forming as an LLC, we hosted an event in Dallas.

52:33 - It was incredibly successful, but what mattered wasn't the numbers.

52:36 - It was what happened.

52:38 - People were excited to play.

52:39 - They wanted to meet each other, and they stayed long after the event ended,

52:43 - old friends reunited in New connections were made.

52:46 - Dallas proves that club rally builds real community.

52:49 - Our target market is huge.

52:51 - Our core user base, Gen Z athletes in major cities is nearly 1 million.

52:55 - Expanding to athletes of all ages brings us to 7 million.

52:59 - And beyond that, the broader social fitness community reaches 18 million.

53:03 - But these are just conservative estimates.

53:05 - We start with rally and we grow.

53:08 - After this pitch, our next steps

53:10 - are we'll finish our app development and beta testing.

53:13 - Then in May,

53:13 - we're hosting a pickleball tournament for the Bucknell Athlete community.

53:16 - Over the summer, we'll focus on shipping our app to the App Store

53:19 - and continue to grow.

53:21 - We will host Bradley Irrelevant to grow our user base,

53:25 - help us build a future where athletes never stop playing.

53:28 - Thank you and rally on. Oh.

53:35 - It's wonderful to.

53:42 - Judges, I look forward to hearing your feedback.

53:45 - Anyone looking for a pickup game in your community?

53:49 - Well, last time I did an intramural sport, I broke my wrists.

53:52 - I don't want to.

53:54 - Rough crowd did.

53:56 - So this may be a niche problem. I live in New York. Right.

53:58 - And the single biggest challenge is space, right?

54:01 - If you want to get on a tennis court, volleyball court, whatever that may be,

54:04 - is that's something you will help your players address and finding places

54:08 - where they can play and know that there's not going to be a conflict with other,

54:11 - other groups.

54:12 - Yeah.

54:13 - So that's part of kind of like when we were talking about the ecosystem,

54:16 - the clubs, that also expands to public parks, like we were thinking

54:21 - about partnering with the National, like the Parks and Rec Association,

54:25 - being able to push those spaces towards people on the app, like up in the feed.

54:30 - And when clubs post events,

54:33 - because they pay that subscription, they're able to push those events

54:35 - towards the top of users, in their area, on their feet.

54:39 - And have you thought of are you going to start

54:41 - really focused on a single market or single city?

54:43 - If you guys thought about that?

54:45 - We definitely want to start with, sports that are easier to play

54:49 - without a bunch of equipment.

54:50 - So soccer, pickleball, tennis.

54:52 - But we want to start

54:55 - through city.

54:56 - So we want to go and have a season there where we go,

54:59 - we host events once every 1 to 2 weeks, and we really grow user base.

55:04 - And then we leave the city and it's on rally forever.

55:07 - I think that's really smart to stay very focused at the beginning

55:09 - and really prove out

55:10 - where's the value proposition, what are people getting out of it

55:13 - and then start to spread to other cities after that?

55:15 - So that's really smart.

55:17 - And also with our event coming up in May with the Bucknell athlete community,

55:22 - those who are graduating will hopefully go back to their cities,

55:25 - their new cities and spread the word there. So

55:29 - yeah, how do you especially in some of these bigger cities?

55:32 - I also, lived in New York,

55:34 - just after Bucknell, and there are quite a few kind of rec leagues,

55:38 - not some of the sports that you're talking about, but

55:40 - but others, how how do you think about, like the overall ecosystem

55:44 - with, with some of these kind of more social rec leagues?

55:48 - In conjunction with, with rally?

55:50 - Yeah, we definitely have competitors with different league apps or different

55:54 - apps in general with events.

55:55 - But our main mission is to build community through sport.

55:58 - We have been blessed to be on such a wonderful team

56:01 - and our greatest moments have been on our team,

56:04 - and so we just want to build help people, build a community

56:06 - and find their people in a new city.

56:08 - And it's a challenge that we really feel is facing our generation.

56:12 - So if we can help people do that, that's our mission.

56:14 - I love that I love again the singular focus with kind of what that

56:18 - that mission is, staying super, super focused on that

56:22 - and kind of resisting the urge to kind of spread out into other things.

56:26 - Once you get that kind of MVP going, is definitely the way to go.

56:32 - We talk a little bit about what you learned from the Texas,

56:35 - the event in Dallas.

56:37 - Yeah, I mean, the event was amazing.

56:40 - We had like around 75 people attend, and it really just showed us

56:44 - that club rally is something that people really want.

56:47 - We've had, endless testimonials, like, we've done our own market research

56:52 - with it.

56:53 - We were able to reach out to this, sports media network.

56:56 - It's called cracked rackets. The tennis players know what that's called.

56:59 - But we had a lot of former college athletes, fill out one of our market

57:04 - research surveys, and this was kind of like what people were saying.

57:08 - They really missed being a part of the team.

57:10 - And when we asked people

57:11 - after the Dallas event, like kind of what they took away, it's

57:16 - clearly it's clear that people want this kind of community.

57:19 - And do you need to be a college athlete or okay, any?

57:24 - No, we just want to build community through sport.

57:26 - But because we think sports such a great way,

57:28 - because you don't have to talk the whole time, you can kind of focus,

57:31 - you can play your game and then after your friends.

57:35 - I love that we just have it's kind of like we want to give back to the sport.

57:39 - That means so much to us. Yeah,

57:42 - well that's awesome. Thank you. Thank you.

57:45 - Yeah.

57:54 - Our next finalist is creating

57:57 - has created an initiative that offers both economic opportunity

58:01 - and addresses environmental and environmental challenge.

58:05 - Please join me in welcoming EKU.

58:08 - Sasha hitched Pi.

58:10 - I'm actually one of.

58:20 - Hi, I'm Anusha, I am the founder of Yugoslavia.

58:23 - Yugoslavia is an incubator program that wants to achieve youth empowerment,

58:28 - environmental restoration, and local economic growth.

58:31 - And we do this by integrating youth into a waste to value production system,

58:35 - where we collect food waste and convert it into high value products

58:39 - like animal feed, creating a closed loop circular economy.

58:43 - So on one hand, we have a youth unemployment problem.

58:45 - On the other hand, we have this unemployment

58:48 - pushing people into street vending, where we now see

58:51 - a saturated market where everyone is selling fruits and vegetables.

58:54 - However, not all of these are, but that are being dumped into an already

58:58 - strained waste management system.

59:01 - We also want to create dignified employment pathways for young people.

59:05 - So we're not only going to create jobs, but we're also going to address

59:08 - the challenge of food waste disposal in the city.

59:30 - Before I tell you

59:31 - all about my idea, let me tell you about Bulawayo,

59:35 - a city full of talent, resilience and untapped potential.

59:39 - My home city is facing two defining challenges a rapidly growing

59:44 - unemployed youth population and a rapidly growing organic waste crisis.

59:49 - See, Zimbabwe is a very young nation with the majority of its population

59:53 - under 25 entering an economy that cannot absorb them.

59:58 - 028 So what happens?

01:00 - 04.534 Event centers like Bulawayo see increasing pressures from informal markets,

01:00 - 08.504 where many young people tend to street vending to survive.

01:00 - 13.376 So I started asking, what if we took all that is being wasted

01:00 - 16.512 and used it to create opportunity?

01:00 - 20.883 That question is what led to exact extraction, converts and urban

01:00 - 25.021 waste burdened into a youth led agricultural production system?

01:00 - 26.555 Here's how it works.

01:00 - 30.859 We will recruit and train young people in practical skills of collection,

01:00 - 35.932 logistics, food processing, poultry production, and enterprise operations.

01:00 - 40.602 Our graduates will then form teams that will go out into the food markets

01:00 - 41.937 to collect the waste.

01:00 - 44.806 Run the units that process that waste into feed.

01:00 - 47.809 This feed will then power two revenue pathways.

01:00 - 51.547 First, our own poultry units where we will sell the products.

01:00 - 55.451 Then as we validate quality, we will sell the feed itself.

01:00 - 59.322 In 2024, we tested the first part of this.

01:00 - 00.856 We ran skills workshops.

01:01 - 01.923 We didn't offer money.

01:01 - 03.191 We did not offer jobs.

01:01 - 06.162 But over 50 young people showed up.

01:01 - 10.333 And the one question we kept hearing at the end was, when is the next workshop?

01:01 - 12.367 That's when it clicked for me.

01:01 - 14.369 That will our youth are ready.

01:01 - 15.937 They are willing to learn.

01:01 - 17.339 They are willing to work.

01:01 - 22.679 What's missing is a system that can take that energy and turn it into something

01:01 - 25.580 that is building that system.

01:01 - 26.249 Judges.

01:01 - 27.783 With these funds,

01:01 - 32.021 we will be able to run a proof of concept with just 25 young people.

01:01 - 35.958 At that scale, we can collect 400 kilos of waste, sustain

01:01 - 41.798 250 beds per cycle and generate 6,000 USD in just poultry revenue.

01:01 - 45.568 Our first year goal is to prove that the system works

01:01 - 50.406 because once it works, then we can scale and replicate it.

01:01 - 55.077 I am confident that I can execute this because for four years

01:01 - 56.978 I studied agriculture in high school,

01:01 - 00.249 where I grew crops and read poultry to sustain our dining hall.

01:02 - 04.386 I then studied entrepreneurial leadership where I learned how to design solutions

01:02 - 05.821 for African contexts.

01:02 - 09.692 And now I'm in chemical engineering and business management student.

01:02 - 13.662 I understand process efficiency, material conversion, systems thinking.

01:02 - 17.233 I'm doing research in waste characterization and processing.

01:02 - 21.003 But beyond all of that, I am from Bulawayo.

01:02 - 22.404 I know this reality.

01:02 - 25.608 I have seen what happens when systems fail young people.

01:02 - 28.610 It goes to show that in my motherland, which means the future.

01:02 - 31.781 And for me, the future is our young people.

01:02 - 33.682 So I'm not just building a system here.

01:02 - 37.620 I want to build people who will create value.

01:02 - 42.425 Your decision tonight will shape what tomorrow looks like for us young people.

01:02 - 43.592 Thank you.

01:03 - 04.781 Sabrina, our chemical engineer.

01:03 - 08.984 So I've worked for businesses that, do use production

01:03 - 12.789 waste to produce feed for cows, chickens, etc..

01:03 - 15.791 For this service

01:03 - 19.061 is the end consumer or the end customer?

01:03 - 23.131 The the young people that are training to be a part of the program,

01:03 - 27.970 or is it the businesses that you're selling the, the feed to at at the end?

01:03 - 31.239 How like how what is your market strategy on that?

01:03 - 33.608 So we have two revenue pathways.

01:03 - 37.647 One is we are also raising our on poultry units and we're selling the product.

01:03 - 40.482 So it's going to be people who consume poultry products.

01:03 - 43.451 Then we also will sell the feed eventually.

01:03 - 46.421 And so we have farmers who are going to be buying the feed.

01:03 - 50.893 Our young people are our primary users of this because this is to empower them.

01:03 - 52.627 Thank you.

01:03 - 56.932 Very inspiring.

01:03 - 59.936 Thank you.

01:04 - 04.139 Full faith in you.

01:04 - 07.008 Like this is a lot. Yes.

01:04 - 13.248 Like so what are some of the other systems or communities and like, the network

01:04 - 17.419 that you kind of plan to enact to kind of take this,

01:04 - 20.423 carry this out, take this to market.

01:04 - 23.825 So some of the key partners that we're thinking about

01:04 - 27.762 is firstly for our training program to then the poultry production

01:04 - 29.297 as well as waste processing.

01:04 - 32.301 We're thinking of partnering with West Coast Private Limited.

01:04 - 34.936 They already do feed but they're into pig feed.

01:04 - 35.937 And we had some of the

01:04 - 39.709 students participate in our 2024 program of like skills training.

01:04 - 42.177 So we know that we have established that relationship.

01:04 - 44.613 We have agency holding and proforma.

01:04 - 46.281 These are agricultural.

01:04 - 49.285 Establishments in Zimbabwe that can help us with

01:04 - 51.820 first getting our day old checks for the poultry units,

01:04 - 55.491 but then also hiring some of the equipment that will need to process the feed.

01:04 - 58.727 Then we have, it's a good agricultural center

01:04 - 03.064 to help us create a curriculum that we will use to train our students.

01:05 - 04.033 And they can also help us

01:05 - 08.037 with some certifications alongside partnering with the City council.

01:05 - 09.371 We need the licenses

01:05 - 12.374 to be able to operate in the city and to be able to handle waste.

01:05 - 15.176 And this is a relationship that I've already established

01:05 - 19.314 because I was in July in 2024 launching a skills workshop.

01:05 - 22.351 So this is just like a step in reinforcing those relationships.

01:05 - 31.726 I love the passion you bring to this,

01:05 - 35.431 and you can see how this can actually change the trajectory of somebody's life.

01:05 - 38.467 So that's that's very, very inspiring.

01:05 - 41.670 As you think about your go to market.

01:05 - 45.540 How are you thinking about finding the individuals who are going to get involved?

01:05 - 48.544 And, the people who you're going to be training.

01:05 - 52.113 Like I said in my first slide, seven out of ten

01:05 - 56.017 young people in Zimbabwe are unemployed and useless right now.

01:05 - 59.822 We started on we started with like entrepreneurship and skills workshops.

01:06 - 04.093 And what we did is we launched a campaign around churches, schools

01:06 - 07.964 and also on social media, and we got a really great response.

01:06 - 10.065 At that time, I couldn't like, enroll everyone.

01:06 - 12.100 So I had to just go with the law and I'm all 50.

01:06 - 15.403 But we know that there are people who are already waiting right now.

01:06 - 19.240 If I put out a link and say, hey, we want people to sign up for workshops,

01:06 - 20.142 that's tomorrow.

01:06 - 23.879 I am certain I will get more than 50 people who are like, sign me up.

01:06 - 27.515 That's where my question was going is how organic can that be?

01:06 - 29.050 And low cost and sounds like that's a very,

01:06 - 31.119 very low cost to get people excited about.

01:06 - 33.922 Yes. Which is critical for for schooling your model.

01:06 - 37.459 The is young people that are hungry for opportunity.

01:06 - 41.163 The economy is so bad that people are graduating and they're unemployed.

01:06 - 44.699 One of the pictures I had was a protest where people were wearing their graduation

01:06 - 46.701 gowns and saying, we have the education,

01:06 - 48.536 we have the degrees, but we don't have jobs.

01:06 - 52.674 So if I just send out the notification and churches are publishing it,

01:06 - 53.742 schools are publishing it.

01:06 - 56.746 We will have a line of people who are like, help us.

01:06 - 58.947 Very cool. Yes.

01:06 - 01.951 Thank you.

01:07 - 11.994 Judges.

01:07 - 14.096 Audience. Our final pitch.

01:07 - 16.431 This startup is

01:07 - 20.468 tackling how people discover and engage with what's happening

01:07 - 24.573 around them, in their communities, in their everyday lives.

01:07 - 29.245 Please join me in welcoming and Ottman returning to biz pitch

01:07 - 32.748 with local Loop.

01:07 - 36.451 Oh, my name is Emma

01:07 - 39.455 Longman and I'm the creator of Local Loop.

01:07 - 43.091 Local loop is a personalized local discovery app that connects

01:07 - 47.229 customers with small businesses nearby that they'll actually enjoy going to

01:07 - 50.433 while helping small businesses find a brand new audience.

01:07 - 54.536 Right now, my focus is getting small businesses in Lewisburg

01:07 - 58.507 and surrounding areas on Local Loop, as well as continuing to develop the app.

01:07 - 02.945 Small businesses can do a free basic one time listing on the app

01:08 - 06.114 that users will find through an easy to use TikTok style

01:08 - 09.150 feed for a small monthly premium small business.

01:08 - 12.488 It can do promoted placement or the ability to offer discounts

01:08 - 15.757 after talking to a few local merchants.

01:08 - 20.096 I've gotten really great feedback on how I can first initially launch locally.

01:08 - 23.698 Small businesses are in trouble.

01:08 - 27.335 Local loop aims to solve this problem and help small businesses

01:08 - 30.339 and their surrounding communities thrive.

01:08 - 42.016 Oh. Hi, I'm Anna and I want to start

01:08 - 45.287 by asking every Buck Nelson here a pretty familiar question.

01:08 - 50.192 Who here has ever been bored or confused by what's going on in downtown Lewisburg?

01:08 - 54.362 I know this is a common problem for me,

01:08 - 57.699 but when my sister's moved to Tallahassee, I thought, no way.

01:08 - 00.168 With they have this issue. They're in a state capital.

01:09 - 04.106 But a couple of weeks start going by and I start getting phone calls and text.

01:09 - 06.141 Anna, we're so bored.

01:09 - 07.942 There's nothing to do here.

01:09 - 12.248 So I ask my friends in Baltimore and Pittsburgh, same problem there.

01:09 - 16.050 So, Jasmine, let me ask you, if we're truly in the middle of nowhere

01:09 - 19.321 with nothing to do, how many places to shop, eat, and explore?

01:09 - 21.390 Do you think there are in downtown Lewisburg?

01:09 - 30.131 I hate there's great gas,

01:09 - 34.702 but there's actually 7373 places yet.

01:09 - 37.639 I bet no Bucknell in here would know that number.

01:09 - 40.676 So that leads me to believe the problem isn't what to do.

01:09 - 42.076 It's how to find it.

01:09 - 44.712 So how do we typically find things to do?

01:09 - 48.550 Well, we go on social media and we ask everyone for their opinion

01:09 - 51.554 and we get some pretty unhelpful responses.

01:09 - 53.521 That's where Local Loop comes in.

01:09 - 57.626 Local loop is a personalized local discovery app that connects customers

01:09 - 58.893 with small businesses.

01:09 - 02.765 They'll love and help small businesses find a brand new audience.

01:10 - 03.799 Users simply

01:10 - 07.903 tell us what they know they like to do, and we create a taste profile for them.

01:10 - 12.040 This is then used to curate a feed that users can go to

01:10 - 15.044 and swipe to find their new favorite thing to do every day.

01:10 - 19.448 We also allow you to filter based on finance and distance depending on the day.

01:10 - 23.719 But we know it's just not about what to do, it's who to do it with.

01:10 - 25.720 So we're social.

01:10 - 28.690 We allow you to share your favorite spots with friends, share

01:10 - 32.127 discount codes, and make plans together, all within the app.

01:10 - 35.430 These plans are then reflected in your user profile

01:10 - 38.166 along with your favorite spots for businesses.

01:10 - 41.737 This translates into increased visibility and real time visits.

01:10 - 44.572 But I know what everyone is thinking.

01:10 - 47.141 How are you any different than what's already out there?

01:10 - 51.380 Well, unlike traditional event finding software and social media apps,

01:10 - 54.516 we're good for both the small business and for the user.

01:10 - 58.553 For users, we're quick and fun, and for small businesses, we negate

01:10 - 02.291 the need to become a full time influencer, always trying to go viral.

01:11 - 07.096 More importantly, though, we're affordable on traditional social media apps.

01:11 - 11.032 Small businesses are required to pay a minimum of $50 a day

01:11 - 14.036 to advertise to a local audience with Local Loop.

01:11 - 18.841 A basic listing is entirely free, and for only $1 more a day,

01:11 - 20.708 you have access to posting

01:11 - 24.213 deals, priority placement, and valuable audience analytics.

01:11 - 29.518 We also offer community based pricing or chambers of commerce and visitors bureaus.

01:11 - 31.653 In 2024,

01:11 - 36.191 the size of the Small Business Marketing software market with $25 billion

01:11 - 37.092 in this numbers,

01:11 - 40.829 only continuing to grow as more businesses transition into the digital age.

01:11 - 43.865 Help me bring local Loop to the App Store.

01:11 - 46.334 Help me make community stronger.

01:11 - 49.938 Thank you. Oh.

01:11 - 00.081 I love the energy

01:12 - 03.085 and poise you brought to the pitch for the job there.

01:12 - 05.420 How are you thinking about the actual development

01:12 - 08.456 process of the app, or you handling that yourself, or you bringing in other people?

01:12 - 09.124 What does that look like?

01:12 - 11.559 Yeah, so I'm actually an electrical engineering major,

01:12 - 14.128 so I've been able to take a lot of coding classes.

01:12 - 17.699 I've been working with a tech mentor who actually did this pitch

01:12 - 18.866 a couple of years ago,

01:12 - 22.137 and he's been giving me some great advice on how to start developing the app,

01:12 - 26.542 leveraging new technology out there to really speed up that process.

01:12 - 32.513 How are you thinking about,

01:12 - 35.516 kind of what the financials look like if small businesses

01:12 - 38.519 are getting a listing for free and then there's a small upcharge.

01:12 - 43.392 Like how are you charging the the users on the other end, like the,

01:12 - 48.464 the people are actually on the app or how what's the monetary kind of value there.

01:12 - 48.931 Yeah.

01:12 - 53.501 So it's really important to us for users and customers to remain free.

01:12 - 55.169 That way we increase that audience.

01:12 - 57.372 We don't want to have a high barrier to entry.

01:12 - 59.640 We're actually going to be charging the small businesses.

01:12 - 02.811 So as I mentioned, we're charging them around $30 per month,

01:13 - 07.082 which is a huge reduction compared to what they're already paying $50 a day.

01:13 - 11.185 So we either charge the small business individually, and that way

01:13 - 12.220 they get it back.

01:13 - 15.891 And that access to audience analytics promoted placement,

01:13 - 18.726 things like that, which I've talked to small business owners

01:13 - 20.862 and these are really, really valuable to them.

01:13 - 24.233 I've also spoken with the Susquehanna Valley Visitors Bureau,

01:13 - 28.002 and we actually talked about doing a partnership where they would have access

01:13 - 31.406 for around the 200 member businesses they have, and they said

01:13 - 35.076 they would be willing to pay around $10,000 a year for something like this.

01:13 - 37.713 Initially. Perfect. Thank you. Thank you.

01:13 - 39.815 Is there a

01:13 - 43.419 segment of small business that you're thinking of going out to?

01:13 - 46.622 Just start because there's a ton of businesses out there, right?

01:13 - 50.092 And you really got me when it said, like, what do you do and where do you go?

01:13 - 51.759 I think food and stuff like that.

01:13 - 54.763 But is it open to all businesses or how does that work?

01:13 - 55.197 Yeah.

01:13 - 58.900 So we're primarily focused on front facing small businesses

01:13 - 01.869 which are known as destination small businesses, places

01:14 - 04.272 where people would go if they're looking for something to do,

01:14 - 07.241 something to eat, something maybe like a craft class.

01:14 - 10.912 So I have the idea to initially launch in Lewisburg, where we have

01:14 - 14.750 so many of these great small businesses, but so few people know about them.

01:14 - 17.051 Just the other day, I was walking on Main Street

01:14 - 20.622 and me and my friend went into an art shop that I never knew existed.

01:14 - 24.492 So I think utilizing that Bucknell network would be a really great way

01:14 - 25.961 to get local loop off the ground.

01:14 - 28.896 Yeah.

01:14 - 30.731 All right. Thank you Anna.

01:14 - 33.735 Thank you Luke.

01:14 - 43.010 Seven presentations.

01:14 - 47.216 Our rising star and our six finalists.

01:14 - 48.549 The judges.

01:14 - 51.419 You now have the toughest roll of the night.

01:14 - 54.856 I'm going to invite you to join me just around the corner here.

01:14 - 56.624 Take a look at your score sheets.

01:14 - 00.362 And we are going to figure out who our grand prize winner, second place,

01:15 - 04.333 second prize, third place and change maker are.

01:15 - 09.104 At this time a special segment of this pitch.

01:15 - 12.374 I am delighted to welcome back to Biz Pitch.

01:15 - 15.409 Last year's winner, Elizabeth Malley.

01:15 - 17.979 And hands crushed.

01:15 - 20.983 Yeah.

01:15 - 23.285 And prize

01:15 - 27.321 winner from the year before with his startup eco.

01:15 - 29.690 Mark. Mikey Brandt.

01:15 - 32.694 What's up guys?

01:15 - 35.930 As the judges vacate

01:15 - 39.701 their seats, you get an upgrade in your seating.

01:15 - 41.403 I'm going to

01:15 - 44.639 invite Aaron Jablonski to moderate a conversation.

01:15 - 48.310 Let's catch up with what has happened to you

01:15 - 52.981 since you competed in this batch for our audience.

01:15 - 57.953 Now is the time for you to vote for fan favorite.

01:15 - 01.723 All seven of the presentations you saw tonight

01:16 - 06.461 are listed in that online link for our live stream.

01:16 - 10.164 Find that in the profile of Bucknell Biz Pitch.

01:16 - 12.066 Instagram.

01:16 - 15.070 Our judges and I will return in a few minutes,

01:16 - 20.809 but at this time, I'd like to invite Aaron to return and Elizabeth and Mikey

01:16 - 24.012 to share about your pitch experience.

01:16 - 32.813 All right. So.

01:16 - 48.336 All right, everyone have their mic.

01:16 - 50.538 I know this is a little bit awkward for us because of the way

01:16 - 52.506 the judges chairs are positioned this year,

01:16 - 57.012 but we want to catch up with some former biz pitch winners.

01:16 - 00.849 So tonight, we're joined by Elizabeth Malley.

01:17 - 04.852 She was our first place best pitch winner for 2025 with thermal Ivy,

01:17 - 06.721 which I'll let her tell you about in a second.

01:17 - 09.323 And Mikey Brant, winner of both the Changemaker Award

01:17 - 12.561 and the face fan favorite in 2024 for eco Mark.

01:17 - 15.730 So maybe we could just start with you reintroducing yourselves

01:17 - 18.734 and telling us about what you pitched and where it is now.

01:17 - 21.535 Yeah. So hi everyone.

01:17 - 23.705 I feel like I'm just going to have to turn so,

01:17 - 27.108 so yes, my name is Elizabeth Marley.

01:17 - 30.044 I pitched thermal Ivy last year.

01:17 - 34.582 Essentially is a portable non-electric reusable I.V.

01:17 - 37.852 bag warmer to prevent hypothermia, shock

01:17 - 41.556 and organ failure, in extreme weather situations.

01:17 - 45.126 So if you're administering an IV in the military

01:17 - 48.363 or search and rescue, it's really important to keep the patient warm.

01:17 - 50.898 So it's just a way to do that.

01:17 - 53.000 Good. Hi, everyone.

01:17 - 54.702 My name is Mikey Brandt.

01:17 - 55.803 I'm the founder of eco Mark.

01:17 - 59.441 Eco Mark is a biodegradable whiteboard marker company.

01:18 - 03.210 Expo, you know, kind of creates a lot of waste,

01:18 - 06.047 within the US and around the world.

01:18 - 08.416 And basically, it's made of wheat straw.

01:18 - 11.152 That is creating a fully biodegradable structure

01:18 - 14.156 so that there's no waste in our classrooms.

01:18 - 18.492 Both of these are, of course, very laudable, ventures.

01:18 - 18.794 Right.

01:18 - 21.295 So to save people and to save the environment,

01:18 - 24.299 these are fantastic purposes for starting a company.

01:18 - 26.634 I wonder what you could tell us about,

01:18 - 29.638 what do you remember most from your experience?

01:18 - 33.875 Or even something that you saw from another pitch or startup that helped you,

01:18 - 35.543 in your planning?

01:18 - 39.047 I think

01:18 - 42.784 the mentorship that I gained from this experience was huge.

01:18 - 45.853 The alumni network at Bucknell is incredible.

01:18 - 47.855 Something like I have never seen.

01:18 - 52.493 The amount of support ever before I was thrown in day

01:18 - 55.931 one with, patent lawyer from Bucknell.

01:18 - 57.032 An alumni.

01:18 - 59.200 And he's been with me the whole time.

01:18 - 01.335 Shout out Tommy.

01:19 - 03.237 And I just think that

01:19 - 06.608 the opportunities here are incredible with where you can go.

01:19 - 09.878 It really was eye opening, seeing all the different paths and the different,

01:19 - 13.849 ways I could go post-grad knowing that,

01:19 - 17.585 if I wanted to do this in the future, I totally could.

01:19 - 19.887 And I had the support to do it.

01:19 - 21.322 Yeah. Totally agree.

01:19 - 26.261 An alumni connection is exactly what allowed me to win the prizes.

01:19 - 29.631 Evan Berkeley, I don't know if you're watching, but shout out you.

01:19 - 31.398 I'm still in contact with him.

01:19 - 35.035 He put me in contact with the suppliers, who eventually put me in contact

01:19 - 35.871 with the manufacturers.

01:19 - 38.939 So if it weren't for him, none of it would have been possible.

01:19 - 40.341 And if it weren't for Bucknell,

01:19 - 42.042 that wouldn't have been the connection I would have had.

01:19 - 43.544 So yeah.

01:19 - 46.680 Yeah, even to go off of that, working on another venture

01:19 - 49.684 right now and Evan Berkeley, he's awesome.

01:19 - 54.389 Put me in touch with the CEO two days ago, and we're already making progress.

01:19 - 57.024 So. Yeah, it's really incredible.

01:19 - 57.325 Yeah.

01:19 - 59.226 Shout out to Tommy Franklin and Evan Berkeley.

01:19 - 02.730 They're also both on the PGCE advisory board, and they are very involved.

01:20 - 06.134 And they're very invested in our students and young alumni.

01:20 - 10.005 So you can tell us a little bit about what you did with your company

01:20 - 14.009 immediately post office pitch, but also how it's influenced your path.

01:20 - 16.711 Is this something you're going to continue with after graduation?

01:20 - 19.181 Yeah.

01:20 - 22.784 So that was really, that was a really big decision for me.

01:20 - 27.489 During my process, I had filed a provisional patent.

01:20 - 31.059 Just this past Friday. Monday.

01:20 - 37.098 I filed the non provisional patent, and we just,

01:20 - 40.869 and as Matt was saying earlier, it's a huge process to go through.

01:20 - 43.637 It takes a really long time. It's really expensive.

01:20 - 45.673 The money has really helped me with that.

01:20 - 50.478 And I'm looking to do my first round of funding in May, which is coming up.

01:20 - 54.282 And I'll be doing this post-grad.

01:20 - 55.316 Yeah.

01:20 - 58.753 So I've continued to work on econ work since my sophomore year.

01:20 - 01.889 We're actually in the testing stage

01:21 - 04.893 right now to see how long it actually takes for the marker to buy of grade.

01:21 - 06.760 We've already built the branding.

01:21 - 09.396 And I'm going to continue to work after college,

01:21 - 13.067 actually, at Evan Berkley's, strategic consulting firm.

01:21 - 18.473 And he's also continued going to continue to guide me, through econ work as well.

01:21 - 24.613 That's awesome.

01:21 - 25.313 Can you

01:21 - 28.382 tell us about the other people you met during your biz pitch process,

01:21 - 31.653 your peers, people that you've stayed connected with, sort of maybe,

01:21 - 35.456 classmates that weren't ever in your classes, but that you got to know

01:21 - 38.460 as you're doing this?

01:21 - 39.961 Yeah.

01:21 - 45.467 Actually, Emily, I met her through developing the ink,

01:21 - 49.237 for the marker, and I was put in touch with,

01:21 - 52.540 I was put in touch with me through this pitch, obviously.

01:21 - 56.844 And she actually helped us create, a very powerful wearable

01:21 - 00.382 ink, a more nontoxic ink than the one that Zippo currently uses.

01:22 - 04.218 So, yeah, that that would be who I've been connected with.

01:22 - 06.887 And that's great. Seeing her tonight.

01:22 - 07.689 Yeah.

01:22 - 12.494 I'm a biomedical engineering major, so, I gained a lot of support from my,

01:22 - 15.930 fellow students, peers.

01:22 - 19.701 And then also, the faculty was really helpful in developing the technology.

01:22 - 23.071 And then also Professor Meeks class, who's here?

01:22 - 25.739 Working on my venture,

01:22 - 28.743 working on a new adventure, doing all of those things.

01:22 - 32.447 It was really awesome to see Club rally shout out to them.

01:22 - 33.949 Who's in my class?

01:22 - 37.452 And seeing them kind of work through this was really awesome.

01:22 - 43.591 So doing a startup as a student is no joke because you have a full course schedule.

01:22 - 45.859 You're in clubs, you're in social activities,

01:22 - 49.431 you're doing all the other things and doing a startup is usually your life.

01:22 - 53.400 Tell me about the time spent and what it takes to stay committed

01:22 - 55.769 as long as you have, because you're in, you know,

01:22 - 58.073 multiple years now of being involved in this.

01:23 - 00.675 Yeah.

01:23 - 04.179 This is like I mean, every single person that's been up here tonight,

01:23 - 05.747 I just want to applaud them.

01:23 - 07.948 It is a huge process.

01:23 - 10.952 Just from the beginning and then all the way through the meetings,

01:23 - 14.122 every single round, it takes a lot of effort.

01:23 - 16.290 Especially with school and everything.

01:23 - 18.425 So, I'm just really proud of all of them.

01:23 - 20.728 But if you love it, then it's not really.

01:23 - 23.732 It doesn't really feel like work. So, yeah.

01:23 - 25.266 Yeah. Totally agree.

01:23 - 28.335 If you're passionate about it doesn't necessarily feel like a drag.

01:23 - 31.472 And it seemed like everyone was very passionate about it tonight.

01:23 - 34.476 So I bet they all feel the exact same way.

01:23 - 37.612 But it's definitely, you know, a lot of work, and a lot of,

01:23 - 41.983 you know, determination in order to get to where you want to eventually be

01:23 - 45.753 given how amazing all the presenters were this evening,

01:23 - 48.856 I bet the judges are having a very hard time backstage right now.

01:23 - 51.091 So let's take some audience questions.

01:23 - 54.094 Does anyone want to know anything else about what Elizabeth and Mike

01:23 - 55.629 you're working on?

01:23 - 58.332 I want to know when I can buy an echo Mark marker.

01:23 - 03.104 Yeah, it's a great question.

01:24 - 06.040 So right now, the testing is 45 days.

01:24 - 09.010 We haven't actually started the testing yet, so start in two weeks.

01:24 - 11.612 So once we find out how long it takes

01:24 - 15.216 for it to biodegrade, then we will go into it.

01:24 - 18.218 If the results, you know, come back positive.

01:24 - 19.286 Obviously.

01:24 - 22.189 Then we'd, you know, make a bulk order.

01:24 - 24.792 And that would be five and a half months from there.

01:24 - 27.762 So it's within the year is the goal.

01:24 - 28.930 All right.

01:24 - 30.964 I'm going to check back with you in six months.

01:24 - 33.568 Sounds good. I can buy my marker. Yeah. Marco.

01:24 - 38.972 I would like to know, his brother, who is the.

01:24 - 41.909 What's the difference between the thing he thought would be the hardest part

01:24 - 44.913 and what has turned out to be.

01:24 - 49.751 A good question.

01:24 - 52.019 The thing I thought was going to be the hardest part

01:24 - 55.023 was fundraising for it.

01:24 - 00.160 The hardest part would actually be doing it by yourself.

01:25 - 03.164 I think, you know, having obviously a ton of support,

01:25 - 07.334 but I think being the person who's doing marketing and the person

01:25 - 08.802 who's talking to manufacturers and the person

01:25 - 12.507 talking to suppliers and figuring out where I'm going to store these, markers,

01:25 - 17.045 I think having it be a one individual show kind of creates

01:25 - 19.847 it allows it a great opportunity because you get to wear a lot of hats,

01:25 - 21.081 you get to understand your business.

01:25 - 23.784 But I think it's a lot of time.

01:25 - 26.653 And it's definitely difficult being so young and not having,

01:25 - 28.123 you know, real world experience yet.

01:25 - 30.158 But I think that would

01:25 - 33.161 probably be the most difficult part.

01:25 - 34.561 What do you think?

01:25 - 37.498 I was going to say I thought the pattern was going to be really difficult.

01:25 - 40.502 But I kind of got that taken off my hands, which was nice.

01:25 - 44.806 But not really knowing what I was doing and kind of having to figure it out.

01:25 - 49.477 Along the way was probably the hardest part.

01:25 - 52.511 There's so many small details that you don't even think about going into it.

01:25 - 56.550 And, like, knowing where to start and then how to finish,

01:25 - 59.921 like they'll say, okay, go manufacture, then get 100 units.

01:26 - 02.723 Let me know what the price is, break down, blah, blah, blah.

01:26 - 03.924 But how do you actually do that?

01:26 - 07.896 And I think figuring out all the small details and saying consistent

01:26 - 12.033 with no one putting a fire under your butt is really, really difficult.

01:26 - 16.070 We had another question somewhere around there.

01:26 - 18.672 Now with the answer.

01:26 - 19.840 Okay. Okay.

01:26 - 22.810 Oh, yes.

01:26 - 30.885 Oh, tips and tricks for meeting with investors.

01:26 - 33.120 Yeah. Yeah.

01:26 - 34.388 Having your pitch down.

01:26 - 37.559 I mean, I think that's kind of the reason why I was able to win the prizes.

01:26 - 40.894 And being passionate about my projects.

01:26 - 44.865 I mean, I'll be honest, like, there were better ideas than mine

01:26 - 48.703 when I did it, but I think my pitch was, pretty strong.

01:26 - 51.672 So that allowed me to win the prizes.

01:26 - 55.843 I think, you know, knowing your project inside and out and also

01:26 - 57.412 being passionate about it,

01:26 - 59.913 if you're not passionate about it, you're not gonna be able to sell it.

01:26 - 02.951 And I think that would be my best advice.

01:27 - 04.352 Yeah.

01:27 - 07.020 I mean, you know who you are first and you know your brand,

01:27 - 08.789 so you're kind of selling yourself.

01:27 - 12.159 And so as long as you're confident and you know, what you have is good,

01:27 - 13.293 and you've done your due

01:27 - 16.764 diligence and all of that, then I think that you should be good.

01:27 - 19.233 Yeah, I agree, I agree.

01:27 - 23.337 Well, if you were able to give advice to the the collection of folks

01:27 - 25.072 that were there who just pitched and probably

01:27 - 27.341 just have their nerves coming down, what would you be?

01:27 - 30.345 What would be your best advice for next steps for them?

01:27 - 33.881 Yeah, even if you don't end up getting a prize,

01:27 - 38.118 there are still so many people that are going to want to connect with you

01:27 - 41.388 and push you and show all the things that they know

01:27 - 44.091 and kind of share their knowledge and just take advantage

01:27 - 47.996 of every single opportunity that this has given you.

01:27 - 49.931 Yeah, I would

01:27 - 53.000 say whether you win or not, I would say just keep going at it.

01:27 - 56.971 I think entrepreneurial spirit is not something that is can be learned.

01:27 - 00.007 I think someone people are just born with it.

01:28 - 03.010 So I think look for, you know, entrepreneurship

01:28 - 06.146 in every aspect of your life, but because obviously you guys love it.

01:28 - 09.150 And I do too, and that's what I do. So

01:28 - 14.655 so what I love is often now in my role, the first time I meet a student, it's

01:28 - 18.792 because they're walking in my door, so excited to tell me about an idea

01:28 - 19.761 that they have.

01:28 - 22.329 And that was my experience, right the first time we met.

01:28 - 24.031 And I think when we first talked,

01:28 - 26.099 remember, we took apart markers on my desk and I was like, well,

01:28 - 27.701 you know, what about this? And what about this?

01:28 - 30.537 And I love the idea that, like, there's anybody here will help you.

01:28 - 33.240 I'm looking across at how many faculty are in the audience,

01:28 - 35.275 and I think it's really special at a place like Bucknell,

01:28 - 38.111 that so many of your faculty will show up and try to help you.

01:28 - 39.279 And so were there

01:28 - 43.051 any moments that happened with people that were completely unexpected?

01:28 - 45.553 Actually, yeah.

01:28 - 48.789 The reason why I came up with the idea if you can work was because

01:28 - 51.925 of my accounting and finance professor, David

01:28 - 54.929 Jensen, and and he.

01:28 - 56.129 Yeah.

01:28 - 59.834 And he was writing, the Void with an expo marker.

01:29 - 02.869 And this was like a month before his pitch,

01:29 - 04.571 and I had no idea what I was going to do.

01:29 - 07.140 He was writing on the board with an expo marker and then it ran out.

01:29 - 09.543 He's like, I feel like I throw one of these out every day.

01:29 - 11.478 I was like, wait, wait a second.

01:29 - 13.580 And then that's how I came up with the idea for you.

01:29 - 16.049 Go, Mark. Yeah.

01:29 - 18.251 Do you want to tell your story of not having an idea

01:29 - 21.154 until 24 hours before freelance?

01:29 - 25.058 Yeah, I, I originally wanted to do, this pitch

01:29 - 29.596 with a whole team of four, and nobody could come up with anything.

01:29 - 33.266 And I was like, I guess I'll just, like, not do it or I'll have to like,

01:29 - 34.368 think of something last minute,

01:29 - 37.372 go through the process, learn it, and then do it better the next year.

01:29 - 41.041 And so it was like two, three hours before the deadline and I had to make

01:29 - 44.045 a video, had to come up with an idea, write the whole essay.

01:29 - 45.847 And I don't even know,

01:29 - 48.582 you had been an

01:29 - 52.853 EMT and you had done search and rescue, and you knew that people put I.V.

01:29 - 55.856 bags on the ambulance heater, and that was all right.

01:29 - 58.392 I had so I, I was riveting.

01:29 - 01.895 So I watched, one of the EMTs take a bag

01:30 - 04.966 and then put it on the heater vents, and I was like, what's going on?

01:30 - 08.535 We're like, in the US, and, like, we have a lot of technology

01:30 - 12.005 and we're like, putting bags on our stomachs to warm up the I.V.

01:30 - 13.206 fluid.

01:30 - 14.408 And so that's.

01:30 - 16.076 Yeah, that's how it all began.

01:30 - 19.079 It was kind of just a sprint from there.

01:30 - 21.448 I made the video, and then here we are.

01:30 - 22.283 There we are.

01:30 - 23.251 Yeah.

01:30 - 27.888 Well, I, I do think, actually that this is a very, very tough decision.

01:30 - 29.689 And what did you notice?

01:30 - 33.394 You you know, Steve said this is the most prepared, the most,

01:30 - 35.262 you know, elevated set he's seen.

01:30 - 37.564 But I think this pitch is amazing every year.

01:30 - 38.732 What set out in your year.

01:30 - 40.400 And then if you could share what stood out in your year,

01:30 - 42.641 do you remember the pitches or was it all a nervous blur?

01:30 - 46.206 Honestly, I kind of only remembered my pitch

01:30 - 48.375 because I was just going over it in my head.

01:30 - 51.011 But I definitely remember everyone at the end just coming together.

01:30 - 53.747 Like, after everyone left all the contests instead.

01:30 - 54.682 And we were just talking about,

01:30 - 57.751 you know, our experience and you know, what we loved about it.

01:30 - 01.322 And obviously, I'm still in touch with a lot of people, especially,

01:31 - 04.291 you know, who I've worked with throughout.

01:31 - 06.626 I'm away. Right, right.

01:31 - 08.328 I think Lyriq really sticks out.

01:31 - 10.764 She was supposed to be here tonight, but,

01:31 - 13.099 she was second place, and she was supposed

01:31 - 18.104 and was already making lots of profit from her business.

01:31 - 20.674 And she has it downtown.

01:31 - 22.442 So. Yeah, that was really awesome to see.

01:31 - 23.344 Yeah.

01:31 - 26.346 If you're interested in taking a look at prior biz pitch winners,

01:31 - 29.549 if you check out the Biz Pitch site, you can go back to all the years

01:31 - 31.284 and all the winners and all the cool videos.

01:31 - 35.388 You can also check out the YouTube channel which has all these great promo videos,

01:31 - 38.392 which again, that was an experience you probably never had.

01:31 - 42.729 So to give the audience a sense, these students, from the moment

01:31 - 46.834 that they pitch at the prelims, have to be involved in getting

01:31 - 48.969 like essentially two hours of footage

01:31 - 52.272 that gets whittled down into that 62nd video that you see.

01:31 - 54.574 So lots of coaching on that.

01:31 - 56.776 Lots of coaching on what should you bring?

01:31 - 57.811 What should you wear?

01:31 - 00.647 You know, what's the most important aspect of your life? That sort of thing.

01:32 - 04.417 So the amount that these students learn just in this sprint,

01:32 - 06.820 like you said, for seven weeks, is kind of incredible.

01:32 - 09.824 So I wish everyone could see prelims, but we don't do that to them.

01:32 - 12.292 But it is a really it's a

01:32 - 15.663 really special delta between prelim night and tonight.

01:32 - 19.032 Well, I think we'll we'll vacate the judges chairs now,

01:32 - 22.303 unless anybody has one last question from the audience.

01:32 - 25.171 Do I see anyone?

01:32 - 25.773 All right.

01:32 - 27.941 And we'll hope that they're coming back soon.

01:32 - 29.209 Unless you have any closing.

01:32 - 31.745 Closing final important wisdom.

01:32 - 33.113 No. Wisdom. No.

01:32 - 34.347 Thank you for listening. Yes.

01:32 - 37.351 Thank you for listening.

01:32 - 45.426 All right.

01:32 - 47.961 This is an eagerly awaited moment of business.

01:32 - 52.733 Pitch after deliberation, and indeed, the judges did have a hard time.

01:32 - 56.470 And this is going to be an interesting announcement ahead.

01:32 - 59.072 Just, just a teaser for that.

01:32 - 03.476 But first, to present the fan favorite award

01:33 - 08.015 as voted on by our audience and our online audience.

01:33 - 11.251 I'd like to invite the student team

01:33 - 15.423 of this pitch Owen O'Brien, Alexa Helmke, Katie Ross

01:33 - 20.127 Russo, Shohei, Our Asgard Mariappa and Selina Tang.

01:33 - 28.635 Hello, everyone.

01:33 - 31.504 I just wanted to say thank you so much for,

01:33 - 35.142 you know, coming here and being in attendance for 2026.

01:33 - 37.377 And to all our participants

01:33 - 40.514 and contestants who have given their heart and soul to Bethpage.

01:33 - 45.218 You know, working with all these fellow team members and just seeing the growth

01:33 - 48.623 that all the contestants have put in from day one.

01:33 - 52.126 I think it has helped us a lot to grow and learn how,

01:33 - 56.664 you know, entrepreneurship works and above all, how sportsmanship to work.

01:33 - 59.700 You know, like they taught us how hard work,

01:33 - 02.502 needs to be put in, in whatever passion you have

01:34 - 05.539 and how you need to believe in yourself before others believe in you.

01:34 - 09.609 So congratulations to all the finalists before the results are announced,

01:34 - 11.712 because you guys are winners already. For all of us.

01:34 - 21.421 So a little background on the Fan favorite award.

01:34 - 25.860 It is for 1850

01:34 - 29.630 $46, which is the year that Bucknell was founded.

01:34 - 31.431 So that's just a little fun fact.

01:34 - 34.502 So all the awards are determined by the judges, except for this one,

01:34 - 36.269 which you guys voted on.

01:34 - 42.143 And if we can have a drumroll for your.

01:34 - 45.246 Oh woo! Oh!

01:34 - 59.393 Thank you.

01:34 - 02.963 So are we are going up on the.

01:35 - 11.104 Right.

01:35 - 13.206 Next up we have the Changemaker Award.

01:35 - 16.410 And this award is a very special one for the,

01:35 - 21.314 venture idea that has the greatest potential for impact on the world.

01:35 - 25.985 And actually there are multiple, opportunities to award this.

01:35 - 29.824 And I think it's really special that this year, I didn't know going in.

01:35 - 33.928 So I'm very, very happy to announce that Avoca Slab has been awarded

01:35 - 35.463 the Changemaker.

01:35 - 43.738 World.

01:35 - 53.113 Rights.

01:35 - 56.150 Would you like to explain where we're at? Yes.

01:35 - 59.953 So we had this is the third place award.

01:35 - 04.058 We had quite the challenge deliberating who would get this award.

01:36 - 07.361 So in fact it is a tie.

01:36 - 11.565 So please welcome and go.

01:36 - 16.203 Teams will receive the full $2,000. Yes,

01:36 - 19.305 yes. Very important.

01:36 - 22.309 What?

01:36 - 27.181 So we have forced out.

01:36 - 37.792 And in the true Competitive spirit Club rally.

01:36 - 51.639 That we are.

01:37 - 07.888 So for second place it came down to a one point difference.

01:37 - 10.890 So we are very, very impressed by all of the pitches.

01:37 - 13.861 And and congrats again to everybody who is up here.

01:37 - 18.998 Your pitches and, and drive and determination is incredibly inspiring.

01:37 - 21.301 So congrats to everybody in advance.

01:37 - 24.305 For second place, we have a let's.

01:37 - 42.623 All right.

01:37 - 45.191 So I have the honor of presenting the winner.

01:37 - 47.193 Again, super impressed with everybody.

01:37 - 50.563 We were all saying that you guys have are amazing.

01:37 - 52.265 I don't know that I could have done any of this,

01:37 - 53.733 especially presented to this many people.

01:37 - 56.202 I still get nervous, and I've been doing this a long time.

01:37 - 59.272 So, our first place winner is EKU.

01:37 - 03.010 Sasha. Oh.

01:38 - 32.573 That was an

01:38 - 36.409 amazing finish to biz pitch, as I predicted.

01:38 - 40.648 And as I knew in my heart the best prepared,

01:38 - 45.753 the most creative, the most inspiring overall group

01:38 - 49.623 of student entrepreneurs in this pitch yet.

01:38 - 52.392 I can't wait till Biz Pitch 2027.

01:38 - 55.396 But for now, I'm going to savor this moment.

01:38 - 59.066 Applaud all of your accomplishments.

01:38 - 02.670 Thank our judges.

01:39 - 13.579 And thank you, our audience here in the Terrace Room

01:39 - 16.583 at Bucknell University and watching the live stream.

01:39 - 19.719 I can't wait to see what kind of engagement

01:39 - 23.356 you all have had online in sharing these stories.

01:39 - 26.359 These are stories that are worth sharing.

01:39 - 29.530 So please join me in sharing and celebrating

01:39 - 32.733 these students.

01:39 - 42.175 So. What you saw tonight

01:39 - 45.812 truly reflects what Bucknell University aims

01:39 - 50.616 to create, to foster and to support through the Paris

01:39 - 53.620 Ella Agnes Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

01:39 - 59.193 Not just ventures, but the Bucknell fans who can identify problems,

01:39 - 04.832 take action and create meaningful value in the world.

01:40 - 07.867 Thank you for being part of this pitch.

01:40 - 08.868 2026.