Previous Winners
The 11th annual Startup Challenge was held on April 15, 2016
Congratulations to all of the participating teams in the UIC Startup Challenge Competition!
2016 Startup Challenge Winners
FIRST PLACE WINNER ($3,000):
Clean Slate Messenger is a digital platform which offers private, instant chat to help youth to control their digital trail through on-demand deletion and captivating letter-by-letter messaging.
Graduate, College of Engineering (Rachel Harsley); Alumnus, College of Engineering (Daniel Ruiz)
SECOND PLACE WINNER ($1,000):
Beet Strong is a beet-infused nutrition bar that’s high protein, high fiber, and made with real fruits, nuts, and chocolate. Ingredients are linked to improved cardiovascular function, athletic performance, and muscle building.
Graduate Student, College of Business Administration (Sofia Sanchez); Graduate Student, College of Applied Health Sciences (Austin Robinson)
FINALISTS ($500 for Each)
The Arch Fingerskate Corporation produces one of the world’s most creative, innovative, and interactive fingerskate platforms and strives to capitalize on a young, emerging fingerskating market.
Undergraduate Students, College of Business Administration (Justin Ellis, Matt Gruhn, Alex Lombardi, Ryan Dowler, Sam Voss)
Clearmaze Technologies is a startup that helps community college students pick the right courses that transfer to a university using a simple 3 step process.
Undergraduate Student, College of Engineering (Mohammed Mustafa Hoda)
NeXTSTEP Bank helps students submit one student loan application to receive multiple offers from different banks in order to select the best one to meet their needs.
Undergraduate Student, College of Engineering (Ilham Kabir); Undergraduate Student, College of Business Administration (Jaime Manriquez)
sĕntēme uses the power of user-generated online content to provide in-depth automated summaries of people’s opinions, enable customers to make quick buying decisions, and help businesses design better products.
Graduate Student, College of Engineering (Vivek Revanna Shivaprabhu); Undergraduate Student, College of Business Administration (Moe Kanan)
RecoNinja uses artificial intelligence to present fine-tuned recommendations to users, allowing them to spend their valuable time consuming content, rather than searching for it.
Graduate Students, College of Business Administration (Soham Joshi, Advait Netravali, Melphin Parathazham, Harsh Selani, Nikunj Vora)
nexpil, inc. keeps heart failure patients in a homeostatic fluid state, autonomously titrating diuretics via machine-learning software, utilizing existing hardware technology to collect and deliver data.
Graduate Student, College of Business Administration & College of Medicine (Chris Duff); Alumnus, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences (Syed Khalid)
Hizzah is the education platform for young, active learners who want a more engaging experience by integrating learning with analytics and exciting multiplayer games.
Graduate Student, College of Pharmacy (Mohammed Munir Ahmed)
Early Venture Track Recognition: ($500)
Ecoair is an interdisciplinary team focusing on a sustainable lifestyle for cost efficient consumers by combining engineering and marketing mindsets to deliver a desirable product.
Undergraduate Student, College of Business Administration (Donald Lacombe); Undergraduate Student, College of Engineering (Joonha Joo)
Clutch for Life gives prison inmates a second chance at success by allowing inmates to handcraft luxury bags for their community.
Undergraduate Student, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences (Karen Valencia)
ShoeBoxOne has evolved from the traditionally burdensome shoe storage and was created to fulfill every shoe collector’s dream. A single solution to protect and present customers most valuable possessions.
Undergraduate Student, College of Engineering (Eddy Mejia)
Pear Loans, Inc. matches investors with small businesses through a patented online lending platform that provides faster funding, better rates, and asset backed security.
Graduate Students, College of Business Administration (Brendan Behrens, Alex Mauritz, Matt Puglisi, Dan Sorensen)
Winner Elevator Pitch/Fan Favorite ($750)
International Youth & Children Sports Development focuses on developing international sports programs for UIC international students, and over 1 million current students in Beijing, China.
Graduate Student, College of Business Administration (Xiaoli Xu)
UIC Startup Challenge Previous Winners
| Year | Prize | Winning Project | Winning Team |
| 2015 | First Place | Autonomy | Roy Moran, Aman Chowdhury |
| 2015 | Second Place | Little Genius Games | Jamie Rayahin, Alex Damarjian |
| 2015 | Elevator Pitch/Fan Favorite | Gps Campus | Paul Callejas, Ricky Martinez |
| 2013 | First Place Graduate- | NuFortis | Brittany Chibe, Flor Fernandez, Jason Rebello |
| 2013 | First Place Undergraduate- | Shy Spa | Jacquelyn Jenke |
| 2013 | Best Elevator Pitch Graduate | System Science Corporation | Vasiliki Thomeas, Alex Cross, Catherine Gildea |
| 2013 | Best Elevator Pitch Undergraduate | Upside Down Bakery | John Cruz |
| 2013 | Fan Favorite | Upside Down Bakery | John Cruz |
| 2012 | First Prize – Graduate Clean and Green Award |
Radeant tech | Alex Duchak, Kristen Perhach, Tony Mammana-Lupo |
| 2012 | Second Prize – Graduate | EverFile System | James DeMory, Benjamin Lachman |
| 2011 | First Prize- Graduate Best Elevator Pitch |
NovoView Diagnostics | Dominic Blank, Joseph Sheahan, Michelle Shah |
| 2011 | First Prize- Undergraduate Sustainability Award |
True Herban Clothing | Salim Rowe |
| 2011 | Second Prize- Graduate | Metropolitan Farms | Benjamin Kant |
| 2011 | Second Prize- Undergraduate | Caf’Rae Dulce | Eileen Galvin, Rae Gottlieb |
| 2011 | Best Non-CBA Team | Terra Energy | |
| 2011 | Best Social Venture | IOMI Technologies | |
| 2010 | Best Elevator Pitch | Cab Tracker | Jacob Weinberg, Nathan Murdock, Nathaniel Jungheim |
| 2010 | Second Prize-Graduate Sustainability Award |
Exciton Systems | Ahmed Mujovic, April Gardner |
| 2010 | Second Prize- Undergraduate | AMI | Tim Walsh, Francisco Alvarez |
| 2009 | Second Prize- Undergraduate |
Urban Enviroscapes | Bonaficio R. Runez, Jr., Andy Camp |
| 2009 | Best Non-CBA Team Best Social Venture |
Pretty in Pink | Janice Gries |
| 2008 | First Prize- Undergraduate |
Verta Carta LLC | Saeb Ahsan, Malgorzata Gonig Rejnowska, Justin Polera, Robert MacNeill |
| 2008 | Second Prize-Graduate Best Elevator Pitch |
Optical Insight | Daniel Ripes, Amanda So |
| 2008 | Second Prize- Undergraduate | Emerald Power Systems | Will Kokum, Farrah Siganporia, Robert Ryan Brandys |
| 2007 | Second Prize Best Elevator Pitch |
BioRegenix | Darius Kaulius, Thomas Triantafillou, GoKul Kumar |
| 2007 | Third Prize Best Undergraduate |
WeVenture | James Kelley, Aaron Miles, Darnell Shields, Uchenns Nnaemeka, Elijah Watson |
| 2006 | First Prize Best Elevator Pitch |
Optimal Vision Corp. | Kristin Ware, Shrijay Vijayan, Kelly Leibl |
| 2006 | Second Prize | Baskets by Design | Ashley Kockler, Sharokina Bazand, |
| Best Undergraduate | Leva Sasnauskaite, Ruzanna Pagosyan | ||
| 2006 | Third Prize | FinerFlow Flow Diagnostics |
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| 2005 | First Prize | SanoGene Theraputics | Caralynn Nowinski, Chirag Patel |
| 2005 | Second Prize Best Elevator Pitch |
Ortho Accel Technologies | Mark Kwatia, Kirk Purcell, Anna Lisa Somera, Colin James, Matthew Christian |
| 2005 | Third Prize | Indigenous Energy | |
| 2005 | Best Undergraduate | Clarm Inc. |
