The Lulu eGames have become increasingly popular over the last couple years at NC State, awarding over $100,000 in prize money last year used to start companies and make new products.
The competition consists of three rounds starting Thursday, when original applications are due. The first application includes questions on your submitted idea or product and a 60-second pitch video.
From there, student applications are narrowed down to seven finalists in five different categories. The categories open for students are New Venture, Arts Venture, Built on Cloud, Social and Environmental Impact and Design & Prototype.
Macy Thomas, senior brand manager, works with the alliance of entrepreneurship programs from all colleges and is very involved with the eGames process. She said she loves to see the continued growth of the competition from year to year.
“Our goal for this is to provide students with a vehicle to fund their idea,” Thomas said. “So any student that enters the competition, they could be from a fully formed idea, all the way up to already running their own company.”
The finalists develop a business plan and interview for the top prizes in each category. For most student categories, the top prize last year was $5,000 with consolation prizes of $3,000 and $2,000 for second and third places respectively.
“A big issue for students is having enough money to work on their idea,” Thomas said. “This is really a good way we try to connect them with funding resources they need and also a good way for them to get feedback on their idea. We have a big judging panel and the judges are very involved with making sure they’re giving good feedback for students.”
There is a wide variety of entries at the eGames, especially since the addition of new categories in the past two years. Thomas has emphasized getting the prize money over $100,000 in recent years to provide more funding for winning students.
In 2017, the eGames had almost 200 original entries ranging from nonprofit organizations to apps and software. The categories provide an opportunity for all colleges and ideas to fit in.
“There is not one niche that we’re really strong in,” Thomas said. “But we work to build that diversity and we work to attract all different ventures so we are not heavy in one category.”
One of the winners from the 2017 competition included a company called VieMetrics. They “developed a low-cost, portable spirometer that can potentially predict asthma attacks” and won $20,000 in total with their product.
VieMetrics was started two months prior to the Lulu eGames last year by a group of undergraduate and postgraduate students. Their winning product now has its separate company called Vitaflow, while VieMetrics is focusing on new projects.
Eric Beppler, VieMetrics member and now CEO, and his team used the competition to create a business plan and formulate a market.
“The Lulu eGames helped us to develop the business plan for our first product and get our sister company in a great position,” Beppler said. “It also helped us to identify where we wanted to be focusing our efforts going down the line, get set up in an office, put the equipment we needed in that office and really start this journey that is continuing to this day.”
VieMetrics is just one of the success stories to come out of the eGames and the results of the final competition are determined by public vote open to all students and community members to pick their favorite idea. All students are welcome to attend the final competition on April 5.
“We wish luck to everybody participating in this year’s teams,” Beppler said. “It was a great way for us to step into the space and start making some contacts, start getting some publicity and we’re grateful for what they did for both of our businesses now and hopefully we’ll continue to be able to be a part of it in the future.”
The deadline to enter is Thursday at 5 p.m. More information can be found on the Lulu eGames website.
