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Shashwath Kumar
Oliver Brian Walsh, a Junior majoring in Electrical Engineering thanks the crowd ecstatically after winning the "Minute to Pitch it" event during Entrepalooza at The Oval on Thursday, Sept 3, 2015.
More than 500 people attended Entrepalooza last week, an event that welcomed all types of business ventures where 15 students pitched ideas that were in many stages of development, starting with a concept all the way to a working prototype. Representing many colleges across campus, participants showed off innovative ideas ranging from an electric longboard to mini sunscreen bottles, and even a lower body exoskeleton.
Contestants were given one minute to pitch an entrepreneurial idea to the crowd for a chance to win $1,000. Immediately following the final minute-long pitch, audience members voted on the idea they thought was best.
Oliver Walsh, a junior studying electrical engineering, won the competition with his idea ‘ShareFish.’
The app addresses the conundrum of not knowing where the social hotspots are downtown. It will provide real-time updates to see where the most exciting places are. Users can vote anonymously in groups called ‘Fish Bowls.’
As you vote, data are recorded and compiled with others who are also voting to give the most efficient updates. When you’re on the move and trying to figure out where to go to next, you can look at your phone and figure it out. Also, as you put your vote in for a particular venue, you can get promotional discounts applying directly to that place.
Although Walsh won the contest, he admired the other contestants.
“These people have great ideas,” Walsh said. “I’m so fortunate to be amongst other people who have high intellectual ability. Entrepreneurs have a good spirit about them, they want to help others succeed, and it’s a collaborative process. I was happy to see that at NC State because I know it’s not everywhere, and we’re very lucky to have it.”
Walsh hopes to have ShareFish available to NC State students this December, with a wider release to the App Store and Google Play Store early next year.
One of the other ventures demonstrated at Entrepalooza was ecoPRT, the low-cost urban rail system that will transport students across campus. The prototype car was driven around the Oval lawn during the event.
Seth Hollar, associate director for the Engineering Entrepreneurs Program at NC State and co-visionary behind ecoPRT, was pleased with the feedback from the festival.
“Students said they thought it was a really neat idea,” Hollar said. “The vehicle is only 31 inches wide, but once they were in it, a lot of them said ‘Wow, it’s a lot more spacious than I thought.”
EcoPRT is still in its early stages of development, and its next prototype will include air-conditioning and other features.