Kaydee Gawlik
Travis Murray, a senior studying computer engineering, Brian Graham, a senior studying mechanical engineering and Jack Dodd, a senior studying electrical engineering, celebrate being voted the audience favorite during the LuLu eGames Award Ceremony in Stewart Theatre on Thursday. Rhythcor developed PulseAware, a device that aims to combat heart attacks suffered by firefighters by monitoring their heart, detecting signs of a heart attack, and alerting emergency services when necessary. Rhythcor won awards in several categories.
The Lulu eGames came to a close Thursday evening in Talley Student Union with the competition’s award ceremony and reception. Startup competitors vied to receive category-based awards and promote their venture ideas to regional business professionals and investors.
Entrepreneurs in particular are confronted with countless challenges when building their business ideas, and the Lulu eGames serve as a source of monetary support and peer mentorship to students who participate. In the past, winning companies such as Undercover Colors, a venture that created a date rape drug-detecting nail polish, have gone on to receive great acclaim and post-graduation success. This year’s eGames contestants illustrated their completed business plans, hoping to popularize their companies.
One hundred and ninety-two teams entered the competition in February, and judges from across the United States selected the top six members of each of six categories to move on as finalists. The 26 finalists were required to submit business plans and present their plans to a series of finalist judges. Over $100,000 in prize money was awarded to the the top three ventures in categories, ranging from arts ventures to concept design to social impact and cloud-based ventures.
Jack Dodd, a senior studying electrical engineering, was one of many students to compete in the eGames and plans to continue growing his venture in the coming year. Dodd’s company Rhythcor uses wearable sensors woven into T-shirts to monitor vital signs and electrocardiograms, electric wave signals that show one’s heartbeat.
“This has been a tremendous experience, mainly for the validation that it has given our company,” Dodd said. “To see it grow over nine months into something that will be a legitimate business is just breathtaking. It wouldn’t be possible without the wonderful people here.”
Dodd plans to first implement his company’s technology to prevent the large number of heart attacks that occur in the firefighting industry. His company won the competitive Audience Choice Award at the eGames and received second place in the social impact category.
Following the main awards ceremony, the winning competitors returned to deliver company pitches in hopes of winning the Audience Choice Award, an award designated by popular vote. While many contestants used formal, professional marketing approaches to promote their ideas, several companies like Ataristicians, a group focused on educating high schoolers in statistics using video game modules, capitalized on simple humor to creatively convey otherwise alien entrepreneurial challenges.
“With the bloom of information technology, ‘Ameria’ has large volumes of data in every field and industry,” said Luis Bayley, a senior studying industrial design. “Unfortunately, ‘Ameria’s’ shortage of data scientists is impeding its growth, and ‘Ameria’ is in a vulnerable position facing rival kingdoms, such as ‘Russialand’ and ‘Chinarnia.’ … Dear adventurers, it’s up to you to decide the best way to teach statistics.”
Most competitors plan to use the event as a starting platform to market their business to local investors and businesspeople and plan to follow through with their business plans following graduation. Companies like VieMetrics that work in highly competitive markets must demonstrate their product’s purpose and unique value.
“The biggest risk for us is certainly competition,” said Lundon White, a senior studying chemical engineering and member of VieMetrics. “There are a number of new entrants into this category of portable spirometers [lung capacity measurement devices], so it’s a race to market. We are one of the few that have the advantage of the predictive algorithm that we’re developing. We’re also the most accurate.”
The Lulu eGames are currently set to continue until 2020 with their sponsorship from Lulu Publishing. The competition will continue to bring new students’ startup ideas to the forefront of critical public attention in coming years.