Campus & Community

2020 Spring Student Competitions Reinvented Online

Tuesday, March 31, 2020, By Cristina Hatem

The School of Information Studies’ (iSchool) Raymond von Dran (RvD) Fund for Student Entrepreneurship pitch competition, the Hunter Brooks Watson Spirit of Entrepreneurship Award and the Compete CNY regional qualifier for the New York Business Plan Competition (NYBPC) have been retooled to online competitions coordinated by the Blackstone LaunchPad at Syracuse University Libraries.

The concurrent events were quickly reinvented by the LaunchPad team in a new virtual format, working with the steering committee for the state competition. Students submitted their one-page overview for entry and now have until April 3 to submit their pitch videos and slide deck. Judges will review the submissions and rank them, with an online conference to select final winners the week of April 13. Winners will receive cash prizes, and the top teams in six categories will be selected to move on the state business plan competition, also being held virtually in May.

The RvD Fund is named after former iSchool dean Raymond Von Dran, who served from 1995 until his passing in 2007. Von Dran was a longtime academic entrepreneur and staunch supporter of student innovation. He started several innovative programs in higher education. To honor his memory and ensure that her husband’s infectious spirit for innovation continued, his wife Gisela generously created the RvD Fund. $40,000 in prizes will be awarded to top performing Syracuse University students across categories through the RvD Fund, and an additional $10,000 will be awarded to Syracuse University student teams through the Hunter Brooks Watson Spirit of Entrepreneurship Award. All monies will be awarded as non-dilutive seed funding, so students will not give up any equity in their proposed business venture.

The LaunchPad ran two virtual pitch workshops the week of March 23 to help students prepare for the online competition. In addition, the LaunchPad’s Global Media Fellow, Will DeVito, produced an online video tutorial on how to successfully record a video pitch.

The student teams that applied and were accepted to compete this year are:

  • Anthony Obas, Guided by Obas
  • Benjamin Goldsmith, Popcycle
  • Bruno Gonzalez Hauger, Ambassadoor Technologies
  • Caleb Obiagwu, Attend Pro
  • Claire Howard, Code++
  • Daniel Green, Dream Vybz
  • Daniel McMurray, Youth Government Services LLC
  • David Fox, Smarta
  • David Kestin, UniRide
  • Francisco Casciaro, UNMD Solutions
  • James LePage, Edge Modular
  • Justin Diaz, EcoBamboo Living
  • Kelsey Davis, CLLCTVE
  • Liam Keyek, Bomber Equipment
  • Matt Shumer, Visos
  • Maxton Moyle, Aegis
  • Mohammed Ali, Urban Coders
  • Nancy Wang, Girl Power
  • Nathaniel Kuhl, ViV
  • Nicole D’Souza, IndieFlo
  • Nikita Chatterjee, PAANI
  • Oladeji Awe, NervTech
  • Patrick Prioletti, Thinc-hub
  • Ryan Taggert, Itemize
  • Sam Hollander, FSCL
  • Sydney Santori, RealTea Housing
  • Xingzheng Zhao, Next Step
  • Yuhang Zhan, FEI Tec