Business & Economy

2023 Student Entrepreneur Impact Prize Winners Announced

Monday, December 18, 2023, By Cristina Hatem

Syracuse University Libraries’ Blackstone LaunchPad (LaunchPad) announced winners of the 2023 Impact Prize competition for social entrepreneurship held last month at Bird Library. Twenty-two student teams from Syracuse and SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) pitched ideas for a chance to win a total of $16,000 in prizes, supported by generous donations from the Libraries’ supporters. This year’s winners are:

  • Moody Mag founders Emma Lueders and Jennie Bull hugging seated outdoors on campus

    Emma Leuders (left) and Jennie Bull

    1st Place: $5,000 awarded to Moody Mag, founders Emma Lueders ’24 (College of Visual and Performing Arts [VPA]) and Jennie Bull ’24 (Martin J. Whitman School of Management). As first prize winner, Moody Mag will be representing the University at the 2024 Hult Prize Summit in Boston.

  • 2nd Place: $4,000 awarded to EcoBamboo Living, founders Justin Diaz ’24 (Whitman School) and Keif Timmins ’25 (SUNY ESF).
  • 3rd Place: $3,000 awarded to Continual, founder Katy Arons ’24 (School of Information Studies).
  • Runner-Ups: $1,000 awarded to each of the following: Marhold Space Systems, founder Frank Marin G’24 (Whitman School); Ta, founder Motolani Oladitan ’25 (College of Arts and Sciences); and Scale Sense, founders Oliver Raycroft ’25 (College of Engineering and Computer Science [ECS]) and Adya Parida ’25 (ECS).
  • Up and Coming Awards: $250 each awarded to: Queen’s Wellness Institute, founder Fatim Cisse G’24 (David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics); Dormbank, founder Mariah Brown ’26 (Whitman School); Shelstie, founder Shelstie Dastinot ’24 (VPA); and GbaAôndo (GBA) Energy, founders MoAde Jagusah ’24 (Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs), Adam Youngs ’26 (Whitman School), Court Watson ’26 (Whitman School), Nicole Mazzeo ’25 (Maxwell School) and Semirat (Bushrah) Balogun G’24 (School of Information Studies).