Campus-wide Minute Pitch Competition a Huge Success
Thursday, October 31, 2024
Campus-wide Minute Pitch Competition a Huge Success
AMHERST, Mass.—Oct. 31, 2024—UMass Amherst’s Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship hosted its annual Minute Pitch competition on October 17, with 22 student ventures pitching from a record number of applicants. The Minute Pitch is the kick-off event for Berthiaume’s yearly cycle of campus competitions. Students' next chance to compete will be during the Nov. 18-21 Innovation and Entrepreneurship Academy Week.
During the live-streamed competition, participants had 60 seconds to pitch to a judging panel of business owners and advisors their innovative ideas in various industries, including media vetting, nutrition, food science, personal finance and habit tracking, phone applications, recycling, and sustainability.
During the program’s halftime break, Hult Prize Foundation North America Regional Manager Kate Ramirez spoke about the organization’s global mission and the Hult Prize. The Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship will hold a UMass Hult competition on Nov. 20. The winning social entrepreneurship venture will be eligible to compete at the regional level of the international competition.
Four UMass student Minute Pitch winners were chosen:
First place, $1,000: Off-Campus Spaces: Samyak Choudhary ’25, Isenberg School of Management
Second place, $700: Flora Care: Dasha Trosteanetchi ’25, Manning College of Information & Computer Science; College of Engineering
Third place, $500: X-Change: Grant Cooney ’25, Isenberg School of Management
Audience Choice Award, $300: Thesis Co.: Ben Vengalil ’25, College of Natural Sciences
The judging panelists were:
Michael Boyle, Head of Growth and Engagement at the Hult Prize Foundation, an international competition for students addressing social needs worldwide
Amie Miarecki ’04, president of Junior Achievement of Western Massachusetts
Kisha Zullo, founder of the annual Women in Business Summit and Events of Joy, an event-planning company based in Springfield
Benjamin Friedman, founder of Build Scale Grow, which partners with business startups to assess, design, and streamline their operations
Ray Berry, founder of White Lion Brewing Company, located in Springfield and Amherst
“We were fortunate to have a variety of unique student ideas from across campus and an exceptional panel of judges,” said Gregory Thomas, executive director of the Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship and lecturer in the management department of the Isenberg School of Management. “Whether their ventures won money or not, the students who entered the competition gained valuable insights and experience in public speaking and clarifying their business ideas.”
