Student teams from area schools win prize money in New York Business Plan Competition

ALBANY, N.Y. — Student-led teams from area colleges and universities won prize money during the New York Business Plan Competition.

SUNY Polytechnic Institute (SUNY Poly) on Friday evening announced the winners following the final round of competition held earlier in the day at SUNY Poly’s Albany NanoTech complex.

Teams from Cornell University, Syracuse University, Clarkson University, Morrisville State College, and Mohawk Valley Community College were among those competing and winning prize money in the final round.

More than 500 student-led teams sought to compete in the competition, with 82 making it to the final round. More than half were teams that are eligible for women and minority business status in New York, SUNY Poly noted.

A panel of national venture capitalists, angel investors, and investment bankers selected the winning teams, SUNY Poly said.

SUNY Poly, the University at Albany’s School of Business, and Syracuse University presented the competition.

The event represents a “powerful avenue for students to gain one-of-a-kind opportunities,” testing their entrepreneurial skills and receiving “valuable real-world feedback,” Stacey Keefe, executive director of Syracuse’s Raymond von Dran Innovation and Disruptive Entrepreneurship Accelerator (RvD IDEA), said in the SUNY Poly release. “This event allows students to dream up and deploy novel business concepts that will help to prepare them for an entrepreneurial-focused path to success.”

Prize winners
Dual:Lock, led by a student from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, won the $100,000 grand prize, SUNY Poly said.

In addition to Dual:Lock, XBoard from Cornell University was among six business plans that won a $10,000 first-place prize. XBoard competed in the advanced technology and nanotechnology category.

PowerSpike from Syracuse secured a $5,000 award, one of six teams to secure a second-place prize. PowerSpike competed in the information technology and software category.

The six teams that won third-place prizes of $1,500 included Impervious from Clarkson University; Datalogue and Equine Design, both from Cornell University; Underground Greens from Mohawk Valley Community College; and Vets2Farm from Morrisville State College

Impervious competed in the advanced technology and nanotechnology category; Datalogue in the information technology and software category and Equine Design in the products and services category; Underground Greens competed in the NYSERDA energy and sustainability category; and Vets2Farm in the social and nonprofit category, according to the news release.

NYSERDA is short for New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com