The 2019 ACC InVenture Prize winners for Syracuse University, Quinn King and Alec Gillinder, co-founders of MedUX. King and Gillinder went on to win 2nd place among the 15 ACC schools. Since then, their venture has taken off; they have secured investment and will be soon be launching commercially. (Photo provided by Syracuse University Libraries)
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Applications from Syracuse University students and recent graduates that are aspiring entrepreneurs, inventors, and creators are being accepted through Friday, Feb. 7 for the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) InVenture Prize 2020 competition.
The InVenture Prize event is a televised “Shark Tank”–style competition open to student startup teams from the 15 universities that make up the ACC. It will be held in mid-April.
In the meantime, each ACC school, including Syracuse is working to find their “very best students” to compete against other ACC schools. They will all be holding their own qualifiers on campus to do so.
Student teams must submit the online application and a one-page executive summary of a venture idea to participate in Syracuse University’s campus qualifier, which will be held on Friday, Feb. 21 from 2-6 pm in Bird Library, according to a Syracuse University Libraries news release. The winner of the Syracuse campus qualifier will receive a $5,000 cash prize, sponsored by M&T Bank, and an “all-expense paid trip” to participate in the live televised event on April 15 at North Carolina State University in Raleigh.
The competition is open to undergraduate students or students who have received their undergraduate degree within the past year and who are the original creators, inventors, or owners of the intellectual property underlying their invention.
“I believe that in the modern era, anyone can start a scalable, high-growth company, and every metropolitan area should have a thriving startup community, M&T Bank Regional President Allen Naples said in the release. “By helping Syracuse University host the InVenture Prize Challenge, we’re investing in the exceptional creativity and ingenuity of our students and doubling down on our efforts to build our entrepreneurial community into one that generates jobs and prosperity for generations to come.”
In 2019, Syracuse campus winner MedUX went on to compete in the finals at NC State. MedUX co-founders, Alec Gillinder and Quinn King, both College of Visual and Performing Arts School of Design students expecting to graduate in 2020, won 2nd place overall, including a $10,000 prize. The MedUX product is a wearable, portable intravenous delivery solution. Developed at Invent@SU and commercialized through the Blackstone LaunchPad powered by Techstars at Syracuse University Libraries, the team filed two provisional patents and one full patent. They are now in a joint venture with a global company to commercially launch by this summer, per the release.
The Blackstone LaunchPad powered by Techstars in Bird Library is Syracuse University’s innovation hub. It connects the university’s resources with a global network that provides support for aspiring entrepreneurs, inventors, and creators. The program serves faculty, staff, students, and alumni across disciplines who are interested in innovation, invention, entrepreneurship, venture creation, and taking ideas from concept to commercialization.
Contact the Business Journal News Network at news@cnybj.com
JOHNSON CITY, N.Y. — Tioga State Bank (TSB) will open a new branch in Johnson…
UTICA, N.Y. — A report by the Oneida County Childcare Taskforce made a number of…
ITHACA, N.Y. — Cayuga Health System (CHS), based in Ithaca, and Cancer Resource Center of…
DeWITT, N.Y. — MACNY, the Manufacturers Association will use a $6 million federal grant to…
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The Syracuse Housing Authority (SHA) and the City of Syracuse will use…
UTICA, N.Y. — Nearly nine months after Wynn Hospital opened in downtown Utica, its promised…