The Rice Business Plan Competition is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious pitch events among collegiate circles. An Auburn team winning -- against teams from MIT, Harvard and UCLA -- puts the feather in the cap of a remarkable year.

What an amazing year for student entrepreneurs at Auburn University and the New Venture Accelerator! The facility, 7,000 square feet of office space dedicated to fostering the development of student entrepreneurs, opened its doors last fall and produced immediate results.

One team – SwiftSku – received more than $400,000 in funding by winning the prestigious Rice Business Plan Competition in April. Another – Vulcan Line Tools – earned $27,500 in Auburn University’s Tiger Cage Business Idea Competition in March, $25,000 during Alabama Launchpad’s concept stage, and another $5,000 in the SEC Pitch Competition in October 2020. Yet another – Thermaworks – won $1,000 in the BOOST Idea Competition at the University of Alabama-Huntsville in February.

Scott McGlon, one of two Entrepreneurs-in-Residence at the Harbert College who mentored and coached student teams, credits the maturity teams showed throughout in the year.

“Their eagerness to learn and perfect their pitches has been outstanding,” said the veteran business leader, investor and entrepreneur. “Also, I believe the pandemic gave early-stage startups the uninterrupted time to design business plans, research and qualify their customer discoveries, and create outstanding revenue models. But most importantly, the enthusiasm, focus and drive to succeed wasn’t just with a few teams, but all of them. This makes our jobs easier as coaches and mentors to help qualify their businesses.”

The Rice Business Plan Competition is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious pitch events among collegiate circles. An Auburn team winning -- against teams from MIT, Harvard and UCLA -- puts the feather in the cap of a remarkable year.

SwiftSku, an app that connects point of sales at convenience stores in real time, enabling owners to remotely manage and monitor their stores, is the creation of Mit Patel (2020 Tiger Cage champion), who is pursuing dual degrees in accounting and mechanical engineering, and Daniel Mazur, a mechanical engineering student.

“The New Venture Accelerator created a space that allowed us to bounce ideas off of other startups as well as take advantage of the wonderful resources available,” said Patel, whose team also placed third in the prestigious AWS University Pitch Competition last December and raised $3.2 million after the Y Combinator's Demo Day seed round. “The most influential resource was the availability of Entrepreneurs-in-Residence, who helped us avoid making crucial mistakes. Overall, the New Venture Accelerator helped foster creativity by putting students of various backgrounds together.”

Zac Young, founder of Vulcan Line Tools and recent graduate in mechanical engineering, created the Wave Timer – a device that measures sag and tension in power lines. Why is this important? It can lead to increased safety and efficiency. Last summer, Young had the idea … but didn’t know how to develop a business plan.

“I am truly an engineer at heart,” he said. “I can bootstrap, design, build, and solve problems. But presenting my ideas to potential investors is not my strong suit. Face it, listening to an engineer talk about the importance of sag, tension and temperature in power lines for 10 minutes can’t be riveting. But through coaching, I have greatly improved upon the way I pitch my company and product to potential customers or investors. The amount of knowledge I have gained in these past few months has been astounding and the highlight of my college career. Thank you, Auburn!”

The BOOST Idea Competition at the University of Alabama-Huntsville is designed to challenge, inspire and empower the next generation of entrepreneurs to ideate, create and launch new ventures. Thermaworks, the team of Leyla Battista-Channell, who is pursuing an MS in interdisciplinary engineering, and Angela Carver, a doctoral candidate in biology, provided a solution judges were looking for.

Thermaworks’ idea stems from the production of smart thermastats that maintain a level of comfort based on data collection from occupants.

Success didn’t end there. Alabama Upstarts, a “Shark Tank” like television show broadcast in a number of statewide markets, including Montgomery, Birmingham, Dothan, Mobile, and Huntsville, has become a regular landing spot for Auburn entrepreneurs.

This spring, multiple students of the program participated in the show and two came away with $1,000 checks. MBA student MaKayla Smith, who founded Kulture Xchange (beauty products for people of color), and Lydia Pass of Stelona Shoes, were recognized as “Best Presenters” for their respective episodes.

Other Auburn student entrepreneurs participating on the show, pitching for three minutes before industry professional judges, included:

* Zach Wadzinski of Dyanna

* Finn Price of Sellie.org

* Zerian Stewart of DynastyU

* Mitch Owens of Dead Bird Duck Calls

* Hunter Hinote of FeedMe

“These are great examples of the ability of Auburn student-entrepreneurs to excel at all levels,” said Lou Bifano, Director of Entrepreneurship Strategy at Auburn University. “All of us involved in Auburn’s entrepreneurship programs are proud of what our students have accomplished and the external recognition of the progress we’re making in educating and supporting our student-entrepreneurs. My special thanks to our two entrepreneurs-in-residence, Scott McGlon and Phil Fraher, as well as two members of our advisory council, Greg Cessna and Bob Roblin, for the many hours they spent coaching and mentoring.”