Eight student-led teams pitched their business ideas before industry professional judges on Friday February 25th in the Broadway Event Space and Theater located in Horton-Hardgrave Hall.  

Teams advancing to the Final Four (listed in alphabetical order) are:

• Feature Finder - A social music platform designed to revolutionize the entire music industry. (Zane Barbao, Management and Entrepreneurship and Luke Matthews, Professional Flight)
• IGNTE - A platform that gives organizations a means of showing their sponsor’s ads on Twitch. (Jacob Cordero, business administration, and Emmett Deen, Computer Science)
• The Best Roping Dummy - A team roping training system that reduces the need for live cattle and improves practice capabilities. (Will Jordan, Agricultural Communications). 
• Toft by 2153 – A game development studio specializing in next-generation, cross-platform, multiplayer games. (Jesse Stewart, Software Engineering, Studio Art; Brooke Hopton-Jones, Computer Science; Sydney Pham, Software Engineering.)

“We are delighted with the diversity of startup ideas and the quality of the student-teams participating in this year’s competition,” said Lou Bifano, Director of Entrepreneurship Strategy at the Harbert College of Business. “Every year we see better ideas and better presentations. This year is no exception.”

The Tiger Cage final round will be held on March 25 in the Broadway Event Space and Theater. There, teams will compete for $54,000 in early-stage startup capital.

Special recognition and appreciation go to the judges who supported the semifinal round:

• Greg Cessna, CEO Consumer Fresh Produce
• Ben Conry – Co Founder, Flashtract
• Olivia Cook – Inaugural Executive Director, Economic and Social Justice Center, Miles College
• Tim Denison, President, GDI LLC
• Ken Evola – Managing Director, PWC
• Ben Finley – Founder, The Finley Group
• Ralph Runge – RSquare Consulting, Inc.

Please contact Lou Bifano to learn more about the Tiger Cage business pitch competition as well as the broad array of services provided by the New Venture Accelerator that are available to help those looking to start a new business or grow an existing one.