Thirteen Teams Advance

Round one of second Pirate Entrepreneurship Challenge is in the books

The second Pirate Entrepreneurship Challenge, the signature pitch competition of ECU and the College of Business’ Miller School of Entrepreneurship (MSOE), wrapped up its first round Tuesday, Oct. 23. Thirteen teams, seven voted on by students and six voted on by ECU judges, will move to the second round, scheduled for Nov. 15 from 6-8 p.m. at ECU’s Heart Institute.

To garner votes, 91 ECU student-led teams representing 10 colleges participated in an open-air trade show event during which they had opportunities to pitch their ideas or products to ECU students, faculty and staff. More than 2,000 votes were cast in this year’s competition. The first challenge in 2017 had more than 50 student teams receiving almost 2,000 votes.

Round one winning teams included:

• David Fredenberg and Brenner Haverlock – Advanced Trigger Systems
• Christopher Connally – Anti Pasta
• Alyssa Cadavid and Christina Larkins – Books for Better Outlooks
• Pranaya Pakala – Health2Pine
• Hunter Graves, Alexis Autry, Alexander Straub and Robert Pittman – InvisiBarrier Mosquito Control
• Anan Islam, Danish Hasan and Pujan Patel – Naan’s Khazana
• Robert Ola and Miriam Ibrahim – Ola Customs
• Terri’ale Hall – Project Purpose
• John Sherman and Jon Agular – Raw Plastics
• Zach Darden, Jabo Efrid, Dina Konstantinidis and Cannon Gibbs – Spoil-ert
• Grace Crell – Sweet Sip
• Cameron Higley and Conner Hillgrove – Tailgate Classes
• Steven Lipscomb and Cam Bathras – VYBE

“This year’s Pirate Entrepreneurship Challenge saw participation from nearly every college on campus and representing 40 different majors,” said David Mayo, MSOE instructor and challenge coordinator. “Entrepreneurship is for any student regardless of their major. With the growth in this year’s challenge, you can see that mindset taking root at ECU.”

For the second round, each of the 13 teams will get five minutes to pitch their product. The individual pitches will be followed up with a 10-minute group question-and-answer session with the judges.

Six winners will move on to the final round, which is scheduled for Feb. 21 in Harvey Hall.

Total cash prizes and in-kind services for the Pirate Entrepreneurship Challenge are valued at more than $75,000, up from last year’s prize of $20,000. According to Dr. Mike Harris, director of the Miller School of Entrepreneurship, the Pirate Entrepreneurship Challenge prize amount is one of the largest in North Carolina.

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• Miller School of Entrepreneurship