The University of Texas at Dallas has become an incubator for startups, producing students each year who graduate college as founders or with startup ideas. According to university President Richard Benson, “UTD has made great progress in becoming a center of innovation for North Texas, providing support for commercialization and economic growth as well as research that will help solve some of the world’s greatest challenges,” he says.
To foster such innovation and entrepreneurship, for nearly two decades UTD has hosted its annual Big Ideas Competition, which is kin to “Shark Tank” and is led by UTD’s institute for Innovation & Entrepreneurship and its entrepreneurship network program,Blackstone LaunchPad. Each year, the competition provides at least $100,000in prizes and scholarships.
For this year’s contest, influential business leaders Lynn McBee, Dallas’ workforce czar, Herb Weitzman, the executive chairman for Weitzman, Kevin Lavelle, the founder of Mizzen+Main and Harbor, and Michael Gorton, the founder of Teladoc, served as judges. Past judges include Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, Queer Eye starTan France, and Malala Fund CEO Shiza Sahid.
“In founders, I need to see something in their background that shows me they will find a way to overcome insurmountable odds, because the odds are always against founders,” Lavelle said. “I love entrepreneurship and especially seeing young entrepreneurs. My biggest takeaway from the judging process is that the future is bright. These students see possibility and hope, something we can all use more of.”
The winner of the student competition was senior and Eugene McDermott Scholar Anisha Holla, founder of digital platform FoodiFy, who won the top prize of $10,000. FoodiFy is a marketing “dating app” that allows restaurant owners to connect with social media influencers, who eat at and post about the restaurants to their audiences. FoodiFy is currently working with 25 restaurants in DFW and is projected to make $1.5 million in revenue by the end of 2024. Holla and her team are currently working on creating a FoodiFy app and hope toexpand the services to New York City and San Francisco after amassing 300 DFW clients.
“We ended up awarding each of the pitches some of the prize money because each entrepreneur or team is on to something unique and every dollar of early support can make a big difference,” Lavelle said. “The FoodiFy pitch was the first pitch of the day and the most well executed, containing all the right elements to secure the biggest investment: a clear problem, demonstrable early traction on minimal spend, and an enormous market opportunity and expansion path.”
The second top earning contestant was graduate student Asad Moulvi, founder of mobile application StepUp, who was awarded $8,000. StepUp works to assist students preparing for standardized college admissions tests, utilizing artificial intelligence. The app creates an interactive, gamified experience that is personalized to each user’s study needs. Moulvi’s pitch won the Audience Choice Award, which was offered for the first time this year.
“I think with these pitchesI look for practical, widespread applications,” McBee said. “Is it something that I would use? Is it something that most people would use? Everybody wants to eat; everybody wants a restaurant experience. Everybody probably has to take a test.”
Yong Bros, a game development studio pitched by senior Ralph Yongoueth and AI-powered platform Sesame, created by seniors Ananya Sammidi and Aditi Mungale,were both awarded $1,000 each. Yong Bros is based in Richardson, and was founded by Yongoueth and his brother Clint. The company creates Roblox platform games that focus on narratives and storytelling while maintaining the simplicity of short-form gaming. The most popular game created by the company is Encounters, an anime fighting game with more than 100 million visits.
Sesame is an AI-generated desktop file organizer. After users download the application and fill out a questionnaire, Sesame will run AI diagnostics to identify and organize computer files. According to Sammidi and Mungale, the program, which is set to cost a minimum of $9 per month, will help users save time and money and reduce cybersecurity risks.
The top prize winner of the $10,000 alumni competition prize was Glydr, a dual-pedal video game controller presented by 2021 graduate Rick Tett. The Glydr team recently closed a kickstarter campaign which sold 453 controllers. The controller, which is designed to improve gameplay and reduce hand strain, is compatible with thousands of video games and includes a camera that can be utilized for live gameplay streaming. The company is based in Plano and was co-founded by Tett, Peter Bartnik, and John Warren
Two companies in the alumni competition won $5,000 each: Prosper AI, a career-matching platform presented by co-founder and CEO Andrew Denton, and PriceTect a platform utilizing AI-driven cost estimates for construction projects founded by Sahil Patel. Prosper AI is marketed as “Bumble for jobs”, and offers AI-powered alignment scoring to match users with potential employers. The service aims to address the hiring gap by excluding resumes, using an AI screening process, and automating interview scheduling. The company was co-founded by Denton, David Zeh, and Jared Szechy.
PriceTect works to help architects find cost savings and simplify budget plans, also known as change orders. The software automatically generates research reports and real-time estimates for users. PriceTect has introduced 75 percent of the software’s features, with 25 percent still in development.
“It’s easy to talk about your idea or send an email. It’s something very different to distill it all down into a few slides and deliver a perfect pitch in just 5 minutes,” Lavelle said. “This type of opportunity is critical to get entrepreneurs to the next level, especially while in school, and to show others the art of the possible.”
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Celie Price
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