Top 20 teams announced in Lassonde Institute's 2023 Utah Entrepreneur Challenge
The top 20 teams in the 2023 Utah Entrepreneur Challenge have been announced. The student startup teams now advance to the final round of the statewide business-model competition that is open to college students across Utah. Teams are competing for over $60,000 in cash and prizes, including a $30,000 grand prize. The winners will be announced online on Feb. 25, following the final event competition.
The competition is managed by the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute, a division of the David Eccles School of Business at the University of Utah, and sponsored by Zions Bank.
The top 20 teams come from universities across the state and represent a wide variety of products and services.
“We are impressed by the quality of this year’s cohort of teams,” said Alex Louisot, the student co-chair of the Utah Entrepreneur Challenge. “This year’s competition will be among our most competitive yet. We are excited to see these teams pitch in person at the UofU Alumni House.”
The top 20 teams who will advance to the final judging and awards event are, in alphabetical order: Beadology (Utah Valley University), a do-it-yourself bead studio located in Provo; Budget Buds (Snow College), a floral rental company; Homestead Home (Utah State University), an agricultural consulting company that teaches private landowners how they can produce food on their property and maximize their land through renewable production practices; House of Posters (Utah Valley University), a designer and seller of posters targeted to college students ages 18-24; Hushie (Salt Lake Community College), a producer of sound-proof, blanket baby-carrier covers; Inxson (Southern Utah University), an audio entertainment business; Isodox Enigma (Utah Valley University), a video game; Mentally Real (Weber State University), a provider of advocacy and access to solutions for those with mental-health challenges; MindSmith (Brigham Young University), a generative, AI microlearning authoring tool and learning management system; and Off the Rack (University of Utah), a host of monthly pop-up events at universities.
Also in the top 20 are On-V (University of Utah), a nano-camera system that can snap onto dental handpieces; PhotoHive (Utah State University), a hub for endurance race photos; Pure Solutions (University of Utah), a line of products that enables consumers to easily analyze water samples within seconds; Qwela (Salt Lake Community College), a subscription-based, smart, scheduled and subsidized bus system running on a mobile application for daily commuters; Santa Cruz Savory (Utah State University), a shoppable cooking ingredients business; SelMeat (Snow College), a wholesale meat-subscription delivery service; Swish (Brigham Young University); CR3W Museum (Southern Utah University), an online 3D museum for artists; Village Mobile-Based Rehabilitation Program (Weber State University), technology to improve development of children with disabilities; and Zaymo (Brigham Young University), a drag-and-drop, email-design tool that enables users to embed interactive web apps in an email.