CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WAND) - The Cozad New Venture Challenge, hosted annually by the Technology Entrepreneur Center (TEC) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, selected it's 6 finalist for the annual competition.
U of I students pitch their ideas during the Cozad New Venture Challenge.Â
The challenge has become a cornerstone event for aspiring student entrepreneurs.
Now into its 25th year, the competition has awarded over $3.4 million in funding and prizes, fostering the growth of innovative startups across diverse fields. ​
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"There are so many industries that the students are working on. We have everything from agriculture tech to items that go into the retail space, from health care to health care innovation and everything in between," said Stephanie Faraci, Senior Associate Director of Technology Entrepreneur Center (TEC) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Throughout the semester students found a problem and then created a business idea with a solution. Ethan Winnike and his team, built unified management platform for commercial robots. His team's goal is to bring all commercial robots onto one management platform.
"It's been a semester long process of going to workshops learning the basics of entrepreneurship and pitching the idea. It's really been a semester process getting ready for demo day."
The competition was held on April 2. Throughout the day, teams received mentorship from experienced entrepreneurs, investors, and industry professionals. More than 200 judges from around the state of Illinois and even other states judges the students on their ideas and pitches.
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"Participating in a competition like this really expands my knowledge," said Leo Yu, student.
The Cozad New Venture Challenge has been a launchpad for numerous successful startups. According to the U of I, in 2024, Pathlit, a no-code platform enabling rapid development of generative AI solutions, secured the Grand Prize with $50,000 in investment. Founded by Economics student Advay Gupta, Pathlit aims to democratize AI technology, making it accessible to businesses of all sizes.
The competition is open to all full-time students at the U of I.
The Finals Event is scheduled for Thursday, April 17, at 1:30 pm CDT in the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) Auditorium.
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