Team Pocket Change won the 7th Annual DU Pitch Competition that took place Feb. 10 in Reiman Theater. Pocket Change, which is a one-person team of first-year business student Reyn Aubrey, is a microdonation platform that benefits a wide range of philanthropic and nonprofit entities. This year’s competition featured 10 teams from undergraduate and graduate studies throughout DU.
“This is no doubt a reflection of DU’s increased emphasis on entrepreneurship campus wide, with new initiatives like Project X-ITE that help foster innovation complementing existing programs at Daniels,” said Stephen Miller, senior director of Entrepreneurship at the Daniels College of Business.
Many of the competitors were already “seasoned veterans,” having pitched in the Madden Challenge, the Creating New Markets (“Messy Startup”) finale or the Denver MBA’s Enterprise Challenge.
The second place team was ArtSpark, which includes undergraduate team members William Alverson, a business analytics major, Julia Farrell, a computer science major and Jack Wickum, an international studies major. Artspark, like fellow competitor Wanderlift (3rd overall), is distinctive in that both have already launched their respective companies and are generating early revenue.
In the graduate/MBA track, TULA and Tanked renewed the rivalry that began last fall during the Enterprise Challenge, with Tula avenging a second-place finish to Tanked in November by taking the top prize this time around. Tula is a mobile app centered around the relationship (and activities) between people and their dogs. Tanked is a mobile refueling option for people in need, bringing the gas station right to your door (or office, apartment, etc.).
Winners received $1,000 cash courtesy of the Trueblood Foundation and DU alumnus Mike Horn (MBA 2005). PocketChange earned the right to represent DU and pitch in the University Challenge in front of investors at the upcoming Angel Capital Summit. The Summit, presented by the Rockies Venture Club and hosted by the University of Denver, will be held March 21-22, 2017.
ArtSpark, the second place team won $750.
DU thanks the panel of judges: Matt Hyder, founder of Recoup Fitness, Kate Shillo, investor of Galvanize Ventures, Paul Yarwood, founder of Hubble Software, Drew Lawrence, serial entrepreneur of Full Contact (MBA 2013), Raine Giorgio, founder of NerdNest (BSBA 2015), Patrick Tierney, founder of Revolution Systems and Adam Cookson, founder of TekDry (EMBA 2013).