Event Update:
The Georgia Chamber has made the decision due to the COVID-19 situation to cancel the 2020 InVenture Prize Competition scheduled for April 1-2. The Chamber plans to reschedule this event for next Spring after both students and faculty professionals can resume normal routines.
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By: Jackie Davis
EcoDrop Technologies has been selected as the Georgia State Team who will represent the University at the second annual Georgia InVenture Prize to be held April 1-2, 2020 at the Georgia Public Broadcasting Studios. The event will be broadcasted on live television and include a host of celebrity judges.
Earlier in the spring semester, the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Institute (ENI) solicited a call for nominations of Georgia State undergraduate students or recent alumni who were original creators, inventors, or owners of the idea underlying their venture. Six teams participated in the selection process, and two semi-finalists pitched their ventures in an on-campus preliminary round to identify the team who would represent the University in April. The student founders had 2 minutes and 45 seconds to pitch to a panel of faculty and staff judges. There was also 2 minutes allotted for questions.
The semi-finalist founders and their companies are listed below:
Founder Nicole Toole (B.B.A. ’22) and Co-founder Ishir Vasavada (B.B.A. ’19)
EcoDrop Technologies is a recycling solutions company with a mission to simplify and incentivize recycling.
Founder: Nicole Toole, undergraduate student majoring in Computer Information Systems with a Minor in Entrepreneurship
Co-Founder: Ishir Vasavada, undergraduate student majoring in Finance and Computer Information Systems
Founder Yazdan Navabin (B.B.A. ’20)
Food Upcycles™ sustainably manages your food waste and organic waste, turning it into pure organic compost. Composting food waste (as opposed to land-filling) provides numerous benefits for our planet and our health.
Founder: Yazdan Navabi, undergraduate student majoring in Entrepreneurship and Economics
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About the Georgia InVenture Prize
The Georgia InVenture Prize is a two-day statewide competition for college students aimed at fostering entrepreneurship and startup creation. Initially established by the Georgia Institute of Technology as an internal competition, the Georgia Chamber of Commerce has expanded the initiative by making it accessible to colleges and universities across the state. The 2020 InVenture Prize is backed by public and private partners and sponsors including; the University System of Georgia Board of Regents, the Georgia Power Foundation, Gulfstream, and Textron. For more about the Georgia InVenture Prize visit their website.