By Mateo Osorno
Thursday, January 13, 2022—The Atlanta Chapter of the Entrepreneur’s Organization (EO) held their annual competition for the Global Student Entrepreneur Awards (GSEA). This year, GSEA was once again formatted as a Livestream pitch competition where six finalists from universities across the country competed for a chance to win cash prizes and move onto the Global Finals later this year.
The pitches were appraised by a panel of six EO member judges, including David M. Aferiat, Co-founder and Managing Partner at Avid Vines, Jenn Harris-Vincent, Managing Partner at Construction Execs, Daniel Roberts, Founder at Videloft, Brett Cooper, Founding Partner at Bluefletch, and Leslie Zinn the CEO of Arden’s Garden.
The six finalists were: Abhinav Goyal from Georgia Tech (808 Bio), John Wooton from Georgia Tech (blocktransfer.io), Elle McCray representing Georgia State University (Onyx), Valeria Brenner from the University of Georgia (Thryft Ship), Carson Crochet from Davidson College (cabuddyclub.org), and Kaci Xie from Yale University (shopcimu.com). Each student had the opportunity to pitch their venture and respond to questions from the judges panel.
After much deliberation, the judges determined the winners of the 2022 GSEA Atlanta competition: In third place, winning a cash prize of $500 was Valeria Brenner from the University of Georgia (Thryft Ship). In second place, winning a cash prize of $1,000 was Abhinav Goyal from Georgia Tech (808 Bio). Last but certainly not least, in first place, winning a cash prize of $3,500 and a paid trip to the GSEA nationals and free accounting and tax review from Acquity, John Wooton from Georgia Tech (blocktransfer.io).
Congratulations again to all participants! Visit their website to learn more about future opportunities and connect with EO Atlanta.
