University venture competitions are competitive, challenging, and labor intensive for founders.
But in Illinois, these competitions have also launched startups such as Grubhub, Braintree, Page Vault, Rithmio, Tovala, and NuCurrent.
Over the last decade, universities across the state have launched and grown venture competitions to nurture home grown talent. University of Chicago's New Venture Challenge, one of the first university venture programs, has risen to the top tier of accelerators nationwide. Universities such as Northwestern, UIC, and UIUC have used their venture competitions to complement entrepreneurial energy on campus. Even 1871 recently launched a weekend hackathon for local students that ends in a startup pitch competition.
But with so many pitch competitions happening throughout the year, it can be hard to keep track of which startups won what venture challenge.
Here's a look back at who won the biggest venture competitions this year in Chicago.
Campus 1871 (1871's weekend startup hackathon)
Winner: Grapevine, a startup that connects users to stylists and community in the black hair care market through an app that shows hair stylists who are closest to a user's location. The app then displays information that helps users decide the best stylist for their needs. (Prize: six month membership at 1871, one year membership to Ms. Tech, $750 partial scholarship in a Sage Corps abroad program, and a one hour session with 1871's in-house recruiter Laura Fendrich).
Runner up: ChiDates, a dating app that creates connection using video profiles.
University of Illinois at Chicago's Startup Challenge
Winner: Clean Slate Messenger, a messaging app that makes messages erasable, through letter-by-letter typing and the ability to delete any messages received or sent with the swipe of a finger (Prize: $3,000).
Runner up: Beet Strong, a beet-infused nutrition bar that's high protein, high fiber, made with real fruit nuts, and choloate. The ingredients are linked to improved cardiovascular function, athletic performance, and muscle building (Prize: $1,000).
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Cozad New Venture Competition
Winners: Amber Agriculture, Internet of Things technology that uses wirelss sensors to help farmers measure moisture and CO2 levels in grain bins to reduce spoilage; and Hindered Polyurea Technology (HPT), a startup creating recyclable, low-cost sacrificial polymers (Prize: $20,000, space in EnterpriseWork, and legal resources).
Runners up: Reconstruct, a startup that uses drones to create 3D modeling for construction management, and Touchlight Innovation, a startup that harnesses energy from foot traffic (Prize: $10,000).
Illinois Innovation Prize winner: Aadeel Akhtar, founder of Psyonic (Prize: $18,000).
Northwestern University Venture Challenge
Winner: The Graide Network, a startup that connects education students with teachers to ease the burden of grading while providing mentorship; Surginet, a startup creating a mesh used for breast reconstruction after a mastectomy (Prize: $20,000).
Runner up: Pak'd, a startup offering fresh packed lunches delivered to the home (Prize: $10,000).
University of Chicago New Venture Challenge
Main track winner: TransparentC, a career platform that crowdsources salary and job satisfaction data to provide transparency to compensation (Prize: $90,000).
Runner up: Coronado Conservation, high efficiency toilets (Prize: $70,000).
Social track winner: AccessArc, a web platform that helps inmates navigate the legal system; and JoinGiving, a platform that helps businesses onboard customers through charitable giving (Prize: $20,000).
Runner up: KitcheNet, a healthy food delivery service working in food deserts, and Solar Bus 4 Schools, a school bus modification that uses solar power to cut down on diesel emissions (Prize: $5,000).
College track winner: CommonCents, an app that lets people pay off student loan interest through micropayments (Prize: $15,000)
Runners up: Finalyze, a platform that uses machine learning to glean actionable insights from financial documents for hedge fund managers;MealFlour, a social enterprise creating jobs and fighting malnutrition through flour made from meal worms; and StoryArts, a summer arts program for students on the mid-South Side of Chicago (Prize: $5,000).
Global track winners: Appiness, an app that lets people shop from their favorite TV shows; and Science Tomorrow, quantitative secondary electron detector technology (Prize: $7,500)
Runners up: Via Blaze, a collision avoidance system; and V Cloud, a platform that connects brand owners and grocery owners to connect to consumers in rural China (Prize: $5,000)
