Winners of the TiE University Global Pitch Competition for College Entrepreneurs Announced

SANTA CLARA, Calif., May 19, 2021 (Newswire.com) - The third annual TiE University Global pitch competition was held on May 15-16, 2021. It brought together 27 winning teams virtually from TIE chapters in seven countries across three continents. Local college competitions had participation from 526 startup teams with 1,432 college students. The teams were mentored by local TiE chapters and supported by global workshops, startup bootcamps and mock sessions.

The first prize went to TiE Toronto's ALT TEX from the University of Toronto. The startup focuses on sustainable textiles engineered from food waste. With their waste-to-wardrobe technology, co-founders Myra Arshad and Avneet Ghotra won a cash prize of $15,000, sponsored by Algorand Foundation.

The second-prize winner was TIE Dallas' Survivr from The University of Texas at Dallas. Survivr aims to make communities safer by improving immersive and humanized police training using virtual reality. Co-founders Brian Hoang and Marwan Kodeih won a cash prize of $7,500, sponsored by the REAN Foundation.

Third-place honors went to TiE Atlanta's Insight Optics from Georgia Institute of Technology. Co-founders Dr. Aaron Enten and TJ Lagrow delivered a mobile-adapted platform to enable primary care physicians to detect early signs of decreased vision. Their cash prize for $5,000 was sponsored by the Naadam Foundation. They also received a $4,000 grant from the REAN Foundation.

The semifinal round was viewed by over 500 audience members from around the world. The event featured a fireside conversation between Professor Jagdish Sheth from Emory University in Atlanta and Ronnie Screwvala of Mumbai. The co-founder and chairman of Upgrad, an online edtech startup, Ronnie inspired young entrepreneurs to take risks, saying, "My greatest failure is yet to come."

"This year, TiE University extended the concept of entrepreneurship to form a stronger ecosystem, even more strategically focused to dovetail multiple enablers," said Dr. Paul Lopez, founder and co-chair of the TiE University Program. He added, "Thanks to the teamwork of co-chairs Ravi Puli, Subbu Pericherla, and Viiveck Verma, as well as the generosity of sponsors, this year's total cash prizes were $65,000, plus in-kind awards of over $600,000 to empower college entrepreneurs."

Eight university teams made it to the finals of the global pitchfest. In addition to the top three winners, the other finalists were TiE Austin's Clocr, a digital legacy management platform; TiE Chennai's Kitab, a digital PDF reader; TiE New Jersey's Sulis, a low-cost water sanitization device; TiE Dubai's Small World that connects NGOs and high school students; and TiE DC's Early Intervention Systems that improves care for elderly and their caregivers.

The keynote speaker on Finals Day was Sheel Tyle, young founder CEO of Amplo. Sheel inspired startup teams saying, "If you're going to spend your precious time on something, do it where your time has the greatest impact on the world."

About the TIE University Program

TIE University, an initiative of TIE Global, aims to foster entrepreneurship among college and university students. Details available at www.tieuniversity.org. 

Source: TIE Global