Winner Announcement: INCubatoredu 2020 National Student Pitch

A pandemic didn't stop these student teams! 

From a pool of twenty-seven impressive submissions, five teams were invited to pitch their businesses to a panel of esteemed judges for real funding.  While re-imagined to be virtual this year, this annual Pitch Event is held during the annual Uncharted Learning Summit.  To a packed 'Zoom' audience, these teams presented their businesses, and three teams walked away with funding. Click here to watch the INCubatoredu 2020 National Pitch. 

The five teams competing at INCubatoredu National Pitch 2020:

INDUS | INDUS Naturals creates handmade, natural, Ayurvedic beauty products at a great price the benefits your skin.  Vandegrift High School, Austin, Texas.  Teachers: Erin Lucas & Erin Mathis

LEAF | The Eco Pigeon, is the first ever fully biodegradable shooting pigeon that has the same qualities that a traditional clay pigeon has in the air, but far superior qualities when it hits the ground.  Alamo Heights High School, San Antonio, Texas.  Teachers:  Patrice Bartlett & Cathy Klumpp

MY COLOR | Producing the first book that gives kids with colorblindess strategies to help overcome their visual ailment.  Wheaton North High School, Wheaton, IL.   Teacher:  Greg Chrisman

TIME TEK | Time management app that uses advanced voice features and an interactive agenda to provide Generation Z students with a virtual personal assistant.  Academies of Loudoun, Leesburg, VA.  Teacher:  Laura Boyd Smidt

WALK-THRU | WalkThru offers immersive & accessible VR tours for seniors in assisted living communities to increase socialization and put smiles back on their faces. Vista Ridge High School, Cedar Park, TX.  Teachers:  Stephan George & Dana Jones

The Pitch process required each team to submit a pitch video and a promotional video, and then take part in a virtual Q&A with the judges, live, in front of a virtual audience of hundreds.  The panel of judges were: 

• Jacquie Amacher, FIRST Marketer Group
• Karl Fruecht, SilkRoad Technology (emcee)
• Kat Mena, GoHealth
• Michael Miles, EmployBridge
• Kevin Newell, HubKonnect

The finalists delivered top-notch presentations.  INCubatoredu co-founder Michael Miles offered this:  'Great presentations!  If you're not funded, use this as a motivating factor to go get the next one...All these ideas have huge potential.'

CONGRATULATIONS to the winners:

$20,000 of seed funding was awarded across three teams.  WALK THRU came out the big winner with $12,000!  Two other teams, LEAF and TIME TEK, each received $4,000 in funding to seed their plans.  All the teams were champs, fielding questions and sharing details about their progress, pivots and plans.  

$12,000 to WALK THRU

$4,000 to LEAF, THE ECO PIGEON

$4,000 to TIME TEK

Thank You

These students (and all INCubatoredu students) benefit from committed teachers, coaches and mentors who volunteer time and talent to guide this entrepreneurial journey.   These teen business ideas come to life with this real-world guidance.  Thank you!

An Entrepreneurial Mindset is Critical - More Than Ever

In INCubatoredu, students learn how to identify a problem, iterate on the solution, and build a business.  But in the end, these students are equipped with the skills and mindset of an entrepreneur - resiliency, creativity, and agility - and are empowered to address problems they care about.  They can be confident and create their own paths in a time of uncertainty.  Let's continue to celebrate and support these skills.

Let's connect about bringing youth entrepreneurship to your students.  Uncharted Learning offers programs for elementary, middle and high school students.