John Atkinson (far left) and Chris Fender (middle) with the winners of the CLIMB Tech Expo Pitch Competition.
The stress of funding can be overwhelming for student entrepreneurs trying to balance schoolwork with their startup. This stress just got a little easier for the student winners of Sept. 19’s second annual CLIMB Tech Expo Pitch Competition at the University of Missouri.
Three MU system students were awarded cash prizes for their startup ideas at the event, co-organized by CLIMB (collaboration, leadership and innovation for Missouri business) and the Office of Technology Management and Industry Relations.
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In 2011, current advisor Bandhana Katoch, along with Luis Jimenez and Chris Eckhardt, founded the MU student organization CLIMB. At the time, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation was looking to grant $100,000 to select student groups at MU. The Kauffman Foundation granted $40,000—40 percent of the funds—to CLIMB.
“They saw a need for student entrepreneurs to get a little funding,” CLIMB president John Atkinson said of the club’s founders.
Today the organization holds two annual pitch competitions, entrepreneurship workshops, speaking events and a video competition.
“A lot of students obviously don’t have time, with full-time classes and part-time jobs, to go out and try to find investors and try to find backers for their ideas,” Atkinson said. “What CLIMB tries to do is hold these pitch competitions and hold these opportunities for students to win a little bit of money to help progress their ideas while they’re in college.”
Last week’s winners won big for their startups. MU student Alex Madinger took home the first-place prize of $1,000 for Gauntlet Initiative, a 3D-printed prosthetics company. Connor Wolk, a student at Missouri University of Science and Technology, won $750 for his phone case design for Dual Cases. Third place and $500 went to MU student Roxanne Kohler for her sky taxi idea, Midwest Air Taxi.
Atkinson said the funds will reward the student winners and eventually the organization as a whole.
“We’re trying to help entrepreneurs who already have a business idea started and help them get funding and help them move their idea forward,” Atkinson said. “The long-term perspective of CLIMB is that as we help these student ventures evolve and as we help student entrepreneurs build, once they reach that level of success they can help return donations to CLIMB to help the organization continue to grow.”
CLIMB is currently accepting entry applications for its Student Seed Grant Competition on Nov. 7. Teams can win up to $2,000 at the competition.
Credits: Photo courtesy John Atkinson.
