A total of $30,000 was awarded to HPU student entrepreneurs.
High Point University students earned thousands of dollars in startup funds for their businesses on April 13 during HPU’s 12th annual Business Plan Competition. The competition is supported by Truist and the Robert G. and Ellen S. Gutenstein Foundation.
Ivana Korankyi, a Class of 2024 Doctor of Pharmacy student, won first place and $10,000 for her product, Flasky Labware. Flasky Labware is a specialized tool that collects the medication researchers and drug companies are usually unable to reach on the interior walls of a round-bottom flask. With Flasky Labware, lab researchers and drug companies will save substantial amounts of money by getting a higher yield of medication recovered from these flasks.
During the competition, five finalists competed for startup funds for their businesses by presenting to a panel of business leaders, who served as competition judges. Second place and $8,000 went to Jack Hammond for The Fish Stick. Sean Martin earned third place and $6,000 for his product, Kap Popper. The MJ Bottle team and Your Personal Jeweler were runners up, each earning $3,000.
Korankyi plans to use the funds to get her product into laboratories and other related areas where customers may use the cleaning tool. She says that the competition winnings are helping her product move forward.
"Having this experience with HPU’s Business Plan Competition has been incredible,” said Korankyi. “It has been an opportunity to challenge myself and to transform alongside my business. It has helped me realize that there is always a reason to do better, think bigger and do things differently. I am thankful for the opportunity to be challenged in this way, and I’m thankful for all the individuals who pushed me to think outside of the box and to continually take steps forward."
To read more about each finalist and their business plans, click here.