High Point University has announced five finalists for its 12th annual Business Plan Competition, which is supported by Truist and the Robert G. and Ellen S. Gutenstein Foundation. The competition will be held at 5 p.m. on April 13 in the Callicutt Life Skills Theater, located in Congdon Hall on HPU’s campus.
The finalists will compete for thousands of dollars in startup funds by pitching their businesses to a panel of business professionals.
“Having our product be chosen as a finalist in the competition is an amazing feeling,” says Jordan Rubin, a finalist for the competition. “My business partner and I started working on MJ Bottle less than a year ago and had no idea how far we would get in such a short amount of time. We would not be where we are at today without the help and encouragement of our HPU professors and the resources provided to us.”
The annual competition is open to all HPU undergraduate students. It includes an application round that narrows the competition. Judges then review the plans and hear the pitches of the finalists.
The 2022 HPU Business Plan Competition finalists are:
Flasky
Name: Ivana Korankyi
Hometown: Jamestown, North Carolina
Major: Doctor of Pharmacy
Year: Class of 2024
Flasky is a specialized tool that collects the medication that researchers and drug companies are usually unable to reach on the interior walls of the round bottom flask. With Flasky, lab researchers and drug companies will save substantial amounts of money by getting a higher yield of medication recovered from their round bottom flasks.
MJ Bottle
Name: Jordan Rubin and Addison Antico
Hometown: Wayland, Massachusetts, and Sherborn, Massachusetts, respectively
Major: Both are strategic communication majors.
Year: Both are members of the Class of 2022.
The MJ Bottle is an all-in-one baby formula feeding bottle that is in the process of being officially patented. The MJ Bottle is named after Antico’s nephew, Matthew Jr. The duo named the bottle after him when Antico ran into an issue with making a formula bottle on the go. The process of scooping formula powder and water into a bottle while away from home proved difficult. It’s a problem the pair noticed at Disney World when a parent ran into the same frustrating issue. Since winning first place at the Elevator Pitch Competition, Antico and Rubin formed A & J Innovative Solutions LLC. They have been contacting engineers and manufacturers to help bring their product to life and are preparing to move MJ Bottle to a full-time operation in Winston-Salem.
The Kap Popper
Name: Sean Martin
Hometown: Baltimore, Maryland
Major: Entrepreneurship
Year: Class of 2024
Martin’s product is inspired by the challenges his aunt has faced after suffering a stroke that led to a brain aneurysm. She lost all feeling and use in her left arm hand, which makes it difficult to zip jackets and open twist-off bottles. The Kap Popper provides a solution to opening twist-off plastic bottles for people without the ability to use both hands or with limited strength in their arms or hands. This product is a device that sits above a plastic bottle while gripping the bottle and the cap. There is an internal mechanism that turns the cap to unscrew and open the bottle. The internal mechanism is powered by simply pushing down on the plunger on the top of the device, allowing users to open a twist-off plastic bottle with just one hand.
The Fish Stick
Name: Jack Hammond
Hometown: Cincinnati, Ohio
Major: Entrepreneurship
Year: Class of 2023
Hammond designed The Fish Stick to retrieve expensive fishing lures from trees and underwater structures to avoid hazards in the area. The idea came when he saw a great blue heron stuck in fishing litter, and he knew something needed to change. He appreciates all the opportunities he has been given at HPU to continue his journey as an entrepreneur.
Your Personal Jeweler
Name: Alexander Malyszko
Hometown: Terrell, North Carolina
Major: Entrepreneurship
Year: Class of 2022
Your Personal Jeweler helps independent jewelers run their business with a “back office” solution. Malyszko says his product helps with accounting, marketing, advising services, systems management and network resources. He got the idea for this model after listening to the founder of MyEyeDr. speak at HPU. He saw optometrists spend years learning their craft and struggling to run their own practice. Your Personal Jeweler takes this health care management model and adapts it to the needs of the jewelry industry.