In the first ever TiE Boston University Student Pitch Competition, over 30 student start-ups competed for $10K in prize money and a chance to represent Boston in the TiE University Global Pitch Competition, pitching their ideas and products that could potentially become market breakthroughs.

Here is the list of winners:

First Place: Uros Kuzmanovic, Founder and CEO of BioSens8
Second Place: Nidhal Louhichi, Founder of eSteps
Third Place: Kritika Kharbanda and Jessica Chen, co-founders of Cardinal, LCA
Social Impact Prize: Siddharth Pannir, Founder of Genh.

“Some of the world’s iconic companies were incubated by students. Students bring a great combination of entrepreneurial ideas and energy! What better way for TiE Boston to identify and encourage these student founders, than a pitch competition,” said Anu Chitrapu, President of TiE Boston.

The TiE- Boston University Student Pitch Competition is part of TiE University Global, the global home of collegiate entrepreneurship, that nurtures start-ups run by college/university students from, ideation to investment.

The Chair of the Tie Boston University Pitch Competition, Satish Jha, who is also the prize sponsor for the student competition said, “Now TiE Boston supports entrepreneurship from high school to early-stage investing through TYE (TiE Young Entrepreneurs), TiE University, TiE ScaleUp, and TiE Angels. This makes TiE Boston one of the most comprehensive nurturers of entrepreneurship in the Boston area.”

Teams were judged by an esteemed panel of judges including Vaibhav Nalwaya, Co-founder & Managing Partner at Wavecrest Growth Partners; Ramani Varanasi, Managing Director (BioPharma Advisory) Revive Advisors; and Yash Shah, President-Elect of TiE Boston, and Co-Founder of Jeavio.

It was a rigorous competition with over 30 applicants, and 70 participants across twelve universities and nine sectors. 37% of which were female founders. Eight semi-finalists were carefully selected by a pool of screening judges to compete for $10K in prize money that will be used to infuse capital into their business!

Swarna Balasubramanian Co-Chair, TiE Boston University Pitch Competition, and Moderator of the event says “I am very grateful for the support from the community for our first ever TiE-Boston student pitch competition. We will continue to build on this success to inspire more students to consider entrepreneurship and support them along their startup journey.”

The first-place winner, Uros Kuzmanovic, Founder and CEO of BioSens8, will receive a $5,000 prize. BioSens8 will advance to the TiE University Global Pitch Competition representing Boston along with 30 student start-ups from across the globe to compete for $50K in prize money! “TiE has been supportive and inclusive ever since I joined the program through hosting informative workshops, providing 1 on 1 mentoring with experts, a wonderful platform to get our name out, and access to passionate investors. I’m super excited to meet other founders and compete on the global level!”

Second place goes to Nidhal Louhichi, Founder of eSteps, who will receive a $3,000 prize. “It is a very important goal for us, which gives us confidence and stimulus to grow.”
Third place goes to Kritika Kharbanda and Jessica Chen, co-founders of Cardinal, LCA who will receive a $1,000 prize.

The Social Impact Prize was awarded to Siddharth Pannir, Founder of Genh who will receive a $1,000 prize. “I am grateful to TiE for giving me a chance to present some of the work we have been doing at GenH to them and are honored by their recognition!”

All Boston semi-finalists will receive a one-year general membership to TiE Boston, a complimentary ticket to TiECON East, and will become part of the global cohort that undergoes international mentors’ extensive mentoring and coaching. These mentoring sessions cover many enablers from pitching, presentation design, defining value proposition, fundraising, financial models, and many other aspects of entrepreneurship.
TiE Boston turns 25 this year, and is celebrating this milestone on Saturday, May 7, 2022, at the Renaissance Hotel in Boston’s Seaport District.

List of the Students Pitch Competition Finalists:

BioSens8 Uros Kuzmanovic Boston University
Cardinal LCA Kritika Kharbanda and Jessica Chen Harvard Graduate School of Design
Current Electric Aatish Patel Harvard
eSteps Nidhal Louhichi University of Bologna/ University of Chicago/Studying in Boston
GenH Siddharth Pannir Northeastern University
HighTime Foods Aakash Shah and Damian Felchlin Babson
Pointz Mobility, Inc. Maggie Bachenberg/Trisha Ballakur Brown University
Split Jay Wadhwa and Jorge Dickens Boston College.

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