Strakosch Venture Competition

Start@Shea's annual Strakosch Venture Competition is an opportunity for student founders to win equity-free funding to grow their startups. Whether you're eager to compete or simply want to be part of the excitement, come join us!

Applications close April 6th at 11:59PM

Apply Here!

THE PROCESS

After rigorous screening rounds, 10 teams are selected to advance to the finals. Finalists will have 4-minutes to pitch their startup to a panel of esteemed judges as well as an enthusiastic student audience.

Judges then probe teams with questions around their business models, revenue streams, scaling strategies, and go-to-market plans.

Following thoughtful deliberation, the judges will determine the top three teams to receive equity free funding to fuel their ventures, while the audience selects a crowd favorite.

Congratulations to Caroline Driscoll '27 for securing first place with Flobag last year!

2024 Winners!

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Caroline Driscoll '27

1st Place & Crowd Favorite

Bo Brainerd '25

2nd Place

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Advaith Vadlakonda '25, Kyle Radimer '25

3rd Place

2024 Gallery

2024 Finalists

Caroline Driscoll

FloBag

The world's first waterproof, trackable, and floatable bag made to secure necessities such as inhalers, medications, and technologies.

Isabel Bernhard, Camille Fletcher

Glucose Guard

To-go pouch with one tablespoon of apple vinegar, water, and natural herbs to take before your meals and decrease glucose spikes by 30%.

Dylan Kim, Timothy Liu

MLV

Based in Southeast Asia, MLV connects highschool students with personalized college mentors to start real companies, get advice on career, and ultimately transform their passion into value creation.

Kyle Radimer, Advaith Vadlakonda

Musync

An interactive social app streamlining music industry connections. Where artists and venues meet to book gigs and collaborate.

Ananya Kommineni

The Natscrub

The NatScrub is a chemical and mechanical exfoliant with a natural and Ayurvedic standpoint designed to reduce the appearance of Keratosis Polaris and Folliculitis.

Ryan Fassnacht, Asad Faqirzada

OceanFront Technologies

OceanFront Technologies is a tech robotics company looking to design and manufacture an autonomous beach cleaning robot to help keep our planet clean and prosperous.

Bo Brainerd

Ophelia

Ophelia curates, guarantees, and facilitates the first date by matching people based on their top 3 date location preferences and times.

Grant Drinkwater

Spar

Spar is a pay-to-play platform where users engage in head-to-head and tournament-style competitions, aiming to secure the highest returns on simulated stock portfolios within specified timeframes.

2023 Winners

1st Place: Vitaliti

Founders: Zarah Lakhani '24

Carbon Monoxide detector for mold spores

2nd Place: Socion

Founders: Ted Wind '25

The business management platform for influencer agencies

3rd Place: Macellum

Founder:Justin Walker '26

Give your virtual items value quickly and easily

Crowd Favorite: RealtyShare

Founders: Arnaud Attencia '23 (ESADE)

Making Real Estate investments accessible to all