Thank you to everyone who attended the 2nd annual Brown Venture Prize pitch night! It was completely sold out with 250+ in attendance, and many alumni and friends of the center watched remotely from around the world. Congratulations to the 8 finalists who pitched their ideas to 7 alumni judges. The ventures ranged from a mobile technology to fight addiction, to an app that provides on-demand in-home care for the elderly and disabled. If you missed the event, we will soon share a link to the recording on our YouTube channel.
Formally, 1st Prize: $25,000 winner
Left to right: Benjamin Murphy ‘19, Diane Mutako ‘20, Amelie Vavrovsky ’18, and Noah Picard ‘18, Sc.M ‘19.
Formally empowers applicants and attorneys by making immigration and legal forms easy.
goTeff, 2nd Prize: $15,000 winner
From left to right: Abenezer Simon Mechale ‘21 (UPenn) and Saron Simon Mechale ‘19.
goTeff is a mission-driven nutrition brand using teff grain
—a superfood from Ethiopia, with a vision to provide superior nutrition to
US consumers while empowering Ethiopian small-holder farmer
EmboNet, 3rd Prize: $10,000 winner
From left to right: Berke Buyukkucak Sc.B. ’18, M.Sc., ’19, Emily Holtzman ‘18 (RISD), Gian Christian Ignacio ’18, M.D. ‘22, and Celina Hsieh ‘18, M.D. ‘22.
EmboNet is developing a double-layered, pocketed mesh designed to securely capture and remove embolic debris from blood, reducing stroke risk and cerebral injury associated with cardiac bypass surgeries.
Thank you to our alumni judges!
The Brown Venture Prize is possible thanks to the co-founders of Casper, Neil Parikh ’11 and Luke Sherwin ’12. Because of their generous gift, we can continue supporting and empowering students to create solutions with impact and make their ventures a reality.
Our alumni judges had the difficult task of first selecting the top 8 ventures to pitch on March 6, and then selecting the top 3 ventures to win $50k in prize money. Judges present last night included:
Rufus Griscom ’91, CEO and co-founder, The Next Big Idea Club
Liz Hamburg ’86, founder, Upstart Ventures
Rajiv Kumar ’05 MD ’09, President and Chief Medical Officer, Virgin Pulse
Luke Sherwin ’12, co-founder of Casper
Laura Thompson ’09, Advisor, Project Wayfinder
Adam Vitarello ’05, President and co-founder of Optoro
Jayna Zweiman ’01, Activist, Artist, and co-founder, Pussy Hat Project
Ben Chesler ’15, Chief Innovation Officer of Imperfect Produce and Heidi Messer ’92, co-founder of Collective[i] were unable to attend the night of, but were instrumental in the selection of the top 8 and mentoring these students.
