2019 Brown Venture Prize Finalists, Judges, and Event Press!
The 2019 Brown Venture Prize top 8 finalists were carefully selected by an esteemed group of experienced Brown Alumni entrepreneurs. Learn more about the top finalists, and the judges who selected them, below.
EVENT PRESS
Announcing the Brown Venture Prize Winners!
Nelson Center for Entrepreneurship
Brown Venture Prize finalists vie for $50K for big ideas Brown Venture Prize finalists vie for $50K.
Brown Venture Prize finalists vie for $50K for big ideas
O’rya Hyde-Keller, Brown University
All eyes are on the prize — and the entrepreneurial process — in this annual Nelson Center for Entrepreneurship competition among Brown’s most promising student ventures.
Formally Wins Big at Brown University's Venture Prize Competition
American Inno
Formally, a company that empowers applicants and attorneys by making immigration and legal forms easier to understand, took home the grand prize of $25,000
Brown Venture Prize awards $50K to top three pitches
Providence Business News
The competition featured eight finalists pitching their concepts and businesses to a panel of seven judges.
FORMALLY – 1st Place Winner ($25,000)

Benjamin Murphy '19
Computer Science
benjamin_murphy@brown.edu
Diane Mutako '20
Computer Science
diane_mutako@brown.edu
Noah Picard '18, '19
Sc.B. Computer Science/Mathematics, Sc.M. Computer Science
noah_picard@brown.edu
goTeff – 2nd Place Winner ($15,000)

Saron Simon Mechale '19
Social Analysis and Research
saron_mechale@brown.edu
Abenezer Simon Mechale '21
UPenn - Development Economics
EMBONET – 3rd Place Winner ($10,000)

Berke Buyukkucak Sc.B. '18, M.Sc., '19
Biomedical Engineering
berke_buyukkucak@brown.edu
Ileana Pirozzi ‘18
Biomedical Engineering, Brown/Ph.D Stanford University
ipirozzi@stanford.edu
Emily Holtzman ‘18
RISD - Textiles
eholtzma@alumni.risd.edu
Celina Hsieh ‘18, M.D. ‘22
Biomedical Engineering; Alpert Medical School
celina_hsieh@brown.edu
Gian Christian Ignacio '18, M.D. ‘22
Biomedical Engineering; Alpert Medical School
gian_christian_ignacio@brown.eduCRESS HEALTH

Justin M. Kim '21
Computer Science and Biology
justin_kim1@brown.edu
Sonny Mo '21
Computer Science and Philosophy
sonny_mo@brown.edu
Michael W. Lai '21
Hofstra University BS/MD - Biochemistry
H2Ok INNOVATIONS

Annie Lu '22
Harvard - Economics

David Lu '20
Chemistry and Computer Science
david_lu@brown.eduINTUS CARE

John (Robbie) Felton '21
Public Health
john_felton@brown.edu
Evan Jackson '21
Economics
evan_jackson@brown.edu
Samuel Prado '21
Public Health / Economics
samuel_prado@brown.edu
Teo Tsivranidis '20
Computer Science
samuel_prado@brown.eduSelectEd

Santiago Ibañez '13
MIT - Management of Technology, M.B.A./M.Sc.
sibanez@sloan.mit.edu
Amy Wang '19
Political Science
jo-shin_wang@brown.edu
Jessica Wang '22
Education and Economics
jessica_wang3@brown.eduZAP CHARGING

Joseph Asbel '19
BEO: Entrepreneurship and Technology Management
joseph_asbel@brown.edu
William Homza '19
BEO: Entrepreneurship and Technology Management
william_homza@brown.edu
Callie Smith '19
BEO: Entrepreneurship and Technology Management
callie_smith@brown.edu2019 JUDGES

Ben Chesler '15
Co-founder of Imperfect

Rufus Griscom ‘91
Co-Founder of The Next Big Idea Club

Liz Hamburg ‘86
Co-Founder of Upstart Ventures, Candoo Tech

Rajiv Kumar ‘05
Co-founder of ShapeUp

Heidi Messer '92
Co-Founder of Collective-I

Luke Sherwin '12
Co-Founder of Casper

Laura Thompson ‘09
Founder, VC

Adam Vitarello ‘05
Co-founder of Optoro

Jayna Zweiman ’01
Co-creator and co-founder of Pussyhat Project, Welcome Blanket