Tulane Business Model Competition announces 2022 semifinalists

Tulane University’s A. B. Freeman School of Business has announced the six semifinalist teams that will face off in the 2022 Tulane Business Model Competition.

Hosted by the Freeman School’s Albert Lepage Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, the competition awards $125,000 in cash prizes to commercially viable student-led startups that demonstrate a market-tested ability to adapt to customers’ needs.

“Entrepreneurship is the engine of the economy, so we are proud to support the next generation of business innovators,” said Paulo Goes, dean of the Freeman School. “Over the last 22 years, the Tulane Business Model Competition has given hundreds of student entrepreneurs the opportunity to meet investors, refine their business plans and gain the practical experience they need to bring their ventures to the next level.”

This year the competition returns to an in-person event with both the semifinal and final rounds taking place the week of March 21. The semifinal round will take place on Monday, March 21, with six teams presenting their ventures to a panel of judges. Three teams will be selected by the judges to pitch in the final round on Tuesday, March 22, to determine this year’s first, second and third place prize winners.

The winning team will receive a grand prize of $75,000. The runner up will receive a $30,000 prize, and the third-place team will receive $20,000.

The semifinal round of the competition will take place during New Orleans Entrepreneur Week (NOEW), the premier event celebrating entrepreneurship in our region, as part of “NOEW in Your Neighborhood.”

“Each year our entrants face an incredibly competitive application process, and this year was no exception, with over 100 applicants from 60 universities around the world and just six semifinalist spots available,” said Rob Lalka, Albert R. Lepage Professor of Business and executive director of the Lepage Center. “After two years of virtual competitions, we are excited to return to an in-person event, one that enables participants to network and build relationships during their time in New Orleans. We will continue to leverage the benefits of a virtual experience by connecting the students with investors and mentors in our network after the competition, and we look forward to supporting their growth and development for years to come.”

The 2022 Tulane Business Model Competition semifinalists are:

• Blankly Finance (University of Michigan and Virginia Tech) – Blankly enables companies to build trading algorithms and data pipelines in minutes, execute and monitor live trades across centralized and decentralized exchanges, and deploy trading strategies to optimize cloud infrastructure.
   
• DAWn Audio (New York University and Georgia Tech University) – DAWn Audio is a web-based application that enables real-time, cross digital audio workstation (DAW) co-creation for all musicians by replicating in-person studio collaboration on a digital platform.
   
• Hubly Surgical (Johns Hopkins University) – Hubly Surgical is a cranial and orthopedic platform drilling solution focused on three verticals: bedside intracranial access, elective neurosurgeries and elective orthopedic surgeries.
   
• Ichosia Biotechnology (George Washington University) – Ichosia Biotechnology is using its proprietary platform technology for genetically engineering more efficient stem cell differentiation to mass produce laboratory-grown red blood cells to make blood safer, less expensive and more reliable for clinical transfusions.
   
• KLAW Industries (SUNY Binghamton University) – KLAW Industries processes glass sent to landfills into a cement replacement for concrete called Pantheon^TM which increases the compressive strength of concrete, decreases the embodied carbon and lowers material costs.
   
• Rize (Tulane University) – Rize’s platform connects small to midsized businesses, which may not have an established internship program, to students looking to gain real-world work experience through short-term, paid projects.  

COMPETITION DETAILS

Semifinal Round

Monday, March 21, 1 - 4:30 p.m.

Stewart Center CBD, 725 Howard Avenue, 4^th Floor

Registration for the Semifinal Round can be done through www.noew.org.

Final Round

Tuesday, March 22, 1:30 - 4:30 p.m.

A. B. Freeman School of Business, 7 McAlister Place, Room 170

Register for the Final Round by clicking here.

For more information about this year’s Tulane Business Model Competition, please contact Emily Egan, Lepage Center director of strategic initiatives, at 504-865-5462 or eegan@tulane.edu.