On September 29, this past Tuesday night, over 60 students pitched their business or product idea to a virtual audience of Notre Dame and Saint Mary's students and IDEA Center staff.
The pitches represented an incredibly wide variety of ideas, addressing problems students face in their life on campus as well as challenges presented to the general public, outside of the University "bubble." Most students pitched from their residence hall room or apartment, but a few took advantage of the virtual method of presenting and used a different backdrop, such as their car or an outdoor setting.
After all the students pitched, attendees voted for their top 3 pitches, and the votes were tallied.
TOP PRIZE of $1000 went to Quynh Nguyen, a graduate student in the ESTEEM Program. She pitched RAK (Random Acts of Kindness), a software platform that allows charitable organizations to better manage in-kind donations.
10 other students earned $20 in Domer Dollars: Thomas Szymanski, Kim Scott, Mitchell MacDonald, Lucas Alvarez, Emma Ascolese, Ian Coates, Casey Samagalsky, Dillan Gibbons, Griffin Laszlo, David Wang.
Additionally, there were two IDEA Center Staff picks: Jack Consolini was awarded $250 for Best Healthcare Venture and Tyler Wilson earned $250 for Best Social Venture.