SAN LUIS OBISPO — The Cal Poly Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (CIE) accepted eight startup teams into their Summer Accelerator, an intensive 12-week program that provides Cal Poly students and recent graduates with the resources needed to turn their innovative ideas into full-fledged startups. 

Participants receive $10,000 in seed funding, as well as access to expert mentorship, entrepreneurial workshops and a dedicated workspace in the HotHouse, the CIE’s office in downtown San Luis Obispo.

“The Summer Accelerator program is unique because it marks the point where students apply all of the foundational learning that takes place on campus and dedicate their time over a 12-week period to working towards launching a business,” said Tom Katona, the CIE’s interim co-executive director. “Cal Poly alumni, the local community and the CIE all come together to support and challenge these students in pursuit of their entrepreneurial endeavor.”

The eight teams were officially announced at the CIE’s May Entrepreneurship Forum on Tuesday, May 16 at 4:30 p.m. in the Cal Poly Performing Arts Center (PAC).

The forum also featured a fireside chat with guest speaker Kate Somerville, the founder of a world-renowned luxury skincare brand. After years of struggling with eczema, Somerville pursued a degree in esthetics. After completing her schooling, she opened her own clinic in a San Luis Obispo cosmetic surgeon’s office. Now, her paramedical esthetics clinic in Los Angeles is bringing advanced medical technology into a more comfortable environment.

At May Forum, Somerville shared the story behind her startup, from a childhood that propelled her towards entrepreneurship, to personal care product company Unilever’s acquisition of the Kate Somerville brand in 2015.

“This is the best part — because I was one of them, and I still am. Once an entrepreneur, always an entrepreneur,” Somerville said. “This is such a great program. I’m so glad I was able to be a part of it.”

Somerville’s interview was conducted by Haley Pavone, a CIE alumnus and the founder and CEO of Pashion Footwear, a footwear company whose patented shoes can easily convert from a pump to a flat. Pavone founded Pashion Footwear as a Cal Poly business administration junior. 

The 2023 Summer Accelerator teams represent a variety of different concepts, from machine learning with Tensormaker, to social connectivity with Social Spark.

“I’m really looking forward to working with this diverse group of entrepreneurs,” Katona said.

This year’s cohort includes:

Drinkwise, a startup developing a noninvasive SmartPatch that indicates the user’s blood alcohol content (BAC) level, created by industrial engineering senior Owen Works, biomedical engineering senior Camden Ford and psychology senior Aynsley Ramsaur.

Ecoternatives, an e-commerce store that sells sustainable and plastic-free home essential products at more affordable prices, founded by economics senior Aidan Riehl.

Entein Feeds, a startup utilizing food waste to grow insects as an animal feed protein supplement, founded by materials engineering sophomore William Burns and mechanical engineering sophomore Cameron Yartz.

Nexsterra Tech, a startup developing technology that can detect batteries in waste bins before they’re compacted in order to prevent costly fires, created by business administration seniors Penny Lane Case and Thaddeus Ziarkowski and mechanical engineering seniors Stefany James and Sydney Fairchild.

Plan A Lot, an event planning platform that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to simplify the planning process, founded by computer science junior Luis Guzman and mechanical engineering junior Marciela Carrillo.

Social Spark, a startup organizing and facilitating social activities for recently relocated college graduates, founded by mechanical engineering senior Samantha Moberly and software engineering senior Parker Callison.

Tensormaker, a startup enabling all web developers to build their own machine learning software, founded by liberal arts and engineering senior Avi Peltz.

Té Piña, a startup producing a caffeinated, pineapple-based beverage that provides consumers with a healthier alternative to existing energy drinks, created by business administration seniors Matthew Reis and Benjamin Arts.

View the cohort’s pitches here.

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About the Cal Poly Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE):

The CIE opens a world of entrepreneurial opportunities to Cal Poly students, faculty and community members and promotes entrepreneurial activity and dialogue across the university and throughout San Luis Obispo. For more information, visit https://cie.calpoly.edu/.

SAN JOSE — Two recent Cal Poly graduates won the top prizes at the Sunstone Startup Launch Competition, a California State University (CSU) pitch competition with a total of $200,000 in prize money at stake, held at San Jose State University (SJSU) Friday, May 5. Competing teams are divided into three categories, including product, service and social enterprise.

Recent Cal Poly computer science graduate Emily Gavrilenko won the service track’s first-place prize of $25,000 with her startup Ryde, a travel marketplace for college students connecting drivers and riders for long-distance travel.

“When I was pitching, I felt really confident because we’ve come so far in the past year. I was pitching a business, not just an idea,” Gavrilenko said. “I was more nervous for the awards ceremony than the actual pitch because I didn’t want to let my co-founders down. I really wanted to call them and tell them we won — so it was really exciting to hear the good news.”

Gavrilenko plans to use the prize money to fund Ryde’s upcoming expansion to a new college campus.

Manufacturing engineering graduate Evan Lalanne won the product track’s second-place prize of $10,000 for X-Adapt, a startup building a compact, capable and intuitive mobility device by modifying commercially available electric unicycles for adaptive riders. 

Lalanne is planning on introducing the product to early adopters later this year.

Both winners participated in the 2022 Cal Poly Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) Summer Accelerator, a three-month program that provides Cal Poly students and recent graduates with the resources needed to turn their startup ideas into real, scalable businesses.

“The Summer Accelerator made a world of difference,” Gavrilenko said. “It really helped me on my pitch. I became confident up on stage and also had quality content to put in my pitch. The Accelerator really taught me how to talk about my business.”

Two pre-qualified students or recent graduates from each CSU campus presented an eight-minute pitch to a panel of judges. The pitch was followed by a five-minute question and answer session. Judges evaluated the pitches based on desirability, feasibility and viability. 

The Sunstone Startup Launch competition was held for the first time in 2021 at Cal State Long Beach (CSULB), and only five of the 23 CSU campuses participated. Eighteen campuses participated this year, including Dominguez Hills, East Bay, Fresno, Fullerton, Humboldt, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Monterey Bay, Northridge, Pomona, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, San Luis Obispo, San Marcos and Sonoma.

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About the Cal Poly Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship:

The CIE opens a world of entrepreneurial opportunity to Cal Poly students, faculty and community members and promotes entrepreneurial activity and dialogue throughout San Luis Obispo County. For more information, visit cie.calpoly.edu. 

Contact: Stephanie Zombek
805-225-4738; szombek@calpoly.edu

SAN LUIS OBISPO — Four student startup teams  split $35,000 at the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship’s (CIE) annual Innovation Quest (iQ), a high-stakes competition where Cal Poly students pitch their innovative business ideas to a panel of judges in the hopes of winning funding for their startups. 

Biology senior McClain Kressman and Nico Galin, a computer science student at UC Berkeley, received the first-place prize of $15,000 for their startup BioGlyph at the event, held April 29 on campus, with awards presented later at a local venue.  

“It (winning) was surprising — and it was fun,” said Kressman of Santa Cruz, California. “I couldn’t have done it without Nico, and we’re excited to see what’s ahead of us.” 

They intend to use the cash prize to further develop BioGlyph. The software streamlines the process of biologic, or medicine, development and iteration — as well as user modification tools — by allowing researchers to easily shift between visual, markup and serial representations of medications developed from living organisms, Kressman said. 

The second-place prize of $10,000 went to Instaboard, a digital whiteboard that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to allow users to illustrate their ideas and collaborate with others, created by computer science senior David Chen, an international student from China, recent art and design graduate Alina Chiu of Mandeville, Louisiana, and Andy Zhou, a University of Rochester finance and applied mathematics student.  

“It felt kind of unreal — like what? ‘Did that just happen?’” Chen said. “I was just very glad because for the past few months, I’ve been feeling discouraged … This is a backbone, and I’m going to be building on this confidence. I’m really thankful.” 

Logan Hughes of Brookline, Massachusetts, and Jensen Jalufka, both business administration seniors with a focus on entrepreneurship, and engineering seniors Elisa Horta (mechanical engineering)and Justice Radler (industrial engineering) received the third place award of $5,000 for Spikeless, a wristband to test whether a drink has been drugged. 

“It felt so great to win,” said Jalufka, an Austin, Texas, resident. “We put in a lot of hard work, so it’s really awesome to be rewarded. It’s really a humbling experience to be able to put this money towards our company.” 

Entein Feeds took home the $5,000 Brett and Leslie Eldridge Environmental Impact Award, presented to the top team whose innovation focuses on environmentalism and sustainability. The startup, founded by William Burns, a materials engineering senior minoring in entrepreneurship, grows black soldier fly larvae off of food waste, then sells the larvae as a protein supplement in animal feed. 

“It felt awesome to get appreciation for how hard I worked, especially on an environmentally friendly project,” Burns said. 

Fourteen finalists pitched their innovative ideas in Cal Poly’s Nash Family Entrepreneurship Lab. The event’s banquet and awards ceremony was held at SLO Brew Rock later that night. 

Past iQ participant and Pashion Footwear founder and CEO Haley Pavone spoke at the banquet. Pavone won iQ in 2017 with her pitch for a shoe that easily converts from a pump to a flat. 

iQ was founded in 2004 by Cal Poly electrical engineering graduates and business leaders Carson Chen, Richard Boberg and Laura Pickering. Since its launch, iQ participants have received over $400,000 that has helped launch several successful businesses, such as iFixIt, Liftgator and Alydia Health. 

“iQ motivates students across campus who would otherwise not think about taking the skills that they have and applying them in an entrepreneurial way,” said Tom Katona, CIE interim co-executive director.  

In addition to the four winners, 10 finalists were chosen from more than 50 applicants: 

— Pyrottack, a battery detection system that prevents costly battery fires in the waste stream by detecting batteries in waste bins before they are compacted., created by business administration seniors Penny Lane Case and Thaddeus Ziarkowski and mechanical engineering seniors Stefany James, Cole Miller and Sydney Fairchild. 

— RISE, an innovation helping Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) patients take control of their symptoms and prevent debilitating episodes, developed by Alex Rosenbaum, a mechanical engineering junior and Aidan Rosenbaum, a mechanical engineering junior at Case Western Reserve University. 

— Munchie Automation, a hot food vending machine developer providing quality, affordable and safe food, founded by business administration senior Colin Brown, mechanical engineering junior Tony Aviña and electrical engineering freshman Ian McKernan. 

— PeggyAI, a software company helping agriculture businesses automate their time keeping, equipment tracking and safety processes, developed by recent business administration graduate Ethan Beck, business administration junior Isabella Beck and earth and science soil junior Thomas Telles. 

— Vlab Education, a startup providing virtual reality (VR) science experiments for students, founded by polymers and coatings graduate student Adam Langevin and recent computer science graduates Kaili Shan and Jarrod Tart. 

— Groundwater Pricing Calculator, a tool that can help farmers and county governments determine the cost of accessing groundwater, developed by psychology and ethnic studies senior Cade Creason and computer engineering senior Lucas Abdo. 

— Ourcelium, a startup reducing microplastic pollution by using a decomposing fungus to turn plastic waste into mycelium, which can then be used to create sustainable packaging alternatives, developed by business administration seniors Penny Lane Case and Thaddeus Ziarkowski, mechanical engineering sophomore Amelia Cameron and mechanical engineering seniors Stefany James, Cole Miller and Sydney Fairchild. 

— Tensormaker, a tool that makes building machine learning applications quick, easy and accessible, created by liberal arts and engineering studies senior Avi Peltz and recent computer engineering graduate Samuel Cole. 

— DrinkWise, a smart tattoo that monitors the wearer’s Blood Alcohol Level (BAC), developed by industrial engineering senior Owen Works, biomedical engineering senior Camden Ford, biomedical engineering junior Aditi Sriram, mechanical engineering senior Nicolas Rojas and business administration junior Michael Hennessy. 

— Zoetic Motion, a digital health platform streamlining the physical therapy process in order to improve patient outcomes, founded by computer science graduate student Zeeshan Khan. 

About the Cal Poly Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship: 

The CIE opens a world of entrepreneurial opportunity to Cal Poly students, faculty and community members and promotes entrepreneurial activity and dialogue throughout San Luis Obispo County. For more information, visit cie.calpoly.edu.  

SAN LUIS OBISPO –A team of Cal Poly interdisciplinary students recently won the top prize at Camp PolyHacks for their anonymous blog space, dubbed Lumi, designed to help marginalized groups build community.

During the two-day hackathon Jan. 22-23, 70 Cal Poly students worked in groups to develop a solution to an issue impacting San Luis Obispo. Each of the 13 teams was assigned one of four categories, including inclusive digital spaces, transportation innovation, small business success and groundwater sustainability. Teams could develop solutions in the form of a product, service, information or marketing campaign, policy proposal or a demonstration or prototype of a mobile application.

The Stardust Team won $1,000 for Best Overall Solution. The team also won in the Most Impactful Solution for Inclusive Digital Spaces and Best Logo categories.

They developed and coded Lumi for Cal Poly students who belong to marginalized communities to post, seek advice and find companionship. Team members included computer science majors Sage Meadows, Hahns Pena and Bora Joo; liberal arts and engineering major Leticia Mezzetti; and computer engineering major Arjun Chopra.

The event was organized by student volunteers and Cal Poly communications professor and Cal Poly Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (CIE) Faculty Fellow David Askay.

“I feel lucky to be at Cal Poly alongside such wonderful students from across campus — from liberal arts to engineering — who join together their skills and creativity at this event,” Askay said.

The first day of Camp PolyHacks included a 90-minute team brainstorming session followed by opportunities for students to attend workshops and receive coaching and mentorship from industry professionals and Cal Poly faculty members. On the second day, teams were given just over two hours to fine-tune their projects before presenting their innovations to a panel of judges.

Awards were given to the teams who developed the most impactful solutions for each issue category. Special awards were also given for achievements such as Best Pitch or Most Sustainable.

Other awards included:

— Most Impactful Solution for Small Business Success: Team Shop SLOcal, which created an app that helps small businesses in downtown San Luis Obispo increase sales by implementing a customer-rewards system. The team included journalism major Madison Vernon, software engineering major Aaron Bettencourt, computer science major Kannan Jain and communication studies major Kat MacPherson.

— Most Impactful Solution for Transportation Innovations: Team cYc presented its idea for a bike rental service that allows students to rent out their personal bikes to other students, as well as a “smart lock” that tracks the bike. The team included computer science majors Krishnanshu Gupta, Ishaan Sathaye and Nakul Nayak, and computer engineering major Ashwin Rajesh.

— Most Impactful Solution for Groundwater Sustainability: Team Permeable SLO, which proposed that San Luis Obispo use new building materials, such as permeable pavement, to assist with replenishing groundwater. The team included landscape architecture major Hannah Huntley, computer science major Grant Holland, history major Katarina Di Paola and computer engineering major Rockwood Frank.

— Best Demonstration of Teamwork: Team Shop SLOcal.

— Most Sustainable: Team Permeable SLO.

— Best Pitch: Team Fair Start developed an AI (artificial intelligence) algorithm that screens applications for employers in order to reduce biases associated with resumes and decrease the time it takes employers to read through job applications. The team included computer science majors Shehbaj Singh Dhillon and Anisha Raju, and industrial engineering major Michael Cassetti.

— Best User Experience: Team Fair Start.

— Best Prototype: Team WORK created a website for small businesses that finds job candidates that fit the qualifications that a business is seeking. The team included computer science majors Nathan Kang and Matthew Chak, business administration majors Wesley Lin and Zitao Guan, and graphic communications major Aidan Nesbitt.

The Cal Poly CIE HotHouse in downtown San Luis Obispo hosted Camp PolyHacks, which was cosponsored by Cal Poly’s colleges of Liberal Arts and Engineering, the city of San Luis Obispo, the San Luis Obispo Council of Governments, DRC Design and Red Bull.

SAN LUIS OBISPO — Two Cal Poly students won $1,500 at the Cal Poly Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship’s (CIE) 13th annual Elevator Pitch Competition, a fast-paced, high-energy competition for student entrepreneurs, held on Nov. 2 at the Cal Poly Performing Arts Center. 

Ten finalists, selected from an initial pool of 50 applicants, had 90 seconds each to pitch their innovative products, services and startup ideas. They were evaluated by a panel of judges on four criteria: how well was the problem or opportunity explained; was the idea innovative; was the direction was clear; and was the pitch persuasive.  

Industrial engineering senior Owen Works received the $1,000 first-place prize with his pitch for DrinkWise, a temporary tattoo that gives users real-time measurements of their blood alcohol concentration, or BAC. 

“Winning was a bit of a shock because I thought there were some really good ideas and pitches,” Works said. “(Before applying to the competition), I talked to a lot of my friends about my idea, and everyone thought it was good and said to go for it, and I’m very glad I did.” 

Works said he intends to expand his team and begin engineering the temporary tattoos. 

Camille Boiteux, a business administration junior with a concentration in entrepreneurship, received the $500 audience choice award. 

Her pitch for Swish Lash was the top pick of attendees. Swish Lash is a uniquely shaped reusable sponge brush that removes mascara in just a few swipes. 

Boiteux also participated in the 2020 Elevator Pitch Competition with a social academic app designed to make studying fun.

“I’ve been involved (with the CIE) since my freshman year, but this is my first time competing as a finalist and winning a prize,” Boiteux said. “This is crazy for me.” 

Boiteux said she plans to begin testing her prototypes to find which is most effective. She will also continue working with the CIE Hatchery, an on-campus resource for Cal Poly students interested in entrepreneurship or starting their own business. 

Other Elevator Pitch Competition finalists included: 

— Brake Buddy, a patent-pending brake light that uses progressive LED technology in order to allow drivers to gauge how hard the car in front of them is braking, pitched by Mason Elefant, a business administration junior with a concentration in marketing management.

— Feed, an Apple-based mobile application meant specifically for sharing food, which allows food lovers to share their food experiences and recommendations, pitched by computer science senior Isha Lamba. 

— Hermeats, a student-to-student food delivery service enabling students to deliver campus dining orders to one other, pitched by computer science freshman Sahith Karra. 

— The Mycelial Biodigester, a mycelium bio–digester that can break plastics down into their organic components or grow a biodegradable plastic substitute that is similar to Styrofoam, pitched by Thaddeus Ziarkowski, a business administration senior with a concentration in entrepreneurship.

— ReBrush, a paintbrush with refillable bristles that allows users to keep the same handle even after the bristles have been ruined by dried paint, pitched by Andrew Choumas, a business administration senior with a concentration in real estate finance.

— Remote Work Vans, a rental campervan service that provides remote work professionals with a custom van that converts between traditional campervan and mobile workspace, pitched by Garrison Rowland, a business administration senior with a concentration in entrepreneurship.

— Top of the Bagel, a bagel company that focuses on innovation within the bagel industry and offers bagels with seasoning that covers both the top and bottom of the bagel, pitched by business administration freshman Elizabeth Darst. 

— VLab Education, a virtual reality (VR) company creating realistic VR chemistry labs for underfunded high school educators and homeschool programs, pitched by polymers and coatings science graduate student Adam Langevin. 

Cal Poly alumni Sara Glaser (Business Administration, ’21) and Madison Lewandowski (Business Administration, ’22) were the event’s keynote speakers. The pair co-founded HiLite, a San Luis Obispo-based fitness startup that connects users with a joint-safe workout solution that reverses muscle loss.

During their 15-minute address, Lewandowski said her “entrepreneurial journey began three years ago” at the CIE’s 2019 Elevator Pitch Competition. Throughout their college careers, Glaser and Lewandowski participated in several CIE programs and competitions, including Cal Poly Startup Marathon — where they met in 2019 — the Hatchery, the Summer Accelerator and Innovation Quest (iQ).  

To watch this year’s Elevator Pitch Competition presentations, visit the CIE YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/calpolyeship.   

Cal Poly Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship Announces 2022 Summer Accelerator Cohort

SAN LUIS OBISPO — The Cal Poly Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (CIE) accepted seven startup teams to their Summer Accelerator program.

The intensive 13-week program helps Cal Poly students and recent graduates develop their startup ideas and launch their companies. Each participating team is provided with $100,000 in seed funding, access to expert mentorship and tailored workshops, as well as a dedicated workspace in the HotHouse.

“The Summer Accelerator is an opportunity to work with people who believe in the power of entrepreneurship,” CIE Director of Student Innovation Programs Jose Huitron said. “It is a true Learn By Doing experience, full of peer collaboration, learning, team building and startup possibility.”

The eight teams were officially announced at the CIE’s May Entrepreneurship Forum on May 16 at 4:30 p.m. in the Cal Poly Performing Arts Center (PAC). 

The forum also featured a Q&A session with Cal Poly alumnus and entrepreneur Scott Edwards. Edwards graduated from Cal Poly in 2013 with a degree in industrial technologies and is now founder and CEO of Drop Water, a startup scaling the use of compostable and biodegradable packaging materials. 

The 2022 Summer Accelerator teams represent a variety of different concepts, from adaptive sports with this year’s Innovation Quest (iQ) winner, Adapted Mobility, to agricultural technology with Better Berry.

“Our 2022 Summer Accelerator comprises an exciting cohort of entrepreneurs and teams who each bring unwavering passion, entrepreneurial skill and resolve to help build the future,” Huitron said.

This year’s cohort includes:

Adapted Mobility, a compact, capable and intuitive mobility device built from commercially available electric unicycles, created by Evan Lalanne, a manufacturing engineering senior from Arroyo Grande.

BetterBerry, a startup using technology that reduces the amount of water, waste, transportation and labor needed to grow strawberries to provide high-quality, locally-grown berries to communities that do not have adequate climates for farming. The startup was founded by business administration senior Corrine Cooper and mechanical engineering seniors Brandon Janney and Shalin Gogri.

FemForward, a reusable, machine-washable and leak-proof period short created by biomedical engineering senior McCall Brinskele of Marin County, California.

Grip Safe, a patent-pending firearm safety device that makes AR-15s secure for storage and safe shoot and state law-compliant for transport, all through an interchangeable grip attachment innovated by business administration senior Shaun Tanaka of Los Angeles and mechanical engineering sophomore Dylan DeFazio of Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania.

Lend Technologies Inc., a software that connects outdoor equipment shops to consumers created by business administration sophomore Dylan Tran, computer science junior Shubh Khandhadia, software engineering junior Nikhil Nagarajan, computer engineering freshman Brian Mere, computer science freshman Xiuyuan Qui and business administration and consumer packaging sophomore Lindsey Lau.

Quickie, a 10-minute mobile delivery service providing select food, beverages and other essentials to college students anywhere within two miles of campus founded by Matthew Menno and William Tregenza, business administration sophomores from Arroyo Grande.

Ryde Carpool, a social carpooling marketplace that allows college students to buy and sell empty seats in each other’s cars, founded by recent computer science graduate Emily Gavrilenko of Antioch, California; recreation, parks and tourism senior Johnny Morris of Berkeley, California; and computer science sophomore Josh Wong of San Francisco.

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About the Cal Poly Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship: 

The CIE opens a world of entrepreneurial opportunities to Cal Poly students, faculty and community members and promotes entrepreneurial activity and dialogue across the university and throughout San Luis Obispo. For more information, visit https://calpolycie.wpengine.com/.  

About the SLO HotHouse: 

The HotHouse is a community space for Cal Poly for Center and Innovation Entrepreneurship off-campus programs created through the efforts of Cal Poly, the city and county of San Luis Obispo, the business community and the CIE. The goal of the HotHouse is to support students and community members as they work to create new innovations and start business ventures. For more information, visit https://calpolycie.wpengine.com/hothouse.  

SAN LUIS OBISPO — Three student startup teams won from $30,000 in prize money at the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship’s (CIE) annual Innovation Quest (iQ), a high stakes competition where Cal Poly students pitch their innovative business ideas and prototypes to a panel of judges in hopes of winning thousands to fund their startup. 

Manufacturing engineering senior Evan Lalanne from Arroyo Grande won the first place prize of $15,000 with his startup Adapted Mobility. Adapted Mobility is a startup developing compact, capable and intuitive mobility devices from commercially available electric unicycles.  

“Winning iQ was awesome,” Lalanne said. It was great to see all of my hard work come together into something I can really be proud of.” 

The idea for Adapted Mobility began when Lalanne modified a hoverboard to work with his wheelchair.  

Lalanne hopes to file a patent this summer and begin shipping his first production units in 2023. 

Biomedical engineering senior McCall Brinskele of Marin County, biomedical engineering junior Sally Thurman of Dallas and business administration seniors Jocelyn Overmyer of Marin County and Kyra Jacks of West Hills won the second place prize of $10,000 with Fem Forward, a startup creating leak-proof period shorts for women to wear when sleeping during their menstrual cycle. 

“It felt really great to know that what we are working on is super important not only to us, but others who recognize its importance,” Overmyer said. 

Shaun Tanaka, a business administration and interdisciplinary studies senior from Los Angeles, and Dylan DeFazio, a mechanical engineering sophomore from Selinsgrove Pennsylvania, won the third-place prize of $5,000 with their startup, Grip Safe. Grip Safe is developing a patent-pending firearm safety device for AR-15s, which will ensure firearms are secure for storage, legally-compliant transport and safe shoot, all through an interchangeable grip attachment. 

“There were so many qualified teams with amazing innovations, and it was a privilege to place among the top few,” Tanaka said. “It was very rewarding to see our team’s hard work and late nights in the Hatchery come to fruition.” 

iQ was held in-person for the first time since 2019 on April 20. The event included pitches from 12 finalists, updates from past iQ contestants and the event’s banquet and awards ceremony. 

iQ was founded in 2004 by Cal Poly electrical engineering graduates and business leaders Carson Chen, Richard Boberg and Laura Pickering. Since its launch, iQ participants have received more than $400,000 in funding and helped launch several successful businesses. 

“iQ was a reminder of just how diverse our polytechnic campus is,” said professor of innovation and entrepreneurship Tom Katona, who coordinated iQ. “We saw student innovations in food products, software, hardware, and services that truly represented the unique and varied culture and disciplines found on our campus.” 

In addition to the three winners, the 2022 finalists included: 

Apogee Tech, a spacecraft assembly documentation system with automatic configuration tracking features created by aerospace engineering senior Jered Bell and electrical engineering junior Mark Wu. 

Armadillo Designs, an aftermarket truck accessories company designing a customizable shell for the bed of a pickup truck, founded by manufacturing engineering senior Sam Hunt and recent business administration alumnus Fabian Araujo. 

Better Berry, a startup using technology that reduces the amount of water, waste, transportation and labor needed to grow strawberries to provide high-quality, locally-grown berries to communities that do not have adequate climates for farming. The startup was founded by business administration senior Corrine Cooper and mechanical engineering seniors Brandon Janney and Shalin Gogri. 

Forever Fresh, a startup building tools to standardize quality assessment and reduce waste in the produce supply chain, created by liberal arts and engineering senior Avi Peltz and computer science major Nate Holland. 

Home Greens, a startup delivering healthy greens directly to consumers’ homes or businesses, founded by public health major Ethan Tse and accounting sophomore Javier Emmanuel Rivera-Romo. 

HydroScoops, an ice cream product infused with electrolytes to create a fun method of hydration, created by agriculture science senior Kiara Benavides, agribusiness major Cameron Kemper and agribusiness juniors Andrew Arroyo and Shelby Daniele. 

OdinXR, a startup developing a virtual-reality (VR) landscape where students with disabilities can remotely perform engineering labs, created by electrical engineering seniors Tessa Luzuriaga and Ruben Curiel, business administration senior Ryan Gudmunds, computer engineering senior Christian Bloemhof, electrical engineering student Kyle Reis and computer science student Russell Siu. 

Polypie, an Artificial Intelligence as a Service (AI SaaS) platform helping businesses implement contextual chatbots and create personalized user experiences at scale, created by Cal Poly Master’s of Business Administration and Master’s of Science in Computer Science graduate Jenny Wang and computer science junior Micha Wibowo.  

Ponderose Design, a startup pioneering the intersection of design and 3D-printing to provide elegant and sustainable lighting, founded by Master’s of Science in Packaging Value Chain students Nate Pratt and Peter Moe-Lange, industrial technology and packaging major Puneet Mahesha and recent environmental horticulture graduate Eden Breazeale. 

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About the Cal Poly Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship: 

The CIE opens a world of entrepreneurial opportunities to Cal Poly students, faculty and community members and promotes entrepreneurial activity and dialogue across the university and throughout San Luis Obispo. For more information, visit https://calpolycie.wpengine.com/.  

About the SLO HotHouse: 

The HotHouse is a community space for Cal Poly for Center and Innovation Entrepreneurship off-campus programs created through the efforts of Cal Poly, the city and county of San Luis Obispo, the business community and the CIE. The goal of the HotHouse is to support students and community members as they work to create new innovations and start business ventures. For more information, visit https://calpolycie.wpengine.com/hothouse.  

Former CIE Incubator company Gamerspeak was acquired by game developer Netmarble F&C Inc.

San Luis Obispo, CA — Former Cal Poly Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) startup Gamerspeak was acquired by online gaming company Netmarble F&C Inc. in December of 2021. Gamerspeak, founded in 2015, delivers actionable insights and recommendations from superusers to gaming companies.

The California-based startup joined the CIE Incubator shortly after it was founded. The Incubator is a two-year CIE program that helps early-stage companies develop into financially stable, high-growth enterprises through tools, training and infrastructure that facilitate smarter, faster growth. Gamerspeak graduated from the program in 2017.

“The first two years of my entrepreneurial journey were incubated in the CIE,” Gamerspeak founder and CEO Chad Kihm said. “After (participating in several CIE programs and competitions) I had $21,000 to bootstrap my business with. Not only that but the CIE provided access to incredible advisors that helped me fine tune GamerSpeak over the years into an attractive acquisition target.”

Netmarble, a Korean-based company, focuses on the publishing and development of mobile games. 

The recent acquisition will increase Gamerspeak’s accessibility to game developers and promises to be a rewarding relationship for both companies and their stakeholders. Several new games are expected to roll out in the first quarter of 2022 as a result of the acquisition. 

“GamerSpeak has made many innovations in the gaming industry, so we are happy to strengthen our bond and excited to continue the wonderful journey with GamerSpeak,” Netmarble CEO Woo Won said.

To learn more about the CIE and services available visit cie.calpoly.edu. 

Media Contact
Liz Fisher
805-756-5171
calpolycie@gmail.com

SAN LUIS OBISPO — A Cal Poly student and one from Allan Hancock College each won $1,000 at the Cal Poly Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) 12th annual Elevator Pitch Competition, a fast-paced, high-energy competition for Cal Poly, Cuesta College and Allan Hancock College entrepreneurs, held recently in the Cal Poly Performing Arts Center.

A third student, also from Cal Poly, received the $500 audience choice award.

Nine finalists, selected from an initial pool of over two dozen applicants, had 90 seconds each to pitch their innovative product, service and startup ideas on Nov. 2. They were evaluated by a panel of judges on four criteria: How well the problem or opportunity was explained; whether the idea was innovative and creative; if the direction was clear; and whether the pitch was persuasive.

Cal Poly’s Surya Venugopal, an industrial engineering senior from Pleasanton, California, won with his pitch for XCredit, a peer-to-peer platform that allows users to cultivate their credit scores by fulfilling their payment requests.

“It’s something I’ve been working really passionately on,” said Venugopal, the startup’s chief operating officer and co-founder. “(Winning the Elevator Pitch Competition) is another step along the way of bringing it into a reality … I’m investing (the $1,000) directly into my company.”

Allan Hancock College’s Ruby Ramirez’s winning pitch was for Home Goodies, an e-commerce platform that allows users to sell home-cooked food — an income source that grew in popularity after Assembly Bill 626 took effect on Jan. 1, 2019, allowing residents to obtain permits to sell food from their home kitchens.

“Winning is a huge confidence boost,” said the Santa Maria native, who plans to use her winnings to further develop her startup. “It means my dreams can come true.”

Cal Poly business administration junior Sara Dada’s startup idea was the top pick of attendees. Dada, from San Ramon, California, pitched Beacon, an app designed to prevent violence on college campuses by centralizing campus safety resources.

“It’s been such an amazing experience networking and connecting with so many people within the Cal Poly and SLO community and getting funding to hopefully start and launch my startup,” said the business administration major in the Marketing Management Area.

Dada and her team are currently working with the Cal Poly CIE Hatchery, an on-campus incubator that helps develop students’s startup ideas. They are developing a prototype of the Beacon app.

Other Elevator Pitch Competition finalists included:

— Fleet, a startup developing solar power docking technology to reduce maintenance and charging costs of Bird scooters, pitched by Cian Amor, a Cal Poly business administration senior.

— Peer Connect, an app supervised and developed by healthcare professionals that allows students to easily access peer listening and counseling programs, pitched by Hugo Balcazar, a high school student also enrolled at Cuesta College.

— Foveo, a digital health platform that allows users to send each other letters that they can access when they need support, pitched by Alyssa Liu, a Cal Poly fifth-year computer and biomedical engineering student, from Concord, California.

— Picasso Learning Academy, a private school focused on relationships and interactions with a strong commitment to innovations and research, pitched by Asael Picasso of Hancock College.

— Extendable Shoe, a startup developing an adjustable children’s shoe to provide greater shoe longevity, pitched by Zander Sheffield, a Cal Poly industrial technology and packaging junior from Austin, Texas.

— Nritya, a digital platform simplifying the process of learning and sharing choreography on a freelance basis, pitched by Anvita Vyas, a Cal Poly business administration sophomore from Dublin, California.

Alexandra Joelson, founder of CIE startup Intego Technology, formerly Intego Sports, from Carlsbad, California, was the forum’s keynote speaker.

The business administration senior, with a concentration in financial management, won the 2019 Elevator Pitch Competition with her proposal for the Cleat Guard, a silicone-like mold that adheres to the bottom of a cleat to prevent the studs on the shoe sole from wearing down. Since that pitch, Intego Technology has pivoted from their original idea; today Joelson and her team are focused on innovating and licensing technology to improve footwear durability and sustainability.

To watch the pitches of the event go to the CIE YouTube channel here.

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About the Cal Poly Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship):

The CIE opens a world of entrepreneurial opportunities to Cal Poly students, faculty and community members and promotes entrepreneurial activity and dialogue across the university and throughout San Luis Obispo. For more information, visit https://calpolycie.wpengine.com/.

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Contact: Stephanie Zombek
805-756-5171; szombek@calpoly.edu

SAN LUIS OBISPO — Two startup companies have completed the incubator program, a Cal Poly Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) program. Both companies plan to continue to grow their ventures in San Luis Obispo County.

The companies graduating from the CIE Incubator program include:

—Armadillo Designs, a company innovating a better storage solution for construction workers and other tradesmen

—Trees, a company developing an app to help guide individuals in new situations through decision-making processes

“Our experience in the incubator program has been nothing but fun, challenging, motivating and opportunistic,” COO and co-founder of Armadillo Designs Fabian Arujo. “It has taught us the principles of providing value, communicating effectively with our audience and being able to hold our own confidently and professionally. We’d like to thank the CIE and SBDC for allowing us to not only grow as a company, but as founders over the past couple years.”

Since its inception in 2010, the CIE has promoted regional economic development. To date, these two companies have created 5 jobs, benefitted from 630 hours of one-on-one consultations, raised $50,000 in angel investment and obtained $249,000 in grants and awards.

The CIE recently added five new startups to the incubator program. They will join seven other ventures that are in their first year of the 24-month incubator program, making a total of 12 startups currently in the incubator program.

—ARTIFEX, a building technologies company creating a spatial detection tool to expedite the as-built drawing process for construction professionals

—For Mom Care, a web-based platform that helps physicians support new moms through their postpartum recovery

—PowerMove, a virtual, gamified fitness platform creating healthy screen time and teaching kids to love exercise

—TractorCloud, an end-to-end heavy machinery diagnostic, management and predictive maintenance cloud platform

—Zoetic Motion, a company gamifying the physical therapy process to improve patient adherence and equip physical therapists with the ability to maximize patient progress

The CIE offers faculty, students and the business community the tools to transform their innovative ideas into viable businesses. By providing quality coaching, professional consulting and connections with industry professionals, the CIE creates an environment in which new businesses can develop and thrive.

The CIE incubator program is open to the business community. Startups interested in applying for the incubator program, should go to https://calpolycie.wpengine.com/launch/incubator.

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About the Cal Poly Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship:

The CIE opens a world of entrepreneurial opportunity to Cal Poly students, faculty and community members, and promotes entrepreneurial activity and dialogue across the university and throughout San Luis Obispo County. For more information, visit https://calpolycie.wpengine.com/.