SAN LUIS OBISPO — Cal Poly Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship’s (CIE) Incubator startup Everest Medical Solutions won the $5,000 award in the “3 Minutes 2 Win It” pitch competition at the Central Coast Economic Forecast (CCEF), held on Nov. 7 at the Madonna Inn.

The annual event brings together regional leaders, industry experts, policymakers and innovators to discuss the economic outlook for San Luis Obispo County and the broader Central Coast region, and is widely considered one of the region’s most influential events. This year’s program featured keynote insights from Dr. Chris Thornberg of Beacon Economics, presentations from REACH highlighting regional aerospace and workforce development initiatives and pitches from three emerging startups supported by the CIE and the Cal Poly Small Business Development Center (SBDC).

CIE SBDC Economic Development Director Donica Forensich presented an update on the impact of the CIE and SBDC programs, noting that in the last ten months the SBDC has assisted over 400 companies, provided more than 2,700 hours of consulting, supported the creation of 150 local jobs and helped clients secure over $54 million in capital funding.

She then introduced the three Incubator startups selected to pitch: Everest Medical Solutions, ODIN Diagnostics and SafePlate Technologies. All three teams shared innovative products addressing critical challenges in healthcare, diagnostics and food safety.

ODIN Diagnostics founder Connor Heffler delivers the team’s pitch on their eye-tracking concussion assessment technology, designed to improve athlete safety through reliable, objective diagnostics.

ODIN Diagnostics is revolutionizing concussion diagnostics with an objective and reliable eye-tracking solution, reducing the risk of successive concussions and enhancing athlete safety, created by Connor Heffler (Economics, ’24) of  San Diego and biomedical engineering graduate student Marina Zellers of Lompoc, California.

SafePlate Technologies co-founders Avery Taylor (left) and Mitchell Dann (right) presented their portable, rapid food safety testing solution, which brings lab-grade precision to on-site food manufacturing environments.

SafePlate Technologies is redefining food safety by offering food manufacturers portable, rapid and easy-to use testing solutions with quality only traditionally offered by lab grade devices, created by Mitchell Dann (Mechanical Engineering, ’24) of Torrance, California; Nahal Sadeghian (Mechanical Engineering, ’24) of Folsom, California; and electrical engineering masters student Avery Taylor of Orangevale, California.

Everest Medical Solutions’ winning pitch focused on their shoulder dystocia treatment device, a tool designed to support safer births by offering providers a standardized and effective way to manage shoulder dystocia emergencies. The company’s mission is to provide obstetricians and midwives with a reliable, accessible and single-use device that improves outcomes for both patients and care teams. The startup was created by Jenna Eissman (M.S. Engineering Management, ’25) of Reno, Nevada, and Madeleine Mumford (M.S. Biomedical Engineering, ’25) of Snoqualmie, Washington.

“CCEF was an amazing experience,” said Eissman. “The conference was really helpful for us because not only did it give us the financial means to make more progress, but it also opened us up to connections within the community that we can leverage to use that money to the best of our ability and get feedback from physicians.”

The team has already begun using their prize money to advance development of their device.  “We came back to the office and immediately started buying prototyping materials, which is going to really help us nail down a model that we’re making for our testing. This is instrumental in the next step of our development,” said Mumford.

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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 cie.calpoly.edu.

About the Cal Poly Small Business Development Center:

The Cal Poly CIE Small Business Development Center (SBDC) provides high-quality complimentary business assistance to start-ups and established companies. They help entrepreneurs launch companies, create and retain jobs and attract capital investment. For more information, visit sbdc.calpoly.edu.