The Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute at the University of Utah announced the finalist teams in the 2024 Utah Entrepreneur Challenge this week. The student startup teams advance to the final round of this business-model competition for college students across the state.
Teams are competing for over $100,000 in cash and prizes, including a $30,000 grand prize. The winners will be announced on Saturday, March 23, at a public showcase and awards ceremony at the University of Utah.
“These are the best student entrepreneurs in the state. They all have great ideas, and we look forward to seeing them at the public final event, where everyone is welcome to join us,” said Anne Bastien, program director at the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute. “The public can also get involved by voting online for the people’s choice prize. We welcome you to learn more about these remarkable startups and students.”
The competition is managed by the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute, a top-10 ranked division of the David Eccles School of Business at the University of Utah, and sponsored by Zions Bank.
The finalist teams come from universities across Utah and have a wide variety of products and services. Find a complete list of the finalists with descriptions of their startup companies below. The next step is online video voting, which is open to the public March 7-22. Vote online here.
The public is welcome to attend the Utah Entrepreneur Challenge Showcase & Awards Ceremony on Saturday, March 23, 3:30-5 p.m. at Lassonde Studios on the University of Utah campus. Attend to meet all of the finalist teams and network with people in the Utah startup community. Register to attend here.
Other prizes in the Utah Entrepreneur Challenge include scholarships to enroll in the Master of Business Creation (MBC) at the University of Utah’s David Eccles School of Business. The award-winning program offers personalized mentorship, applied curriculum, generous scholarships and more to help founders grow their companies. Founders can enroll in the program online or in person.
The Lassonde Institute hosts a high school version of this competition called the High School Utah Entrepreneur Challenge. Those teams competed for $30,000 in cash and scholarships earlier this month. Learn about that competition at lassonde.utah.edu/hsuec.
Learn more about the Utah Entrepreneur Challenge at lassonde.utah.edu/uec.
Utah Entrepreneur Challenge 2024 Finalist Teams
- Alchemy Herbal Tea (Salt Lake Community College) – Where ancient herbal wisdom meets modern innovation to create a transformative tea experience.
- Bigman Outdoors Seasonings (Snow College) – Seasonings to help make wild game more appealing to the average person.
- Bleeped (Utah State University) – A Google Chrome extension that censors online videos.
- Brokie Studios (Neumont College of Computer Science) – Works with new and improving technologies to develop fun and captivating games that will leave long-lasting memories.
- Conscious! (University of Utah) – A mobile app and Google Chrome extension that gives consumers immediate information on holistic sustainability metrics while also providing vetted low-carbon alternatives for products as consumers shop.
- GeoTechnical Rock Lab (University of Utah) – A technology company specializing in the analysis of rock materials.
- Gourmet Grazing (Salt Lake Community College) – A charcuterie-board catering service, crafting visually stunning and flavorful spreads for all occasions.
- Hannah Camille Events (Weber State University) – High-end silk floral rentals that give couples the look of an expensive and beautiful wedding without high costs.
- Honey Haven (Utah Valley University) – A beekeeping supply company focusing on making beekeeping a more successful and fulfilling hobby for beekeepers.
- Iso Retractor (Ensign College) – A dental retractor with suction slots to efficiently eliminate over 90% of fluid from the oral cavity.
- Minnow (Utah Valley University) – A platform for e-commerce companies that aggregates data from different platforms and provides easy-to-understand metrics about your business.
- Mystery Escape City (Southern Utah University) – An innovative outdoor escape room game with an online platform, where players access clues and puzzles on their phones in real-world locations like parks or college campuses.
- NexHub (Southern Utah University) – A digital marketplace for party games accessible via web browsers on any smart device.
- Noda (Ensign College) – Produces and sells flavored nitrogenated water, a beverage similar to flavored sparkling water, except it’s infused with nitrogen instead of carbon dioxide.
- Powder Baby Dry Shampoo (Brigham Young University) – Healthy and non-aerosol dry shampoo that comes in five colors.
- Red Rock Consulting: NIL Advertisement (Utah Tech) – A consulting and advising business that educates and helps Utah Tech student athletes with name-image-and-likeness deals.
- Spot Parking (Brigham Young University, University of Utah) – Automates and streamlines parking enforcement processes, providing reliable, consistent and fair enforcement of parking policies through machine learning and computer vision.
- Smarter Cattle (Utah Tech) – Cattle-management technology that provides real-time insights into animal health, location and genetics, empowering ranchers to make informed decisions that optimize their operations.
- Stelle (Neumont College of Computer Science) – An AI-powered code teacher and assistant that integrates directly into the user’s development environment and helps with reviewing and debugging code.
- The Port Studio (Snow College) – A brand selling products that inspire connection, hope and a new way of living for young cancer patients and their supporters.
- Velocity Boards (Utah State University) – An electric longboard that is sold online directly to consumers and solves the problems of speed wobble, agility and portability.
About the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute
The Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute is a nationally ranked hub for student entrepreneurship and innovation at the University of Utah and an interdisciplinary division of the David Eccles School of Business. The first programs were offered in 2001, through the vision and support of Pierre Lassonde, an alumnus of the Eccles School and successful mining entrepreneur. The institute now provides opportunities for thousands of students to learn about entrepreneurship and innovation. Programs include workshops, networking events, business-plan competitions, startup support, graduate and alumni programs, scholarships, community outreach and more. All programs are open to students from any academic major or background. The Lassonde Institute also manages Lassonde Studios, a five-story innovation space and housing facility for all students. Learn more at lassonde.utah.edu.
