Over 30 teams of students across the Stillwater campus competed in the Riata Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship's annual Business Plan Competition.

Students across campus compete in annual business plan competition

Thursday, February 1, 2024

Media Contact: Jeff Hopper | Communications Coordinator | 405-744-1050 | jeff.hopper@okstate.edu

More than 50 students representing 33 teams from across the Stillwater campus participated in the Riata Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship's annual Business Plan Competition from Nov. 8 - Jan. 27. The students were competing for over $40,000 in scholarships.

After the initial round of competition, the top 16 teams advanced to compete in the final live presentation round. Students in the finals were asked to create a 2-5 minute executive presentation instead of a 10-page business plan as in previous years. Also new this year was the elevator pitch competition, where students delivered their best 90-second pitch for their business.

“Each year this competition surprises me more and more,” said Paula McCullough, outreach programs coordinator for the Riata Center. “New ideas, new students and new energy, and this competition season was no different. We took some new ideas and put them in place to give students the opportunity to win more scholarship money, but also more chances to talk about their businesses. We are so proud of all the teams that entered the competition this year.”

Winners and business names from the competition. (In each category, the first place team received $4,000, second - $3,000, and third - $2,000. Each additional finalist receive $1,000, and the elevator pitch winner received $500):

Main Street LifeStyles

1st — The 405, Marian Gutierrez — Spears School of Business

2nd — Just Desserts, Kloe Flud — Spears School of Business

3rd — Function Events, Bri Henning — Spears School of Business

High Tech

1st — Burgess Aerospace Innovations, Johnathan Burgess, Roger Tan, Matthew Laster, Chandrika Kompella — College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology

2nd — Inhaler Innovations, Ted Sperry , Emmanuel Yangue, Rashed Islam, Anahita Badkoubeh — College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology

3rd — Samtracs, Ahmad Abdullah, Shelby Sledge — Spears School of Business

Rising Entrepreneur

1st — Piensa Consulting, Dania Crivelli — Spears School of Business

90-second Elevator Pitch

1st — Capt.AI.n - Md Mijanur Rahman, Nicoletta Fala, Niklas Schulmeyer, Luis Alarcon Aneiva.

Brenda Tapia was recognized as the Tourtellotte Scholarship winner and received $3,000. The Richard L. Tourtellotte Family Scholarship is designed to encourage business creation in Oklahoma and the academic study of how governments and the private sector can work together to grow economics and create jobs.

For more information on the Business Plan Competition, click here.