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Innovation Challenge gives competitors a chance to win big

  • April 12, 2021

Regis University’s competition brings community together virtually; first prize is $10,000 

 

Regis University’s fourth Innovation Challenge concludes at 7 p.m., Friday, April 16, online and at the University’s Northwest Denver Campus.

Four teams – of undergraduate and graduate students as well as a Regis alumnus – will compete for start-up funds and work space in the University’s Innovation Center. Prizes of $10,000, $5,000 and two $1,000 prizes will be awarded to the top competitors.

The event, which is free and open to the public, will be streamed live. Audience members will help decide the winners.

“Ideally, entrepreneurship should be a community sport.  The goal of the Innovation Challenge is to harness the campus’ entrepreneurial mindset and help students start and run their businesses by providing them with mentors and introducing them into an ecosystem of support,” said Ken Sagendorf, director of the Innovation Center at Regis University’s Anderson College of Business and Computing.  

A semifinals competition was hosted in November to determine the top teams. These startup businesses represent the landscaping, business, crafting and marketing industries. 

The Innovation Challenge will pit the top four teams against one another in a Shark Tank-style competition where business ideas are pitched to a panel of judges. Ideas will be judged on desirability, feasibility, viability and presentation.  

The Innovation Challenge finalists include: 

  • Solstice Sown Designs, which designs landscapes and helps clients understand their place in the regional ecosystem;
  • Ledgerology, a dashboard for businesses to track daily sales, build reports and see business trends;
  • Crafter Crates, which creates and mails crates with materials for professional-looking crafts; and
  • CM Innovations, a marketing company specializing in eCommerce and online presence management.

For more about the finalists and to watch the competition live, visit the Innovation Challenge website.

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About Regis University

Established in 1877, Regis University is a premier, globally engaged institution of higher learning in the Jesuit tradition that prepares leaders to live productive lives of faith, meaning and service. Regis University, one of 27 Jesuit universities in the nation, has three campus locations in the Denver metro area and extensive online program offerings with more than 8,000 enrolled students.