Pitch Competition Celebrates and Funds New CU Boulder Ventures Founded by Women

The New Venture Challenge (NVC) and Deming Center for Entrepreneurship teamed up to present the NVC Women Founders competition, awarding $10,000 to groundbreaking new ventures.

At the NVC Women Founders Competition, new ventures from CU Boulder students, faculty and staff that were founded by women presented on a range of ideas, from how restaurants can handle food waste in food preparation, to a new mental health support app already serving communities in Mexico. 

Now in its 17th year, NVC—a signature program of the Innovation & Entrepreneurship Initiative—is CU Boulder’s top, cross-campus entrepreneurial program and competition, giving innovators the chance to build a startup with ongoing support and mentorship. In a first, NVC partnered with the Deming Center for Entrepreneurship to present the annual specialty competition for women founders. 

“Our mission is to develop entrepreneurial thinkers and leaders who create lasting economic and social value for themselves and the world,” said Betsy Klein, program manager at the Deming Center. “By providing opportunities like the NVC Women Founders Competition, we hope to empower even more CU women to redefine and take control of their future through entrepreneurship.”

The 2024 New Venture Challenge culminates at the Boulder Theater on April 17, where $160,000 in prizes will be awarded at the NVC Final Showcase. Learn more and get free tickets at colorado.edu/nvc/final-showcase.

2024 NVC Women Founders Finalists and Winners

SuviCa - $5,000 Prize

Presenter: Tin Tin Su (College of Arts and Sciences Molecular Cellular & Developmental Biology)

SuviCa, Inc. is an oncology drug discovery and development company. We create therapeutic opportunities for hard-to-treat cancers by leveraging our deep knowledge of tumor growth and regeneration.

FoodWise - $3,000 Prize

Presenting Team: Emma Bonerb, Hashirr Lukmahn, Byron Patten, Jennifer Bundrant (all Leeds School of Business)

Minimize waste, maximize sales, FoodWise is a software platform that helps restaurants predict food demand in real time through factors like weather, historical sales, and other external factors to save restaurants money while reducing waste.

PrecisionTerra - $2,000 Prize

Presenter: Maithreyi Gopalakrishnan (Venture Partners at CU Boulder, College of Arts and Sciences Physics ‘16)

PrecisionTerra's software-defined GPS receiver, developed with patent-pending technology created in a renowned CU Boulder Aerospace Engineering research lab, improves GPS signal tracking in challenging environments like large cities.

Affix - Finalist

Presenting Team: Jamie Saunders, Ben Asser, Dan Collins (Leeds School of Business, University of Colorado Law School)

Affix is a creative, affordable housing solutions company. Affix designs and builds communities that change the way that we invest in real estate.

Mindsurf - Finalist

Presenting Team: Lissette Reynoso, Valentin Gutierrez, Marisha Parikh (Leeds School of Business, University of Colorado Law School, CU Boulder College of Engineering)

Mindsurf is an application for mobile devices powered by AI that uses years of scientific knowledge in psychology to help detect and treat mental health issues such as anxiety, stress and depression.