Photos: Holy Cross Student Entrepreneurs Compete for Funding in Annual 'Shark Tank' Competition

It was a funding frenzy last Thursday as the College of the Holy Cross hosted its sixth annual "Shark Tank" competition, based on the popular television show. Held by the Ciocca Office of Entrepreneurial Studies, students with innovative ideas for goods or services delivered short pitches to a panel of Holy Cross faculty and alumni, hoping for seed or venture funding to get their companies off the ground. The panel, or "sharks," consisted of Daniel Klinghard, professor of political science and director of the J.D. Power Center for Liberal Arts in the World, Stacy Chin '12, Founder and CEO of HydroGlide Coatings, and Tyler Scionti '15, product expert for HubSpot.

After the spirited pitches and a short reception, four awards were presented. By vote of the audience, the People's Choice Award was given to Hawar Haddadi '19 and Michael Lyons '19, who pitched Device Doctors, a go-to-dorm repair service for electronics, receiving $100. Christina Nee '19, who pitched Top Banana, a solution for discarded bananas that never make it to market, was awarded $1,140 in seed funding. The Ignite Fund prize in the amount of $2,500, given to students who seek to "set the world on fire" with solutions to the world’s needs, was awarded to senior Brad Ross '18 for Scopum, an electronic net that covers the goals of sports like lacrosse and hockey to deliver real-time player performance during practice.

The final award, the Venture Fund, was given to both Dillon Carmichael '18 for Redefining Black Masculinity, an online outreach platform addressing and shaping the public perception of black masculinity in America, and Riley Benner ’20 for Phoenix Haberdashery, an enterprise working with refugees living in Worcester to create neckwear and helping them build a new life. Benner and Carmichael each received $5,000 to continue the growth of their businesses and both are using the money to build brand awareness, increase outreach, and increase production.

This year's competition was organized by Ja-Naé Duane, Holy Cross' new entrepreneur-in-residence, a best-selling author and serial entrepreneur. Duane joined the Holy Cross family in fall 2017, and since then has made it her mission to instill a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship across campus, amongst alumni and in the broader community.

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