2021 Babson Entrepreneurial Thought & Action® Challenge Winners Announced

WELLESLEY, Mass., April 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Babson College, the global leader in entrepreneurship education, today announced the winners of this year's Babson Entrepreneurial Thought & Action^® (B.E.T.A.) Challenge business competition. Now in its tenth year, the B.E.T.A Challenge recognizes the progress and potential of Babson ventures as students and alumni take action to solve problems, build their businesses, and create economic and social value.

The winners of the 2021 challenge are Michael Freyer MS'16 for oveRNight RN, an app that improves access to transportation and specialized nursing care after day surgery; Aakash Shah MBA'21 for High Time Foods, which is developing sustainable, plant-based alternatives to meat products; and Aria Mustary '21 for Mai Soli Foundation, which seeks to break the cycle of gender inequality in Bangladesh by empowering young girls via financial-independence training, resources, and mentorship.

"It's an honor to recognize the winners of this year's B.E.T.A. Challenge and bolster their growing ventures," said Donna Levin, Chief Executive Officer at the Arthur M. Blank School for Entrepreneurial Leadership. "We were so impressed and inspired by the accomplishments of these ventures to this point and look forward to supporting them as a Babson community in tackling these complex and global issues."

Presented by The Arthur M. Blank Center for Entrepreneurship, the annual B.E.T.A. Challenge business competition is a significant experience for many Babson alumni, graduate student, and undergraduate student entrepreneurs putting their entrepreneurial leadership skills to the test. In the finale event, competitors pitched their ventures live to a panel of esteemed judges to compete for more than $250,000 in cash and in-kind prizes. The 2021 finalists and semifinalists can be found here.

The Blank Center also announced the winners of the sidecar prizes. Finalist Sara Ferrer '08, CEO and founder of Zoey Koko, was named the winner of the High Impact Female Founder award. Finalist Jayson Sterba MBA'21 and Digital Patient XP received the Health Innovation Award. Semifinalist Akhil Nair MBA'18 and Xena Intelligence received the Tech Innovation Award.

This year's B.E.T.A. Challenge contestants represent a diverse portfolio of candidates, all focused on addressing critical problems. By supporting student and alumni led ventures through experiential programs including the B.E.T.A. Challenge and accelerator programs, Babson College is demonstrating its commitment to developing entrepreneurs of all kinds to make an even bigger impact on the world.

Today's B.E.T.A. Challenge winner announcement marks the final day of Babson Connect: Worldwide 2021 (BCW), the world's premiere entrepreneurial summit, which this year took place virtually in five regions over five days. BCW annually offers students, alumni, and entrepreneurs an unparalleled opportunity for engagement with the Babson College community and global network.

For more information about oveRNight RN, please visit the website: https://www.overnightrn.com/

For more information about High Time Foods, please visit the website: https://www.hightimefoods.com/

For more information about Mai Soli Foundation, please visit the website: https://www.maisolifoundation.org/  

To learn more about Babson's B.E.T.A. Challenge, please visit the website HERE.

About Babson College
Babson College is the educator, convener, and thought leader of Entrepreneurship of All Kinds^®. The top-ranked college for entrepreneurship education, Babson is a dynamic living and learning laboratory where students, faculty, and staff work together to address the real-world problems of business and society. We prepare the entrepreneurial leaders our world needs most: those with strong functional knowledge and the skills and vision to navigate change, accommodate ambiguity, surmount complexity, and motivate teams in a common purpose to make a difference in the world, and have an impact on organizations of all sizes and types. As we have for nearly a half-century, Babson continues to advance Entrepreneurial Thought & Action^® as the most positive force on the planet for generating sustainable economic and social value.

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