Future Founders Announces 24 Semi-Finalists for U.Pitch College Elevator Pitch Competition Featuring Shark Tank's Daymond John

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Future Founders

Nov 20, 2015, 10:00 ET

CHICAGO, Nov. 20, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Future Founders, a non-profit organization that believes every youth can become an entrepreneur, today announced the 24 semi-finalists for its 2nd Annual U.Pitch College Elevator Pitch Competition & Showcase.

U.Pitch will bring together the top collegiate entrepreneurs from universities across the country in the ultimate elevator pitch competition. Finalists will compete for a portion of a $10,000 prize pool by pitching to judges including Daymond John, Founder of FUBU, Presidential Ambassador of Global Entrepreneurship and Co-Star of ABC's Shark Tank. The event will take place on Monday, December 7 from 5:00pm – 8:00pm at The Gwen, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Chicago. Tickets can be purchased at: https://futurefoundersupitch2015.eventbrite.com.

U.Pitch is an initiative of the Future Founders Startup program, a dynamic platform to engage, equip and empower collegiate entrepreneurs. The program is funded by Capital One, The Coleman Foundation, The John E. & Jeanne T. Hughes Foundation, Motorola Solutions Foundation, and Accenture.

The competition will include two rounds: a semi-finals round of 24 pitches and a finals round of the top six pitches. During the finals, students will have 90 seconds to pitch their business ideas live plus field questions from our distinguished judges:

  • Shradha Agarwal, Co-Founder & President, ContextMedia
  • Brian Alink, Chief Operating Officer - Card Partnerships, Capital One
  • Daymond John, Founder of FUBU, Presidential Ambassador of Global Entrepreneurship and Co-Star of ABC's Shark Tank
  • Emerson Spartz, CEO, Spartz
  • Desiree Vargas Wrigley, Founder, GiveForward
  • Kevin Willer, Partner, Chicago Ventures
  • Daniel Yu, Founder & CEO, Reliefwatch and 2014 U.Pitch Winner

Christian Farr, Reporter, NBC 5 News Chicago will emcee the event.

At this point, we'd like to announce and congratulate our 2015 U.Pitch Semi-Finalists:

Semi-finalists, listed in alphabetical order by the entrant's last name, include business ideas from arts to tech and everything in between.

  • Ahren Alexander, Audiovert, Northwestern University
  • Sheldon Barrett, Cocovana, University of Florida
  • Aaron Brown, Lumia, Illinois Institute of Technology
  • Joshua Doering, Seedslide, Morningside College
  • Jonathan Eimer, Gamer Gel, University of Tennessee at Knoxville
  • Daniel Floyd, SpeechMasterPro, Western Michigan University
  • Brandon Frisch, SpeakEazy, Illinois State University
  • Andrew Glantz, FoodShare, Washington University in St. Louis
  • Maria Gonzalez, GPS Campus, University of Illinois at Chicago
  • Michael Johannsen, BarTap, Illinois Institute of Technology
  • David Kirby, ChairDrop , University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  • Elvis Komskis, Scholarfunder, University of Illinois at Chicago
  • Ben Le Cam, Qopo, St. Olaf College
  • Sam Lukach, HUK TV Mounts, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
  • Kaeya Majmundar, Bullies Brand, Emory University
  • Joshua Moskow, Concert Trader, Washington University in St. Louis
  • Ahmad Qazi, TOTEM, Regis University
  • Thomas Reese, FlipWord, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  • Sunny Shah, EcoEats, Illinois Institute of Technology
  • Callie Spiros, Kali Zoe, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
  • Jack Sutherland, NuGrad.io, Illinois State University
  • Tyler Turk, Date in a Crate, California State University, Fresno
  • Justin Valentin, Smaller EpiPens, University of Illinois at Chicago
  • Tom Ziolkowski, Chapter Companion, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater

In addition to the pitches, the semi-finalists will showcase their business ideas in an expo-style format.

Join us on December 7 for this special event. Register at: https://futurefoundersupitch2015.eventbrite.com.

Future Founders is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that believes every youth can become an entrepreneur. We immerse youth in experiences that inspire and empower them to create their own opportunity. We believe this leads to a generation more determined, hopeful and equipped as they engage the future. Since 2005, our programs have served over 30,000 youth. Join us as we empower the next generation of business leaders and entrepreneurs.

Media Contact: Scott Issen, 1-312-350-0334, [email protected]

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