On Tuesday, April 26th in Sibley Auditorium, three teams presented their start-up ideas at the Delta Prize Finals. The purpose of the Delta Prize is to accelerate the growth of early-stage ventures that have a minimum viable product and some measurable validation with the singular goal of preparing new ventures to be investor-ready.
The evening started off with Eugene Noh, New Ventures Manager, interviewing Rick Ling, former Delta Prize Finalist. Rick discussed his journey through the start-up environment. Rick mentioned that he participated in not only the Delta Prize, but also in Free Ventures and Y Combinator. His advice to the crowd was “to build a product you can use yourself.” His company, Instant Esports, easily displays news, scores, and schedules from the most popular competitive gaming leagues around the world. Over the year, Instant Esports has been featured on TechCrunch and they have been able to develop a strong platform on the iOS App Store.
Next, Eugene introduced the Delta Prize Finalists to present their ideas and progress. For the last 2.5-months, these teams have been in a mentoring program that includes workspace, access to a broad network of advisors, and a vibrant community of entrepreneurs. Additional resources they have used include Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform, legal office hours by WilmerHale, LLP, and specialized workshops for startup founders.
First place was presented to Caseforge. Caseforge strives for improved research and patient outcomes by eliminating motion during MRIs and guaranteeing placement consistency across treatment settings during radiotherapy in a comfortable, fast, and simple way. They achieve these goals with a patented case that is customized to precisely fit individuals and machines at negligible cost and with minimal process disruption. Caseforge charmed the crowd with a demonstration of their 3D printed case.
The other finalists included ChemiSense and Choice. ChemiSense develops advanced air quality monitors that provide actionable insights on all the major components that make up air pollution. They were able to create this solution for the first time by developing a sensor array which leverages our own proprietary technology. By treating all of the sensors as connected devices, they provide real-time insight, information, and analytics to the commercial health space. Choice is a digital marketing marketplace to connect companies with freelancers for their search, content and growth marketing efforts. They algorithmically match companies with elite digital marketers with the relevant skills.
Congratulations to all the teams that participated in Delta Prize!
