Association of Independent Colleges & Universities of Ohio

On Saturday, our first-ever U.S. Entrepreneurship Competition awarded $450,000 to some amazing teams who are reshaping industries from tech to music! Six teams gathered at the Ohio Statehouse to learn who had placed first, second, and third in their competition categories. “These college and professional teams absolutely exemplify all the grit and perseverance and can-do attitude that you need to be successful entrepreneurs,” vandenBerg said. “Every team who is here is going to earn a significant prize package: either $100,000, or $75,000, or $50,000. So no matter what happens, each one of you is a winner today.” Congrats to our top winners: 🏆 WaterWise Technologies 🏆 SearchOwl WaterWise Technologies earned first place in the professional track. The Columbus, Ohio, startup is developing an aquatic drone, or unmanned surface vehicle (USV), to target pathogens, algae, and toxins in freshwater ecosystems without using potentially harmful chemicals. It seeks to integrate real-time water monitoring, contamination prevention, and treatment into a single device. SearchOwl earned first place in the college student category. Founded by five Case Western Reserve University students, SearchOwl seeks to improve the online shopping experience with an ad-free algorithm that learns user preferences over time and suggests appropriate products to explore. Currently, the students are using skincare products to help them build “a better shopping paradigm.” Both winning teams earned investment packages valued at $100,000 in addition to office space and mentorship at the Delaware Entrepreneurial Center . The second- and third-place finishers received investment packages worth $75,000, and $50,000, respectively.