Prizes & Judges
This year’s competition provides more than $100,000 in cash and prizes, including a $25,000 cash prize as well as a Draper University Scholarship for the Grand Prize winner.
2023 Prizes
Grand Prize Winner, $25,000: DelivHer FemCare (Georgia State University)
2nd Place, $20,000: Aer Cosmetics (Drexel University)
3rd Place, $15,000: FullFlock (University of Pennsylvania)
Honorable Mention, $10,000: Chichi Foods (Washington University at St. Louis)
Finalists, $5,000 each:
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EthoSphere (Cornell University)
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GreenIRR (Fairfield University)
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ScentCare (Johns Hopkins University)
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Shezza (San Diego State University)
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Unsmudgeable (Babson College)
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WISE Cities (University of Maryland)
2023 Judges
We greatly appreciate the 2023 judges for volunteering their time and support.
Name | Title |
Company |
|
Ed Ackerley | Faculty |
University of Arizona |
|
Donielle Albrecht | Director |
The Mill School |
|
Andrea Auerbach| Global Head of Private Investments |
Cambridge Associates |
|
Jessie Banhazl | Mentor |
Maine Center for Entrepreneurs |
|
Melissa Chenok | Product Leader |
Lattice |
|
May Cowan | Founder & Principal |
Collaboratory Consulting Group |
|
Kristen Craft | Director of Startup Banking |
Silicon Valley Bank |
|
Doris Deng | Product Manager |
Microsoft |
|
Paulina Do | Life Scientist |
Environmental Protection Agency |
|
Melissa Parker Draper |
Draper Competition |
|
Tim Draper |
Draper Associates/DFJ/Draper University |
|
Allie Felix | VP of Platform |
Embarc Collective |
|
Carly Forcade | Program Manager |
Techstars Anywhere |
|
Tara Fosbre | VP & Head of Innovation of Programs and Capabilities |
Guardian Life Insurance |
|
Missy Godfrey | CEO and Principal |
M3 Strategic Advisory |
|
Celeste Gudas | Chairwoman |
24Seven |
|
Jennifer Haggerty | Chief Operating Officer |
|
|
Wendy Hudson | Owner |
Nantucket Book Partners |
|
Lisa Indovino | VP, Partners & Channels |
Apptio |
|
Prajakta Jagtap | Mentor |
Techstars Boston Accelerator & Startup India Hub |
|
Natalie Joseph | Director Multicultural & Identity Programs |
Babson College |
|
Stephanie Kaplan Lewis | Co-founder & CEO |
Her Campus Media |
|
Louise Kennedy | Founding Attorney |
West Hill Technology Counsel |
|
Rebecca Legare | VP, Regulatory & Quality |
Sapphiros, Inc. |
|
Kristin Leutz | Founder |
Petra Impact Partners |
|
Brenda Lewis | Founder and Principal |
Transactions Marketing, Inc. |
|
Ashley Lucas | Executive Director |
Accelerate, Wentworth Institute of Technology |
|
Julian Lustig-Gonzalez | Co-Founder/COO |
Amherst Intelligent Security |
|
Carrie McIndoe | President |
Strategic Capital Resources, Inc. |
|
Dee Dee Mendoza | Senior Director of the West Region |
Obama Foundation |
|
Andrea Naddaff | Founder |
AMN Brand |
|
Ulas Neftci | Faculty and SBDC Director |
Baruch College |
|
Rafael Obando | GTM Partnerships lead for East Coast and LATAM |
HubSpot |
|
Jane Park |
Fundraiser |
|
Kate Putnam | Managing Director |
Golden Seeds |
|
Mark Quinn | Director & Conrad N. Hilton Endowed Chair in Entrepreneurship |
Xavier University Entrepreneurship Institute |
|
Anne Richie | Managing Director |
The Mezzanine Fund |
|
Liz Roberts | Head of Impact Investing; Investment Management |
MassMutual |
|
Caroline Robertson | Retired, VP and Research Director |
Forrester Research |
|
Danielle Santos | Director of Strategic Learning and Impact |
University Innovation Alliance |
|
Vivian Sayward | Founder |
Vivacity Advantage Inc |
|
Neha Shah | CEO and Founder |
Kutumb Village |
|
S. Mona Sinha Global Executive Director |
Equality Now |
|
Abigail Slater | Director |
Barlow Lane Holdings Limited |
|
Philip Steckler | Volunteer Mentor and Vice President |
Score and Country Business, Inc. |
|
Sheryl Thomas | Attorney |
JCL Immigration Attorneys, PLLC |
|
Carolyn Thomas | Principal |
Verivis Consulting |
|
Qxhna Titcomb | Business Development - Universities |
Amazon Web Services |
|
Nirupa Umapathy | Founder |
Salons for Life LLC |
|
Amanda Wallis | Region Head |
Retired from Bank of America |
|
Kenny Ward Jr | Division Director of Business and CIS |
Trenholm State Community College |
|
Shaun Wilde | VP, Brands and Communications |
Argano |
|
Dawanna Williams | Managing Principal |
Dabar Development Partners |
|
Ann Witsil | Founder and President |
Catalyst Strategies |
|
Jennifer Wood | Biomedical Engineer |
self |
|
Arlene Wszalek | Executive Vice President of Strategy & Innovation |
Allied Global Marketing |
|
Naina Zaman | Associate |
Sands Capital |
|
Gail Zauder | Managing Director |
Elixir Advisors |
2022 DRAPER COMPETITION WINNERS
Grand Prize: $25,000 + scholarship to Draper University Heroes Training
Inferno Guard (Johns Hopkins University)
2nd Place: $20,000 + scholarship to Draper University Heroes Training
- Kai Pono Solutions (San Diego State University)
- Ritual Glaze Co. (Smith College)
- ThermOptik (Johns Hopkins University)
Special Recognition: $2,000
- ClosetSwitch (Washingto University in St. Louis)
- Kairos Music (Babson College)
Finalists: $1,500
- Bene Lares (Western New England University)
- Cue the Curves (Northwestern University)
- Sotira (University of California, Berkeley)
- Yakha (Bryn Mawr College)
Keep it Goin': $1,000
- Bed Wheelchair for Immobile Patients (Johns Hopkins University)
- CA' Buddy (Davidson College)
- EthosSphere (Cornell University)
- Lolwe Textiles (Augustana University)
- Lucrativity (Smith College)
Fan Favorite: $1,000
ThermOptik (Johns Hopkins University)
*Prizes and amounts solely determined by Competition Judges
2021 DRAPER COMPETITION WINNERS
For the first time in competition history, we have TWO Grand Prize Winners
Grand Prize:
- Sani (NC State University)
- SkyPaws (Texas A&M)
Track Winner:
- Diotex (John Hopkins University)
- Hydrophos Solutions (University of New Hampshire)
Track Runners Up:
- Bantu (Vanderbuilt University)
- Bridg Career (University of Southern California)
- Hearing Glasses (Minnesota State University)
- Vaila (Fayetteville State University)
Honorable Mentions:
- Campus Can Crushers (University of Idaho)
- EZ Stride (Western New England University)
- Innovating Environmental Health (Babson College)
- nisa EFFECT (University of Houston)
- Schoolhouse Simulations (University of Idaho)
- Swally (Stetson University)
Pitch Track Winner:
Martha's Passions (Landmark College)
Pitch Track Runner Up:
The Movement (Xavier University of Louisiana)
Pitch Track Honorable Mentions:
- Kai Pono Solutions (San Diego State University)
- Microbe Blaster (UMass-Amherst)
- UltraMatria (Eastern Washington University)
All finalists were granted scholarships to Draper University.
2020 DRAPER COMPETITION WINNERS
Grand Prize Winner - $25,000
Intimately.co Emma Butler '20, Brown University
Track Winners - $10,000
- Just Drive, Southern Methodist University
- Ndriana Agro LLC, Skidmore College
Track Winner Ties - $7,500
- Block, Smith College
- Em Pads, Oklahoma State University
- Solupal, University of St. Thomas
- Spara, Smith College
Track Runners up - $5,000
- Eliza, Smith College
- Lilac Feminine Care, Texas Christian University
- ReBokeh, Bucknell University
Honorable Mentions - $1,500
- BioFuture, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
- Exit 42 Media, Hobart and William Smith College
- KISA, Smith College
- Qubit, Cornell University
- Sani, North Carolina State University
Fan Favorite - $1,000
Just Drive, Southern Methodist University
2019 DRAPER COMPETITION WINNERS
Grand Prize Winner - $25,000
Locker Lifestyle - Product Track #1
Katarina Samardzija '19, Grand Valley State University
Additional prizes: $10,000 scholarship to Draper University plus 2-day, all expenses paid trip to Tampa, FL for 2 sponsored by Embarc Collective and in-kind prizes from Hubspot for Startups, IndieDoGood and Shoobx
Track Winners - $10,000
- KnoNap, Danya Sherman '19, George Washington University
- Early Intervention Systems, Nathalya Ramirez '19, George Washington University
- Tongo Wata, Hawa Tarawally AC'21, Smith College
- LOU, Rachel Pardue '19, Babson College
Each of these teams will also receive a $5,000 scholarship to Draper University, and in-kind prizes from Hubspot for Startups, IndieDoGood and Shoobx
Runner's Up - $5,000
- AZUZA Beverage (Cal State Polytechnic)
- PainterPrinter (Hampshire College)
- Afra Cafe (Smith College)
- Strides (Oklahoma State University)
- Prolitfic (University of Texas, Austin)
Each of these teams will also receive a $2,000 scholarship to Draper University
Honorable Mentions - $1,500
- Raspberry Farm (Illinois Institute of Tech)
- Neurochi Meditation (University of Idaho)
- Spark (Smith College)
- Informer (University of Oregon)
- VELV (University of New Hampshire)
Fan Favorites - $500
- Machai (Smith College)
- Tress It Up (Smith College)
- CulFood (Mount Holyoke College)
- Tongo Wata (Smith College)
- UniSell (Smith College)
Special Prizes
- Western Mass Innovation Jam Prize ($500): Blink Tek (Western New England University)
- Conway Center 5College Prize - 1st Place ($1,000): Let's Talk About It (UMass Amherst)
- Conway Center 5College Prize - 2nd Place ($750): Willow Denim (Mount Holyoke College)
- Conway Center 5College Prize - 3rd Place ($500): MassBoard (UMass Amherst)
2018 DRAPER COMPETITION WINNERS
First Place: $20,000 + $10,000 scholarship to Draper University
Busy Beauty: Jamie Steenbakkers '18 and Michael Leahy '18, Babson College
Second Place: $15,000 + scholarship to Draper University
The Forever Shower: Maria Horta Vorse '18, Alex Boatman '19 and Edward Hall '19, University of Idaho
Third Place: $10,000 + scholarship to Draper University
ReBike: Anmei Zhi '20, Nouhaila Norredine '20 and Elaona Lemoto '20, Smith College
2018 Finalist Team Leaders: $1,000
- Alz You Need, Leda Rosenthal '18 (Colgate University)
- Fida, Zoleka Mosiah '19 (Smith College)
- HF Magnet, Samatha Farley '18 (West Virginia University)
- Spin, Oumayma Koulouh '19 (Smith College)
- Survival of the Fitted, Rachel Laflamme '20 (Smith College)
- Therapalz, Fiona Kalensky '18 (University of Illinois)
- Zapp Technology, Giovanna Jimenez '18 (University of Houston)
Fan Favorite: $1,000
The Lunch Buddy: Hannah Kelsey '20, Vivian Nelson '20, Haley Markos '20 and Frances Duncan '20, Smith College
Best App: $1,000
Hurdit: Brianna Moore '18 and Leigh Miller '18 (not pictured), Smith College
Conway Center Five College Prizes
First Place: $1,000
Duo Display: Kate Meacham '20 (Mount Holyoke College), Alessandra Massa '19 (Mount Holyoke College, not pictured) and Bryce Paquette '18 (Western New England University)
Second Place: $750
Anchor: Romina Gupta '20 (Mount Holyoke College) and Abhinav Karthikeyan '20 (Boston College, not pictured)
Third Place: $500
Painter Printer: Darleane Torres '21 (Hampshire College) and Joseph Mendoza '21 (Clarkson University)
2017 DRAPER COMPETITION WINNERS
First Place: $10,000 + $10,000 scholarship to Draper University
ImmunoGo, Emily Morris '19 (Smith College)
Second Place: $7,500 + $7,500 scholarship to Draper University
The Ekari Book Series, Pricilla Semphere '18 (Smith College)
Third Place (tied): $2,500 + $2,500 scholarship to Draper University
Sugaway, Danya Abutaleb '19 (University of Virginia)
Vescenece, Kiran Meghani '17 & Arsheen Menon '17 (University of Houston)
2017 Finalist Team Leaders: $500
- Ask Betti, Natasha Jadavji '17 (Smith College)
- BuddyRides, Lisa Feiden '18 (Smith College)
- MedAhead, Vivian Wang '19 (Smith College)
- Noted, Nicolette Ocasio '19 (Cornell University)
- ReBike, Nouhaila Norredine '20 (Smith College)
- Resound, Lynn Luong '19 (Hofstra University)
Fan Favorite:
Sanitary Solutions, Sarah Price '18 & Katie Christensen '19 (Smith College)
Best App:
ReBike, Nouhaila Norredine '20, Elaona Lemoto '20 & Amnei Zhi '20 (Smith College)
Conway Center Five College Prizes:
First Prize:
Tiwale, Ellen Chilemba (Mount Holyoke)
Second Prize:
Travel Unicorn, Carly Forcade (Mount Holyoke) & MejiH2O, Rebecca Onyango (Mount Holyoke)
Third Prize:
We've Met, Molly Palmer (UMass - Amherst)
House Prizes:
Tenney House - 72% of house members present; Park House - Most Attendees