On a chilly December afternoon, 14 business and graphic design students brought the heat in Augsburg鈥檚 signature entrepreneurship challenge.听
At stake? Reputation, impact, connections鈥攁nd $30,000 in cash prizes.
The second annual Augsburg Entrepreneurship Cup鈥攂etter known on campus as the Auggie Cup鈥攅ngaged three teams of students in a 鈥淪hark Tank鈥�-style competition judged by local business leaders. Their challenge was to design and pitch a business and marketing plan for a promising new industrial or medical technology.听
鈥淥ne of our basic tenets at Augsburg is that experiential learning leads to critical thinking skills,鈥� said George Dierberger, the Thomas ’72 and Karen Howe Professor for Entrepreneurship and chair of Augsburg’s business administration and economics department. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what the Auggie Cup is all about.鈥�
Each team of three or four undergraduates was led by an MBA student coach and assigned to a startup firm with a product on the cusp of commercialization. Ideas were solicited from BETA, a nonprofit early stage accelerator for Minnesota-based technology startups, as well as Augsburg鈥檚 Business Advisory Council. This year鈥檚 projects included AcQtrac鈥檚 non-invasive device to monitor cardiovascular health among pediatric patients, SmartAuger鈥檚 portable ground-penetrating radar system, and CorRen Medical鈥檚 proprietary ultrasound technology to detect and treat peripheral artery disease.听
Over the course of the fall semester, three teams developed and refined a plan to pitch their products to investors, culminating in a competition on December 6. Members of the Business Advisory Council judged each hour-long presentation on the students鈥� assessment of the market opportunity and competitive environment, the marketing plan and original graphic arts elements, a rigorous financial analysis, and the overall quality of the presentation. More than 120 guests鈥攂usiness leaders, alumni, students鈥� families, and Augsburg faculty and staff鈥攁ttended the evening reception and awards ceremony.
The AcQtrac Medical team placed first, with students Jim Schewe, Salma Gelle, Adela Leville, and Kat Chaney sharing a $15,000 prize. The SmartAuger team of Luke Peters, Jakob Mohrlok, Manny Weiss, Nolan Mehle, and Destiny Azonwu won the $10,000 second prize, and the CorRen Medical team of Patrick McMonagle, Danny Ho, Char Waver, Pachia Vang, and Anthonella Laurens took third place and $5,000. The cash prizes were made possible by generous supporters of Augsburg鈥檚 business, innovation, and entrepreneurship programs, including Mike Nathan and Sara Armstrong, Tom 鈥�72 and Karen Howe, Big Stone Capital Group, Modulate Capital, Bill Urseth 鈥�71, and Blaze Credit Union.
鈥淭his year鈥檚 Auggie Cup was an incredible event full of synergy and teamwork,鈥� said Dierberger. 鈥淥ur MBA, undergrad business, and graphic design students all did a stellar job at presenting their ideas to the panel of judges and we are grateful they could be rewarded in a real way for their significant efforts.鈥�
While the Auggie Cup is targeted towards business, entrepreneurship, and graphic design students, plans are underway for a campus-wide competition this spring. Students from any academic discipline will be invited to deliver a 2鈥�3 minute pitch, with the potential for the winning ideas to become full Auggie Cup projects next fall.
Every year, the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) awards individuals who have made a difference in their state鈥檚 social work field. NASW-MN recently named Kao Nou Moua the 2025 Tony Bibus Social Work Faculty of the Year for her leadership and commitment to student success.听
