On a chilly December afternoon, 14 business and graphic design students brought the heat in Augsburg鈥檚 signature entrepreneurship challenge.聽
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.聽
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.聽
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.