6th Annual TyE DC Boot Camp and Business Plan Competition Develops Outstanding New Entrepreneurs

TiE DC’s TiE Young Entrepreneurs program has impacted hundreds of high school students over the last six years, providing insights that have had positive impact on their academic and professional paths. Through generous underwriting by Sanjay Govil and Infinite Computer Solutions, the ten-class boot camp capped by a business plan competition has seen its alum go on to file provisional patents, win international business competitions and create flourishing businesses.

TiE DC celebrated its 2018 cohort of young entrepreneurs at the TiE DC Young Entrepreneurs Business Plan Competition on Saturday, April 28. This year’s outstanding group of 36 high school students representing 20 schools in the greater Washington, DC region marked the completion of two months of intense work in the Boot Camp that they started in February.

Through the Boot Camp, students interacted with those of a similar drive and passion as well as learned from talks and presentations by marketing professionals, patent lawyers, financial experts, and founders and CEOs of startup companies. They were challenged to come up with their own ideas, form friendships and teams, and prepare to present their own business plans.

The program was directed by Dr. Mahesh Joshi, Associate Professor, Global Strategy and Entrepreneurship and Director of Research & Practice, Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship at George Mason University and Sundi Natarajan, Co-Founder of Sparksoft, along with Robin Dvorak from TiE DC. TyE Alumni mentors Kavita Priyadarshy and Suryaraj Jain, students at George Mason University, coached students and shared their own learning experiences. Special thanks to our judges, Deepak Hathiramani from Hathi Partners, LLC, Harish Pai from Infinite Solutions, and Manpreet Mattu from Booz Allen Hamilton, who also served as a speaker and coach.

This year marked the highest number of presentations in the history of our TyE Program, with seven teams presenting to the panel of judges. Here is a brief synopsis of each team's business idea:

• Inni. The team created a mobile application for shopping malls that allows individuals to view 3D-rendered maps of the mall as well as connect with friends who are in the mall.

• SwimFitt. The team created a biometric device to help avid swimmers with better fitness tracking for swims.

• Iter. The team developed a user platform that allows travelers to select a country and provides information for a safe and enjoyable journey.

• ReXpress. The team created a subscription-based clothing company that rented out new and lightly used brand name clothes on a monthly basis.

• Unistats. The team created a platform for high school students to view the academic profiles of college students who were admitted to top universities.

• ConnectSports. The runner-up in the competition, this team created a mobile application that connects users with other local users to organize pickup games for various sports. 

• RoBio. The winner of the competition! The team of Sarah Luthra, Joffin Manjaly, Marilyn Pothen, Edgar Garcia, Kirill Usubyan and James Delaney created a programmable bio-medical and sharps container that detects maximum capacity and automatically removes itself from medical rooms to dispose of biohazard contents. RoBio is intended to minimize the risk of needle pricks and infection.

The victor of this competition moves on as the TiE DC representative at the TyE 2018 Global Competition, where they will be competing against TyE chapters from around the world. TiE DC is proud and honored to host this year's event, June 22-23 in Arlington, Virginia! For tickets to attend any part or all of the competition, register here.

We wish our TiE DC Team RoBio great luck in the upcoming competition, understanding that, at the end of the day, it isn’t about who wins or loses. It’s about supporting and fostering entrepreneurship for the generations who will change the future!