Dear TiE DC Community:
I hope you are enjoying your summer with family and friends! We are excited to share what TiE DC has been up to, and what's ahead for the fall.
TYE 2018 Global Competition
Last month, TiE DC played host to high school students from 20 TiE chapters around the world as they competed for $10,000 in prizes at the TiE Young Entrepreneurs (TYE) 2018 Global Competition. The two-day event at the Virginia Tech Research Center and George Mason Founders Hall was made possible through the generosity of Platinum Sponsor Infinite Computer Solutions, with support from NETE, the Virginia Tech Apex Center for Entrepreneurship and the George Mason Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
The competition got off to an exciting start at 7:30am on Friday, June 22 at Virginia Tech's state of the art facility, with videoconference presentations from Rajasthan, Chandigarh, Kanpur (pictured below), Hubli, Chennai, Kerala and Vancouver. The team from Delhi made good use of technology, sending one of their team members in person, and connecting the others via videoconference.
Our judges for the first day were: Nitin Rai, Chairman of TiE DC and President of TiE Oregon, Rajesh Rai, Partner at Montane Ventures, and Jim Wolfe, Professor and Entrepreneur in Residence at George Mason.
12 teams, along with their mentors and family members, were onsite, including Dallas, Melbourne, Southern California, Hyderabad, Oregon, Kolkata, Carolinas, DC, Philadelphia, Boston, Seattle, and Atlanta.
Saturday, June 23, the competition moved to George Mason Founders Hall, where teams displayed their products and prototypes at a Maker's Faire. TiE DC members and families came out to see the teams and watch the exciting finish of the competition.
Saturday's judges had the difficult task of selecting a winner for the Maker's Faire and Elevator Pitch competitions. They were: Amu Fowler, Founding Director of Startups Ignite, Amy Millman, Co-founder of Springboard Enterprises, and Amita Shukla, Founder & CEO of Vitamita.
After a delicious lunch by Bollywood Bistro, the winners were announced, with Oregon's Team Melaknow, developers of a screening tool for skin cancer built into a mobile app, as the overall winners:
BEST OVERALL WINNERS
First Prize, $4,000: TiE Oregon (MelaKnow)
Second Prize, $2,000: TiE Hyderabad (Pop & Lick)
Third Prize, $1,000: TiE Atlanta (Bye-bye Wifi)
BEST FOCUS AREA WINNERS
Best Lean Canvas/ Business Model, $500: TiE Seattle (Zigantic)
Best Customer Validation, $500: TiE Kolkata (Iris)
Best Execution, $500: RoBio (TiE DC)
Best Teamwork, $500: TiE Melbourne (Meraki)
Maker’s Faire, $500: TiE Delhi (Jhatpat)
Elevator Pitch, $500: TiE Dallas (Concert Junkie)
TiE DC Fall Calendar
Your Board of Directors has been working on meaningful programming for our Charter Members and Members. Please mark your calendars for these upcoming events this fall at TiE DC:
There will be much more to follow, too! We look forward to seeing you soon and we encourage you to connect with board members to share ways that we can continue to deliver value to you.
Best regards,
Sheela Murthy
TiE DC President
