Student innovators from across Wichita State University will be competing for up to $10,000 in start-up capital during the 2023 Shocker New Venture Competition (SNVC) Trade Show.

The competition started with 40 teams and, judges narrowed the field down to 15 after the Business Model Video round. Teams were judged on their ability to identify a problem, a clearly defined solution for that problem, and a market fit through a three-minute video.

They were tasked with succinctly encapsulating their business concept through a market analysis, a clear value proposition, and a sustainable competitive advantage. The following teams will go on to the Trade Show round of the competition.

• Bauble Budger: Treavor McLeland, Jennifer Hoefler, Vindya Kumari Kariyawasam Ampegama Gamage and Abdulaziz Alsaihati
• Botanic Buddy: Ivan Weiss Van Der Pol
• Chiropractor Marketing Solutions: Gavin Dick
• Female Engineering Matters: Karen Duong, Jessica Gorton, Angelica Perez, Rahmah Alsukayr and Rosa Chicas
• MDESIGNS: Emily Caswell, Jose De Santiago, Marha Jean, Jett Mattison and Clarissa Rincon
• Optimum Wellness: Olivia Gallegos, Chase Anderson, Zachary Vanfossan and Faizan Ahmed
• Player Card: Jacob O’Connor and Jon Peterson
• Rise Mobility: Amogh Gokhale, Alana Cahill, Louie Tipton, Devin McConico and Alex Valdovinos
• Roomers: Ashton Jeter, Cole Krizek, Chamnau Chamnan and Ian Gaza
• Secret Squirrels: Bo Henry, Shannon Looney, Luke Schuessler and Javier Agudo
• Taram Inc.: Manoj Ram Thanthaloor Krishnamaraja, Vinoj Kumar Thanthaloor Krishnamaraja and Eliot Deschamps
• Testkey: Nicholas Vasilescu, Ben Gorman, Christian Kindel and Jared Goering
• Tracer: Kyle Dodson, Andrew McLeod, Joseph Boley, Guoyao Yue and Katelyn Tran
• Under Pressure: Julie Gonzalez-Morales, Ticie Dumas, Kami Bartholomew and Romina Fretes
• Vision-Vest: Grant Johnson, Jun Chang Teoh and Keenan Nguyen

The Trade Show will take place from 3 to 6 p.m. Friday, April 21 at Koch Arena. Teams will set up booths and pitch their concepts to business leaders who will be serving as judges.  

Trade Show judges will be given 10,000 Shocker dollars to invest in the students’ ventures. At the close of the Trade Show, the six teams with the most investments by the judges will be announced. These teams will advance to the final round from 2 to 5 p.m. Friday, April 28 in Wichita State’s Devlin Hall.

The public is welcome and encouraged to attend and witness this next generation of entrepreneurs and innovators. 

Sponsors of this year’s competition include Erin Cummings, IMA Financial Group, INTRUST Bank, Moral Holdings and NetWork Kansas.

---

Wichita State University is Kansas' only urban public research university, enrolling almost 22,000 students between its main campus and WSU Tech, including students from every state in the U.S. and more than 100 countries. Wichita State and WSU Tech are recognized for being student centered and innovation driven.

Located in the largest city in the state with one of the highest concentrations in the United States of jobs involving science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), Wichita State University provides uniquely distinctive and innovative pathways of applied learning, applied research and career opportunities for all of our students.

The Innovation Campus, which is a physical extension of the Wichita State University main campus, is one of the nation’s largest and fastest-growing research/innovation parks, encompassing over 120 acres and is home to a number of global companies and organizations.

For more information, follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/wichitastate and Facebook at www.facebook.com/wichita.state.