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You are here: Home / News / TNVC 2018 Awards Largest Prize Pool in Competition History

TNVC 2018 Awards Largest Prize Pool in Competition History

May 22, 2018

COLLEGE STATION, May 17, 2018 – Houston-based Arovia, creators of the Spontaneous Pop-Up Display (SPUD), was awarded $50,000 as the winner of the 2018 Texas A&M New Ventures Competition hosted by the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES).

Arovia Co-Founder, President and CEO Alexander Wesley said he was excited to win the competition because he doesn’t consider pitching competitions to be his specialty.

“I’m definitely not a natural pitcher, but I love our product, I love our team and the state of Texas has been really great for us as well,” Wesley said. “I definitely don’t view myself as being a stellar pitch man so I had no expectation at all, but I’m glad the enthusiasm I have for our product and our team and what we’re doing for our customers comes through.”

Wesley added that the experience of competing with other companies that are in similar stages to his was a great experience.

“It’s really cool to see all the different things that people are doing. You can really get stuck in your own world so it’s fun when you get to hang out with other startups.”

TNVC 2018 Winner

Jessica Traver, one of the finals judges and winner of the 2017 TNVC with IntuiTap Medical, said that multiple aspects of Arovia impressed the judges.

“We really liked their ability to demonstrate the traction they’ve had, it’s very fast,” she said. “Obviously there’s a demand. Their intellectual property strategy is very strong which is great and will definitely come in handy in the future. They’re meeting a need that nobody else has been able to meet yet, so we’re excited to see where they go and how they’re going to scale and the revenue they’re going to be able to pull in.”

With a total of $380,000 in total prizes, the pool for the competition was the largest in the four-year history of the TNVC. In the first three years, the TNVC awarded more than $670,000 combined.

The 2018 TNVC was made possible by the McFerrin Center for Entrepreneurship, Texas A&M College of Science, Texas A&M Health Science Center, TEES Clean Energy Incubator, Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service, Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M School of Innovation, Texas A&M Division of Research, 80/20 Foundation, TMC Innovation, GOOSE Society, Aggie Angel Network, Research Valley Partnership, Amerra, Biotex, Paragon, Pioneer Natural Resources, Thomas Horstemeyer, Ramey & Schwaller Law Firm, Chevron Technology Ventures, Winstead PC and OTA Compression/Kimark Systems.

Finalists:

1st – $50,000 – Arovia

2nd – $35,000 – Admetsys

3rd – $25,000 – M&S Biotics

4th – $15,000 – VastBiome

5th – $10,000 – Advanced Scanners

6th – $5,000 – AtmoSpark

Elevator Pitch Competition:

1st – $5,000 – ResponderX

2nd – $3,000 – Yotta Solar

3rd – $2,000 –  Polar Panel

Additional Prizes:

Ramey/Schwaller IP Legal Services Prize – Advanced Scanners

Research Valley Launch Prize – ResponderX

Thomas | Horstemeyer IP Legal Services Prizes – VenoStent and Alleviant Medical

Paragon Innovation Prize – Vitls

BioTex Investment Prize – M&S Biotics

Amerra Visualization Services Prize – Arovia

TEES Cleantech Prize – Yotta Solar

Aggie Angel Network Investment Prize – Arovia

GOOSE Society of Texas Investment Prizes – Arovia and M&S Biotics

TMC Innovation Investment and Accelerator Admission Prize – Vitls

TMC Innovation Accelerator Admission Prize – VenoStent

About the Texas A&M New Ventures Competition: 

The Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station and The Texas A&M University System, along with a growing number of sponsors, are working to ensure today’s innovative ideas become a reality through the Texas A&M New Ventures Competition. Aimed at promoting the commercialization of emerging technology, the competition recognizes companies with high-growth potential and provides seed funding to help them effectively execute their ideas and advance product development.

Media Contact: Aubrey Bloom: Texas A&M Engineering Media Relations Coordinator Abloom@tamu.edu – 830-377-8566

Filed Under: News

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