Students to share big ideas at Elevator Pitch Competition

Ninety seconds is all that will stand between UB student entrepreneurs and $1,000 in seed funding to turn their ideas into reality.

The Academies’ Annual Elevator Pitch Competition returns for its fourth year April 21, allowing nearly 70 students to pitch their business plans to a panel of local entrepreneurs.

Winners of the top prize will receive $1,000 each. Second- and third-place winners will receive $500 and $200, respectively.

“The Academies’ Pitch Competition is a great first step toward launching a venture,” says Robert Neubert, director of the Entrepreneurship Academy and clinical assistant professor in the School of Management.

“Students can refine their ideas, meet other entrepreneurs, gain exposure in the thriving Buffalo entrepreneurial ecosystem and have fun.”

The free event will run from 5-9 p.m. in the lobby of the Student Union, North Campus. After pitches are complete, guests can attend a networking reception at 7:30 p.m. before the results are announced.

Participants can register until April 15.

The competition follows the premise of a student obtaining a chance meeting with an investor in an elevator.

Armed with nothing more than their voices, students will step from an 8-foot-tall vintage elevator to pitch their businesses in 90 seconds to a panel of judges. Participants are not allowed to use visual aids.

Judges include:

• Glenna Bett, founder and CEO of CytoCybernetics.
• Marilyn Roach, co-founder and COO of City Dining Cards.
• Rohan Shah, founder of InteractiveX.
• Sean Depner, chief research scientist at Dimien LLC.
• Rohan Bansal, co-founder and CTO of Nupur Technologies.

The event is sponsored by the UB Academies, Office of Science, Technology Transfer and Economic Outreach (STOR), the School of Management and Blackstone LaunchPad.