Innovation is a key part of the Georgia Tech experience. Where this is most evident is in the InVenture Prize competition, an annual innovation event where undergraduate students compete to win $35,000 in prizes, as well as patent filings, legal assistance, and startup funding. Exemplifying Georgia Tech’s commitment to fostering innovation, all finalist teams for the InVenture Prize will be fast tracked into the Startup Launch program of Georgia Tech’s startup accelerator CREATE-X, an entrepreneurial program that provides even more funding and resources for students to take their ideas into the real world.

This year's final round for the InVenture Prize includes five teams that have participated in CREATE-X programming.  This year’s InVenture Prize competition included a record-setting 58 teams and 140 participants. For five of the six finalist teams to have gone through CREATE-X speaks to the program's efficacy in preparing students to be entrepreneurially confident and create innovative, award-deserving startups.  

InVenture Prize finalists with CREATE-X: 

Block Transfer

Team Block Transfer has developed a new type of decentralized stock transfer agent protocol for global financial markets. They were admitted for Startup Launch 2021 earlier this year.

Medsur

Medsur’s product, BCase, is a first-of-its-kind accessible, discreet, and secure birth control storage that attaches directly to the back of a mobile phone. Founder Sammie Hasen was a part of Startup Launch 2019 as founder of a different company, but has since pivoted to Medsur.

CADe

CADe is developing a mobile application that makes Computer Aided Design (CAD) software more accessible and easier to navigate. The CADe team was admitted for Startup Launch 2021 earlier this year and were participants in the CREATE-X Capstone Design prototyping course in the Fall of 2020.

SPOT Harness 

Team SPOT Harness has prototyped a wearable device that uses sensors and vibrations to help blind dogs navigate their environment safely. They were participants in the CREATE-X Capstone Design prototyping course in the Fall of 2020.
 

Start Proto

Team StartProto assists a schools’ makerspaces through their unique safety and analytics system that can be used to track and control access to tools in shared environments. They were admitted for Startup Launch 2021 earlier this year and were participants in the CREATE-X Capstone Design prototyping course in the Fall of 2020.

The winner of the 2021 InVenture Prize will receive $20,000. The second-place team will take home $10,000. The top two teams will also receive free U.S. patent filings by Georgia Tech’s Office of Technology Licensing. A $5,000 People’s Choice Award will go to the fans’ favorite invention. Details on the public vote will be released prior to the March 17 broadcast.

This year, due to Covid-19 protocols, the event will be televised live without a live audience. All participants will be tested for Covid-19 before the event.

Check in here for more details leading up to the event:  https://inventureprize.gatech.edu/previous-competitions/2021