2018 Summer Sandbox winners

Winners of the Summer 2018 Student Sandbox competition, (from left) Neel Patel, Jon Goodrum and Arthur De Araujo, pose together with their big novelty checks.

Summer Sandbox winners

From left: UB students Neel Patel, Jon Goodrum and Arthur De Araujo cash in on several weeks of hard work as winners of the 2018 Summer Buffalo Student Sandbox. The program, culiminating in a pitch contest at the Blackstone LaunchPad at UB, gives student-run ventures the chance to work with a startup coach. The winning ideas:

  • First place: Tivvy, a location-based messaging app that facilitates conversations between people in the same geographic area, enabling them to get together in person for a wide range of events. Pitched by Goodrum, a graduate student in computer science.
  • Second place: OpenCode.tv, a code livestreaming platform for developers to share what they’re working on. Pitched by De Araujo, an undergraduate student in computer science.
  • Third place: Ekta, a company that will provide safe, effective and affordable biosimilars, the approved generic forms of biologic drugs. Pitched by Patel, a PharmD/MBA student.

Photo: Hadar Borden

Published August 9, 2018 This content is archived.