Around this time every year the NC State Entrepreneurship Initiative, an interdisciplinary club that fosters student innovation and entrepreneurship, begins ramping up for its annual LuLu eGames competition. The eGames is for young, aspiring entrepreneurs to put their innovative ideas or startups to the test.
As a former ambassador and participant, I can attest to the value and experience the eGames offers to students. Two of last year’s winners, Undercover Colors and Track2Quit, have accelerated their growth after winning the competition.
Undercover Colors raised more than $250,000 in angel investment and earned international media attention (some good and some bad) prior to even launching the nail polish that detects date rape drugs in a beverage. Track2Quit (founders pictured above), now called Nicotrax, won the statewide Charlotte Venture Challenge in the undergraduate division for its device that helps smokers control their habit.
The eGames typically has three categories: the New Venture Challenge, which requires ventures to solve a pain or problem that has been identified and confirmed by market research; Design and Prototype Challenge, which requires a working prototype or product concept design; and the Arts Feasibility Study Challenge, targeted to students with an artistic approach to solving a viable pain or problem.
But there’s an added twist to the 2015 games. At the end of 2014, Verizon approached the EI about sponsoring a service and mobile application competition. Thus the Verizon Student Innovator Challenge was born. The challenge requires students develop a rough prototype.
You can read the analysis of the five most interesting competitors at ExitEvent.com: http://exitevent.com/article/five-most-interesting-ncsu-startups-150310
