At the inaugural Bill Gross Business Plan Competition, aspiring entrepreneurs pitched their startup ideas to a panel of experienced investors. In this version, shark tankeach team was comprised of Caltech undergraduate and graduate students with scientific expertise and a vision for how next-generation technology will improve the world.
Fifteen student teams were shortlisted from a total of 80 applications and presented their business plans at a day-long event in April to compete for the Bill Gross Award for Entrepreneurship. The first place winner was his $30,000, second place was his $25,000, and third place was drawn from his $100,000 prize by entrepreneur and Caltech board member Bill Gross (BS '81). Win $15,000.students didn't know much about it all The team will be the winner that day. His surprise $100,000 matching donation from private equity firm Sunstone-ALC, combined with Mr. Gross's donation, meant that each of the 12 runner-up teams would receive his $10,000 prize.
A startup evangelist who has launched several companies, Gross taught a science and technology entrepreneurship class at Caltech last fall and is passionate about helping Caltech students turn their ideas into reality. Masu. “Our hope is that by winning this Caltech event, other investors will join us and make your dreams come true,” Gross said at the beginning of the contest.
During the event, each student team had five minutes to pitch their startup idea to three judges. Ajay Kshatriya is a partner at Wilson Hill Ventures, a venture capital fund that invests exclusively in Caltech startups. Amanda Cashin (PhD '06), Advisor at Wilson Hill Ventures. She is Dave Licata, President and CFO of TORL BioTherapeutics and Executive Chairman of 1200 Pharma. Sectors included in the business plan include healthcare technology, AI tools, sustainability solutions, and more. Groups were judged based on the quality of their team dynamics, the company's market opportunity and technology differentiation.
The “elevator pitch” format required participants to focus on the basics of their ideas. CAD.it, The startup idea, conceived by graduate student Aditya Shedge and undergraduate students Sarah Hashash and Sarah Yun in Gross's Caltech class, turned 2D engineering sketches into 3D computer-aided design (CAD) models. This is a method that utilizes AI to convert The team presented a video demonstrating the process of manually converting a sketch, followed by screenshots of a minimal viable demo of a prototype that automatically performs the process.
“We all took this course for similar reasons: we were all interested in entrepreneurship,” says John, who has a background in engineering and manufacturing and came up with the initial idea for CAD.it. Tashedge says. “We came up with our own idea and shared it with the class, and the three of us agreed that this was a good market opportunity.”
Aditya Shedge (center) poses with Caltech Chief Innovation and Corporate Partnerships Officer Bill Gross (left) and Fred Farina (right)
Credit: Karen Cohen Photography
CAD.it took first place and won $30,000 for their team's innovative ideas and thoughtful approach. At the same time, the judges said it was difficult to choose a winner as each startup has outstanding potential.
“We were blown away by the caliber of ideas, the energy, the creativity, and especially the talent,” says Kassin. “It's all about talent, and Caltech has his A+ talent. This event shows that there is a contagious energy in the entrepreneurial spirit at Caltech. So this is the beginning of many things to come.”
Caltech's Office of Technology Transfer and Corporate Partnerships (OTTCP) oversees the Bill Gross Award as well as the Timothy D. Ryan Summer Entrepreneurship Program. The program is funded by entrepreneur Tim Ryan (BS '78) and provides students with financial support and mentorship to develop innovative ideas into new products and services.
The 2024 Timothy D. Ryan Summer Entrepreneurship Program winners are: audioan AI-powered video translation and dubbing startup from undergraduate students Nika Chuzhoy and Brian Hu; Oncobatean AI tool that supports cancer care in hospitals, was also a finalist for the Bill Gross Award.
Bill Gross Award for Entrepreneurship 2024 Winners
1st place: CAD.it
CAD.it uses generative AI and computer vision to automate the conversion of 2D engineering sketches into 3D models in CAD software.
team:
Aditya Shedge, graduate student
Sarah Hasash, 4th year undergraduate
Sarah Yun, 4th year undergraduate student
2nd place: Chiron
Chiron is a personalized AI assistant that learns from and cites medical literature to help patients interpret medical results.
team:
Andrea Olsen, first year undergraduate
3rd place: String
String is reimagining the coffee supply chain to increase transparency and quality assurance while increasing profits by connecting East African farmers and cooperatives directly with importers and roasters.
team:
Sean Theuri, sophomore undergraduate
Eden Obeng Kyei, 2nd year undergraduate student
Nyasha Makaya, 2nd year undergraduate student
Abdulkarim Mugisha, 2nd year undergraduate
Other finalists
helio
Helio is a biosensor that assesses micronutrients through saliva, providing an easy and painless at-home test to help parents identify clinical nutritional deficiencies in children with autism. The purpose is
team:
Ashley Mo, first year undergraduate
Aoi Otani, 3rd year undergraduate (Harvard University)
occuflow
To improve the effectiveness of drug treatments for vision-threatening diseases, OcuFlow is developing a heated eye mask designed to speed up the flow of fluid in the eye, reducing the frequency of treatment injections required. There is a possibility.
team:
Stephanie O'Gara, graduate student
Birya
Viriya applies AI monitoring to data from smart meters that measure electricity usage in non-residential buildings and proposes efficiency and sustainability solutions. Viriya partners with sustainability leaders at Caltech (and other universities) to design and test its products.
team:
Aaron Chao, third year undergraduate student
Mr. Kaushik Tota, 3rd year undergraduate student
Mr. Avilas Sundaresan, 3rd year undergraduate student
neuroguard
NeuroGuard is a stroke detection device designed to be worn during sleep and is intended to identify sleep strokes to enable early intervention and medical care.
team:
Ms. Haisoo Shen, graduate student
Reza Godoshi, Lecturer
verifa eye
VerifAI offers Contract Decoder, an AI tool aimed at helping renters understand their rights and terminology within rental lease agreements and other contracts.
team:
Arjun Pradhan, first year undergraduate
Mr. James Hou, first year undergraduate student
Joray Pieper, first year undergraduate
Aman Burman, first year undergraduate student
Aditya Mehta, first year undergraduate student
Dhruv Verma, first year undergraduate
Gautam Kappaguntula, first year undergraduate student
adjustable aesthetics
Tunable Aesthetics develops minimally invasive surgical implants that can be shaped and reshaped using high-intensity focused ultrasound.
team:
Nicole Higdon, graduate student
Gunho Kim (PhD '23), Postdoctoral Researcher
callisto
kallisto aims to identify and track viral RNA in sequence data and leverage a patient's own virus to improve gene therapy.
team:
Laura Luebbert, Postdoctoral Researcher
Oncobate
ONCOVATE is an AI tool that helps hospitals triage cancer patients by using patient and symptom data to recommend genetic testing and help predict outcomes. It is currently in a pilot program in collaboration with Stanford Medicine.
team:
Alia Khokhar, first year undergraduate student
Albert Huang, first year undergraduate student
Adarsh Kumarappan, first year undergraduate
Shan Gupta, first year undergraduate student
pulse guard technology
PulseGuard Technologies is an electrical shielding technology that prevents biofilm buildup in beer distribution systems.
team:
Brian Garber, graduate student
IND copilot
IND CoPilot uses AI models to streamline the investigational new drug (IND) process and compile regulatory documents and experimental protocols for the pharmaceutical industry.
team:
Logan Beharry, third year undergraduate
Katherine Hsu, third year undergraduate student
desert agriculture
Desert Farming develops microbial communities for algae farms in the desert (rich in unused land) that sequester carbon, generate carbon credits, and produce biomaterials such as algae bricks and packaging materials doing.
team:
Madison Danitz, graduate student
Helen Wexler, graduate student
Alex Johnson, graduate student
most encrypted
Encryptiest is developing new encryption technology that enables targeted advertising without compromising user privacy.
team:
Salvador Busse, graduate student
Dylan Bannon (MS '22)
