Clark Entrepreneurs Win $2,000 in Prize Money

The Clark University Entrepreneurship & Innovation program is excited to share the details of the Clark Tank Business Plan Pitch Competition which took place on April 29, 2024, from 6:00pm-9:00pm in ASEC202. The evening started with dinner, provided by David Ly (’27), owner of Taste of Asia, and networking time between judges, participants, and guests.

Clark Tank 2024 Business Plan Pitch Competition

Related Course

The Business Pitch course, an extension of the Clark Tank program, was offered in module two of the spring semester to prepare students for presenting at the pitch finals.

Taught by Clark alum, Emilee Cocuzzo (‘18, MBA ‘19), the course is focused on helping entrepreneurs develop a top-notch pitch deck for their venture. Throughout this class, students are provided with tools and resources to help develop their pitch. This course helps students explore their market, understand their customers and competitors, build their business model, and finalize their financials. At the end of the course, students pitched to a panel of judges for a prize pool of $2,000.

Throughout the course, the students were also inspired by guest speakers of entrepreneurs and investors, which included Jon Weaver, Eric Butler, Katie Cella (‘07), and Parna Sarkar-Basu.

Pitch Night

Seven students, from first-year to grads, completed the course and were ready to pitch. The evening guests joined to support their “pitcher” in-person and live stream.

Judges

Each participant had up to 10 minutes to pitch their venture idea to a team of judges – Katie Cella (‘07 ), Ryan Cohen (MBA ‘18), Frank Crocetti, and Howard Goldstein, with up to five minutes of questions from the judges.

Winners and Participants

The winning pitches included Sophie Lee (’26), owner of Sophpremacy, who won 1st place, Will Brothers (’26), owner of No Hour Vintage, who won 2nd place, and Yajaira Bonilla (’26), founder of Gen.Scholars, and Benicio Root (’27), owner of Home in 1, tied for 3rd place.

Additional Business Pitch Participants

Chandraditya Ghosh (grad student), Connect.ai

Rishav Mondal and Soumya Ghosh (grad students), BUDA

Ana Gabriela Santana, International Food Hub

Student Support Staff and Vendors

Jack Rogerson (’23 ’24), and Alyssa Martinez (’26), Technology Support

Maile Marguleas (’25), Emcee

David Ly (’27), owner of Taste of Asia (dinner)

Maddy Steigman (’24), owner of Dough is Me (dessert)

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To learn more about the class, you can watch the final pitches via this livestream link.

Learn More

The Clark Tank 2024 – Business Plan Pitch Competition – was a tremendous success. Please follow the E&I Program’s social accounts – LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram – to keep up with the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program’s Clark Tank events and other activities.

If you are interested in getting involved with the Clark Tank or E&I program, please reach out to Teresa Quinn at TQuinn@clarku.edu.

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 About the Clark University Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program:

The E&I courses are designed to help a student to identify problems, ideate solutions to those problems, and implement the best solution to bring about the desired change. Whether your interest is business ownership or social change, Clark University’s E&I minor complements any major to help you gain the full benefit of your educational experience and future goals.

Media Contacts:

Emilee Cocuzzo, Adjunct Professor

Email: ECocuzzo@clarku.edu

Teresa Quinn, Manager of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program

Email: TQuinn@clarku.edu

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