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.