2023 Student Entrepreneur Impact Prize Winners
Syracuse University Libraries’ Blackstone LaunchPad (LaunchPad) announced winners of the 2023 Impact Prize competition for social entrepreneurship held on November 15 at Bird Library. Twenty-two student teams from Syracuse University and SUNY-ESF pitched ideas for a chance to win a total of $16,000 in prizes, supported by generous donations from Libraries’ donors. This year’s winners are:
- 1st Place: $5,000 awarded to Moody Mag, founders Emma Lueders ’24 (College of Visual and Performing Arts) and Jennie Bull ’24 (Martin J. Whitman School of Management). As first prize winner, Moody Mag will be representing Syracuse University at the 2024 Hult Prize Summit, to be held in Boston, MA.
- 2nd place: $4,000 awarded to EcoBamboo Living, founders Justin Diaz ’24 (Martin J. Whitman School of Management) and Keif Timmins ’25 (SUNY-College of Environmental Science & Forestry).
- 3rd place: $3,000 awarded to Continual, founder Katy Arons ’24 (School of Information Studies).
- Runner-Ups: $1,000 awarded to each of the following: Marhold Space Systems, founder Frank Marin G’24 (Martin J. Whitman School of Management); Ta, founder Motolani Oladitan ’25 (College of Arts & Sciences); and Scale Sense, founders Oliver Raycroft ’25 (College of Engineering and Computer Science) and Adya Parida ’25 (College of Engineering and Computer Science).
- Up and Coming Awards: $250 each awarded to: Queen’s Wellness Institute, founder Fatim Cisse G’24 (David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics); Dormbank, founder Mariah Brown ’26 (Martin J. Whitman School of Management); Shelstie, founder Shelstie Dastinot ’24 (College of Visual and Performing Arts); and GbaAôndo (GBA) Energy, founders MoAde Jagusah ’24 (Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs), Adam Youngs ’26 (Martin J. Whitman School of Management), Court Watson ’26 (Martin J. Whitman School of Management), Nicole Mazzeo ’25 (Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs) and Semirat (Bushrah) Balogun G’24 (School of Information Studies).
About Syracuse University Libraries’ Blackstone LaunchPad
The Blackstone LaunchPad is Syracuse University’s innovation hub, connecting the campus resource-rich ecosystem with a global network that provides support for aspiring entrepreneurs, inventors and creators. The program serves faculty, staff, students and recent alumni across all disciplines who are interested in entrepreneurship, venture creation and innovation careers. The program supports a key pillar of Syracuse University’s academic strategic plan to give students experiential opportunities that help prepare them to be trailblazers in an entrepreneurial world.