LaunchPad Announces 2025 Orange Central Student Startup Showcase Winners
Syracuse University Libraries’ Blackstone LaunchPad announced winners of the 2025 Orange Central Student Startup Showcase on Friday, October 17, 2025. First place winner was Maya McDermott ’26 (Martin J. Whitman School of Management), winning $1500 on her startup FitFriends, an app that connects people to local workout buddies when travelling. Second place winner was Frederick Zindell IV G’26 (Martin J. Whitman School of Management), winning $750 with his startup Returned Roots, a sustainable alternative to traditional burial options. Third place winner was Haley Greene ’26 (S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications), winning $500 with Miirror, an online platform to provide support services for people affected by eating disorders.
A hundred alumni registered to participate in this year’s Orange Central Student Startup Showcase, investing “‘Cuse Cash” into their favorite ventures and thereby determining the top three startup businesses that were awarded cash prizes.
“This is a great opportunity for our student entrepreneurs to network with alumni, put early-stage funding in their ventures, and practice and refine their elevator pitch ,” says Traci Geisler, Director of the LaunchPad.
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.