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Prizes & Judges

This year’s competition provides more than $100,000 in cash and prizes, including a $25,000 cash prize as well as a Draper University Scholarship for the Grand Prize winner.

2023 Prizes

Grand Prize Winner, $25,000: DelivHer FemCare (Georgia State University)

2nd Place, $20,000: Aer Cosmetics (Drexel University)

3rd Place, $15,000: FullFlock (University of Pennsylvania)

Honorable Mention, $10,000: Chichi Foods (Washington University at St. Louis)

Finalists, $5,000 each:

  • EthoSphere (Cornell University)

  • GreenIRR (Fairfield University)

  • ScentCare (Johns Hopkins University)

  • Shezza (San Diego State University)

  • Unsmudgeable (Babson College)

  • WISE Cities (University of Maryland)

2023 Judges

We greatly appreciate the 2023 judges for volunteering their time and support. 

Name | Title  Company
Ed Ackerley | Faculty University of Arizona                           
Donielle Albrecht | Director The Mill School
Andrea Auerbach| Global Head of Private Investments Cambridge Associates
Jessie Banhazl | Mentor Maine Center for Entrepreneurs  
Melissa Chenok | Product Leader Lattice
May Cowan | Founder & Principal Collaboratory Consulting Group
Kristen Craft | Director of Startup Banking Silicon Valley Bank
Doris Deng | Product Manager Microsoft
Paulina Do | Life Scientist Environmental Protection Agency                                                   
Melissa Parker Draper
 | Principal Sponsor
Draper Competition
Tim Draper
 | Principal Sponsor and Founder
Draper Associates/DFJ/Draper University
Allie Felix | VP of Platform Embarc Collective
Carly Forcade | Program Manager Techstars Anywhere
Tara Fosbre | VP & Head of Innovation of Programs and Capabilities Guardian Life Insurance
Missy Godfrey | CEO and Principal M3 Strategic Advisory
Celeste Gudas | Chairwoman 24Seven
Jennifer Haggerty | Chief Operating Officer Intuily.com
Wendy Hudson | Owner Nantucket Book Partners
Lisa Indovino | VP, Partners & Channels Apptio
Prajakta Jagtap | Mentor Techstars Boston Accelerator & Startup India Hub
Natalie Joseph | Director Multicultural & Identity Programs Babson College
Stephanie Kaplan Lewis | Co-founder & CEO Her Campus Media
Louise Kennedy | Founding Attorney West Hill Technology Counsel
Rebecca Legare | VP, Regulatory & Quality Sapphiros, Inc.
Kristin Leutz | Founder  Petra Impact Partners
Brenda Lewis | Founder and Principal Transactions Marketing, Inc.
Ashley Lucas | Executive Director Accelerate, Wentworth Institute of Technology
Julian Lustig-Gonzalez | Co-Founder/COO Amherst Intelligent Security
Carrie McIndoe | President Strategic Capital Resources, Inc.
Dee Dee Mendoza | Senior Director of the West Region Obama Foundation
Andrea Naddaff | Founder AMN Brand
Ulas Neftci | Faculty and SBDC Director Baruch College
Rafael Obando | GTM Partnerships lead for East Coast and LATAM HubSpot
Jane Park Fundraiser
Kate Putnam | Managing Director Golden Seeds
Mark Quinn | Director & Conrad N. Hilton Endowed Chair in Entrepreneurship Xavier University Entrepreneurship Institute
Anne Richie | Managing Director The Mezzanine Fund
Liz Roberts | Head of Impact Investing; Investment Management MassMutual
Caroline Robertson | Retired, VP and Research Director Forrester Research
Danielle Santos | Director of Strategic Learning and Impact University Innovation Alliance
Vivian Sayward | Founder Vivacity Advantage Inc
Neha Shah | CEO and Founder Kutumb Village
S. Mona Sinha Global Executive Director Equality Now
Abigail Slater | Director Barlow Lane Holdings Limited
Philip Steckler | Volunteer Mentor and Vice President Score and Country Business, Inc.
Sheryl Thomas | Attorney JCL Immigration Attorneys, PLLC
Carolyn Thomas | Principal Verivis Consulting
Qxhna Titcomb | Business Development - Universities Amazon Web Services
Nirupa Umapathy | Founder Salons for Life LLC
Amanda Wallis | Region Head Retired from Bank of America
Kenny Ward Jr | Division Director of Business and CIS Trenholm State Community College
Shaun Wilde | VP, Brands and Communications Argano
Dawanna Williams | Managing Principal Dabar Development Partners
Ann Witsil | Founder and President Catalyst Strategies
Jennifer Wood | Biomedical Engineer self
Arlene Wszalek | Executive Vice President of Strategy & Innovation                            Allied Global Marketing
Naina Zaman | Associate Sands Capital
Gail Zauder | Managing Director Elixir Advisors 

Past Winners

2022 DRAPER COMPETITION WINNERS

 

Grand Prize: $25,000 + scholarship to Draper University Heroes Training

Inferno Guard (Johns Hopkins University)


2nd Place: $20,000 + scholarship to Draper University Heroes Training


Special Recognition: $2,000

  • ClosetSwitch (Washingto University in St. Louis)
  • Kairos Music (Babson College)

Finalists: $1,500

  • Bene Lares (Western New England University)
  • Cue the Curves (Northwestern University)
  • Sotira (University of California, Berkeley)
  • Yakha (Bryn Mawr College)

Keep it Goin': $1,000

  • Bed Wheelchair for Immobile Patients (Johns Hopkins University)
  • CA' Buddy (Davidson College)
  • EthosSphere (Cornell University)
  • Lolwe Textiles (Augustana University)
  • Lucrativity (Smith College)

Fan Favorite: $1,000

ThermOptik (Johns Hopkins University)

*Prizes and amounts solely determined by Competition Judges

2021 DRAPER COMPETITION WINNERS

 

For the first time in competition history, we have TWO Grand Prize Winners

Grand Prize:

  • Sani (NC State University)
  • SkyPaws (Texas A&M)

Track Winner:

  • Diotex (John Hopkins University)
  • Hydrophos Solutions (University of New Hampshire)

Track Runners Up:

  • Bantu (Vanderbuilt University)
  • Bridg Career (University of Southern California)
  • Hearing Glasses (Minnesota State University)
  • Vaila (Fayetteville State University)

Honorable Mentions:

  • Campus Can Crushers (University of Idaho)
  • EZ Stride (Western New England University)
  • Innovating Environmental Health (Babson College)
  • nisa EFFECT (University of Houston)
  • Schoolhouse Simulations (University of Idaho)
  • Swally (Stetson University)

Pitch Track Winner:

Martha's Passions (Landmark College)


Pitch Track Runner Up:

The Movement (Xavier University of Louisiana)


Pitch Track Honorable Mentions:

  • Kai Pono Solutions (San Diego State University)
  • Microbe Blaster (UMass-Amherst)
  • UltraMatria (Eastern Washington University)

All finalists were granted scholarships to Draper University.

2020 DRAPER COMPETITION WINNERS

 

Grand Prize Winner - $25,000

Intimately.co Emma Butler '20, Brown University


Track Winners - $10,000

  • Just Drive, Southern Methodist University
  • Ndriana Agro LLC, Skidmore College

Track Winner Ties - $7,500

  • Block, Smith College
  • Em Pads, Oklahoma State University
  • Solupal, University of St. Thomas
  • Spara, Smith College

Track Runners up - $5,000

  • Eliza, Smith College
  • Lilac Feminine Care, Texas Christian University
  • ReBokeh, Bucknell University

Honorable Mentions - $1,500

  • BioFuture, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
  • Exit 42 Media, Hobart and William Smith College
  • KISA, Smith College
  • Qubit, Cornell University
  • Sani, North Carolina State University

Fan Favorite - $1,000

Just Drive, Southern Methodist University

2019 DRAPER COMPETITION WINNERS

 

Grand Prize Winner - $25,000

Locker Lifestyle - Product Track #1
Katarina Samardzija '19, Grand Valley State University

Additional prizes: $10,000 scholarship to Draper University plus 2-day, all expenses paid trip to Tampa, FL for 2 sponsored by Embarc Collective and in-kind prizes from Hubspot for Startups, IndieDoGood and Shoobx


Track Winners - $10,000

  • KnoNap, Danya Sherman '19, George Washington University
  • Early Intervention Systems, Nathalya Ramirez '19, George Washington University
  • Tongo Wata, Hawa Tarawally AC'21, Smith College
  • LOU, Rachel Pardue '19, Babson College

Each of these teams will also receive a $5,000 scholarship to Draper University, and in-kind prizes from Hubspot for Startups, IndieDoGood and Shoobx


Runner's Up - $5,000

  • AZUZA Beverage (Cal State Polytechnic)
  • PainterPrinter (Hampshire College)
  • Afra Cafe (Smith College)
  • Strides (Oklahoma State University)
  • Prolitfic (University of Texas, Austin)

Each of these teams will also receive a $2,000 scholarship to Draper University


Honorable Mentions - $1,500

  • Raspberry Farm (Illinois Institute of Tech)
  • Neurochi Meditation (University of Idaho)
  • Spark (Smith College)
  • Informer (University of Oregon)
  • VELV (University of New Hampshire)

Fan Favorites - $500

  • Machai (Smith College)
  • Tress It Up (Smith College)
  • CulFood (Mount Holyoke College)
  • Tongo Wata (Smith College)
  • UniSell (Smith College)

Special Prizes

  • Western Mass Innovation Jam Prize ($500): Blink Tek (Western New England University)
  • Conway Center 5College Prize - 1st Place ($1,000): Let's Talk About It (UMass Amherst)
  • Conway Center 5College Prize - 2nd Place ($750): Willow Denim (Mount Holyoke College)
  • Conway Center 5College Prize - 3rd Place ($500): MassBoard (UMass Amherst)

2018 DRAPER COMPETITION WINNERS

First Place: $20,000 + $10,000 scholarship to Draper University
Busy Beauty: Jamie Steenbakkers '18 and Michael Leahy '18, Babson College


Second Place: $15,000 + scholarship to Draper University
The Forever Shower: Maria Horta Vorse '18, Alex Boatman '19 and Edward Hall '19, University of Idaho


Third Place: $10,000 + scholarship to Draper University
ReBike: Anmei Zhi '20, Nouhaila Norredine '20 and Elaona Lemoto '20, Smith College


2018 Finalist Team Leaders: $1,000

  • Alz You Need, Leda Rosenthal '18 (Colgate University)
  • Fida, Zoleka Mosiah '19 (Smith College)
  • HF Magnet, Samatha Farley '18 (West Virginia University)
  • Spin, Oumayma Koulouh '19 (Smith College)
  • Survival of the Fitted, Rachel Laflamme '20 (Smith College)
  • Therapalz, Fiona Kalensky '18 (University of Illinois)
  • Zapp Technology, Giovanna Jimenez '18 (University of Houston)

Fan Favorite: $1,000
The Lunch Buddy: Hannah Kelsey '20, Vivian Nelson '20, Haley Markos '20 and Frances Duncan '20, Smith College


Best App: $1,000
Hurdit: Brianna Moore '18 and Leigh Miller '18 (not pictured), Smith College


Conway Center Five College Prizes

First Place: $1,000
Duo Display: Kate Meacham '20 (Mount Holyoke College), Alessandra Massa '19 (Mount Holyoke College, not pictured) and Bryce Paquette '18 (Western New England University)

Second Place: $750
Anchor: Romina Gupta '20 (Mount Holyoke College) and Abhinav Karthikeyan '20 (Boston College, not pictured)

Third Place: $500
Painter Printer: Darleane Torres '21 (Hampshire College) and Joseph Mendoza '21 (Clarkson University)

2017 DRAPER COMPETITION WINNERS

 

First Place: $10,000 + $10,000 scholarship to Draper University
ImmunoGo, Emily Morris '19 (Smith College)


Second Place: $7,500 + $7,500 scholarship to Draper University
The Ekari Book Series, Pricilla Semphere '18 (Smith College)


Third Place (tied): $2,500 + $2,500 scholarship to Draper University
Sugaway, Danya Abutaleb '19 (University of Virginia)

Vescenece, Kiran Meghani '17 & Arsheen Menon '17 (University of Houston)


2017 Finalist Team Leaders: $500

  • Ask Betti, Natasha Jadavji '17 (Smith College)
  • BuddyRides, Lisa Feiden '18 (Smith College)
  • MedAhead, Vivian Wang '19 (Smith College)
  • Noted, Nicolette Ocasio '19 (Cornell University)
  • ReBike, Nouhaila Norredine '20 (Smith College)
  • Resound, Lynn Luong '19 (Hofstra University)

Fan Favorite
Sanitary Solutions, Sarah Price '18 & Katie Christensen '19 (Smith College)


Best App:
ReBike, Nouhaila Norredine '20, Elaona Lemoto '20 & Amnei Zhi '20 (Smith College)


Conway Center Five College Prizes:

First Prize: 
Tiwale, Ellen Chilemba (Mount Holyoke)

Second Prize:
Travel Unicorn, Carly Forcade (Mount Holyoke) & MejiH2O, Rebecca Onyango (Mount Holyoke)

Third Prize: 
We've Met, Molly Palmer (UMass - Amherst)


House Prizes:
Tenney House - 72% of house members present; Park House - Most Attendees

Contact Draper Competition for Collegiate Women Entrepreneurs

Neilson Library, Room 103

Smith College

Northampton, MA 01063

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