Telo Takes First Place at U.Pitch 2021 Virtual Collegiate Elevator Pitch Competition

November 10, 2021

Future Founders hosted the 8th Annual U.Pitch National Collegiate Elevator Pitch Competition & Showcase on November 10. Now in its second year as a completely virtual event, a record 20 semifinalists pitched their startups in front of entrepreneurs, investors, and business leaders, who ultimately selected five finalists to compete for their chance at the $10,000 prize pool.

Watch the full U.Pitch global livestream event here:

Here’s who went home with prize money for their growing businesses:

1st Place:

Morgan Kerfeld & Steven Bleau, Telo Design, University of Minnesota (MN) – $5,000
Telo provides innovative solutions for the underserved community of individuals with reduced mobility due to chronic illness through a set of mobility aids.

2nd Place:

Pierre Paul & Bethanie Couri, We Hear You, Bradley University (IL) – $2,000
We Hear You is creating an American Sign Language translator that allows for true two-way communication without the use of complicated technology or gloves.

3rd Place:

Mona Fang, Karma Trade, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (IL) – $1,000
Karma Trade creates circular economies for secondhand stores, allowing people to trade pre-loved fashion and household goods with a non-convertible digital currency called Karma.

People’s Choice Award:

Alex Pu & Yuyang Zhang, Baryl, The University of Chicago (IL) – $2,000
Baryl is a travel startup that helps travelers create personalized itineraries within minutes.

In addition to the amazing young founders who participated in U.Pitch, Future Founders would also like to thank all of the volunteers, attendees, and esteemed judges who helped make U.Pitch 2021 such a success, including:

Finals Judges:

• Justyn Howard, Founder & CEO, Sprout Social
• Amanda Lannert, CEO, Jellyvision
• Wes Schroll, Founder & CEO, Fetch Rewards
• Tony Wilkins, Investor, Standing Oaks Venture Partners

Semifinals Judges:

• Bobby Achettu, CEO, Accelerated Growth
• Ayo Aigbe, CEO, Hangio
• Nick Arnett, Principal, 1517 Fund
• Hamiz Awan, Founder & Partner, Plutus21 Capital
• Noah Berkson, Managing Partner, Candor Venture Partners
• Nico Berrini, Director, Chief of Staff, Accelerate Growth
• Anthony Bigornia, Senior Director of Corporate Strategy, Motorola Solutions
• Jeff Cantalupo, Founder & Managing Partner, Listen Ventures
• Anna Gabriella Casalme, Founder & CEO, Novelly
• Dieumerci Christel, Founder, Enlight App
• Justin Cohen, VP, Head of Banking, Avant
• Carlos Covarrubias, Associate, Hyde Park Ventures
• Jim Dallke, Senior Editor, American Inno
• Karl Darin, Vice President of Operations, Connected DMV
• Katherine Davis, Reporter, Crain’s Chicago Business
• Chris Deutsch, Founder, Lofty Ventures
• Joseph Dickstein, Co-Founder, Flowers for Dreams
• Adam Falkof, Attorney, Quarles & Brady LLP
• Jenny Fielding, General Partner, The Fund
• Caitie Gelhausen, Founder, Socket Lock-It
• Becky Getz, Head of Customer Experience, Operations, Amazon AWS
• Matthew Goldfine, Head of Industry, Retail, Google
• Jon Hennessy, Executive Director, Hughes Foundation
• Ryan Jeffery, Managing Director, gener8tor
• Hannah King, Founder & CEO, Woven Futures
• Jay Lin, Managing Partner, Tensuke Market
• Marisa Lucht, Senior Business Analyst, Capital One
• Kaeya Majmundar, Co-Founder, Swaypay
• Karem Perez, Executive Director, Motorola Solutions Foundation
• Ram Ramanan, Assurance Partner, EY
• Dr. Lynessa Rico, Director of M.S. Design Thinking and Entrepreneurship, National Louis University
• Laura Rossi, Managing Director – Tax, EY Private at EY
• Jason Silver, Founder, Attract Great Guys
• Stuart Sorkin, Former Chairman, CEO & President, Affy Tapple
• Katie Sowa, Director of Community, Sora Schools
• Kathy Steele, CEO, Red Caffeine
• Kimley Svendsen, CEO & Founder, Drive Talent
• Natalie Tessler, Member, Hyde Park Angels
• Dayanna Torres, Director, Blackstone Charitable Foundation
• Danielle Tubbs, CEO & Founder, Tubby’s Taste
• James Valdez, Partner, Beta Boom
• Deb Venable, Executive Coach/Principal, Defined Acceleration
• Rahul Wahi, Agency Principal, LLT Group
• Collin Wallace, CEO, ZeroStorefront
• Francis Wang, CEO, NanoGraf Corporation
• Pete Wilkins, Managing Director, Hyde Park Angels
• Kevin Willer, Partner, Chicago Ventures
• Tebe Williams, Co-Founder & COO, Volley
• Alex Zatvor, Founder, TravelZap
• James Zebrowski, Executive Director, Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization
• Tyler Zittergruen, Managing Director, Evercore

Volunteer Moderators:

• Mike Black, Founder & CEO, Told Media
• Braden Ericson, Founder, Sparrow Marketing
• Alon Gilboa, Co-Founder & CEO, Explority
• Imran Nuri, Founder, Really Good Headshots
• Swarnav Pujari, CEO, TouchLight
• Ben Weiss, Founder & CEO, Zcruit

U.Pitch is one of the opportunities Future Founders offers to support aspiring and existing 18 to 30-year-old entrepreneurs. This work is generously supported by Blackstone Charitable Foundation, Capital One, Keywell Foundation, The John E. & Jeanne T. Hughes Foundation, and J.Freeman Foundation.