Finals
May 1st, 2021 @ 7 PM
Click below to play the final broadcast!
Join us as seven teams compete for their share of $25,000!
How it works
Each team advancing to the finals has made it through a rigorous round of review by independent reviewers, who scored the teams’ pitches based on criteria such as their solution to a real problem, their forecasted costs & revenue, and their unfair advantage.
Now, each team will pitch to a panel of judges. Presentations will be 8 minutes long followed by 6 minutes of Q&A.
The Competitors
BlockShare
BlockShare is a community-based mobile platform that facilitates the renting of assets between neighbors.
Ethan Raynaud ’22
Fisher Koons ’22
G.I. Fido
G.I. Fido is a student founded venture dedicated to creating fashionable, patriotic dog accessories that also give back to the Veteran community. Each product is handcrafted from used military uniforms and a portion of each sale is given to a local charity to help cover the cost of a trained service dog for a disabled veteran.
Olivia Whiteman ’23
Sophia Whiteman
Resense
Resense is a customized box of products designed specifically to bring comfort and ease of transition to patients going through the early stages of alzheimer’s and dementia.
Luke Gilligan ’24
Lydia Young ’22
Ethan David ’24
sidekickk
sidekickk is the podcast management platform that streamlines the podcasters workflow from scheduling to distribution, where they can collaborate with their team, automate repetitive tasks, and discover the right experts who can help them meet their goals.
Cameron Suorsa ’21
Eric Dudgeon ’21
*Jeffrey Pew ’22
*Meredith Egeland ’19
*Jonathan Brutt ’17
*Not pictured
Habitat
Habitat is a company that provides habit-building cleaning tools for kids to elementary school / special ed teachers.
Juliana Smith ’22
Patty Jo Nickoloff ’21
Aby Griffith ’21
Decipher
Decipher is an online platform combatting the misconstrued perception of dyslexia and late diagnosis. In addition, our online platform will equip parents and teachers with proper tools to accurately understand and recognize dyslexic indicators in children.
Sarah Smith ’22
Lillian Jeynes ’22
Embark Health
An app empowering neurodegenerative disease patients to own their disease and equips them and their caregivers with the educational resources, disease management tools, and support network they need to do so.
Lizzy Higgins ’21
Elizabeth Finnegan ’21
Results
How much $$$ did each team walk away with?
Embark Health: $12,115
Resense: $6,240*
Sidekickk: $3,070
Decipher: $1,600
Habitat: $1,450*
BlockShare: $1,350
G.I. Fido: $1,225**
*Fan Favorite Award Winners:
Habitat
Resense
**Redemptive Impact Award Winner:
G.I. Fido
Wolverine Venture Battle 2021 Sponsors
Heartfelt thanks to our sponsors for their generous support.
WOLVERINE DONORS
Laura (Koller ’11) and RJ Fryan ‘08
The Pentz Family: Mark ‘81, Cheri ‘79, Michael ‘06, Yvonne ‘06
Mark and June (Hart) Brody ’83
The Streiff Family: Robert ’15, Joan ’81, and Tom
Skip Hauser ’68
The Habbershon Family:
Tim ’81, Grant ’06, Meredith ’07, Jonathan ’09, and Natalie ‘11
Elizabeth (Smith ’81) and Peter Hanley
Dan Creston ’81
John & Betsy Baun Charitable Foundation (Pittsburgh Foundation)
Susan (Peshek ’81) and Peter Durfee ‘80
Kitty (Henneman ’92) and Brian Young ‘92
Bill Smith ’69
The Kiska Family: Stan ’85, Deanna ’87, Evan ’20, and Lauren
Jeff Moxie ’80
IN-KIND SUPPORT
Cedric E. Lewis, JD/MBA
Thank you to our Reviewers!
Our reviewers faced the difficult task of narrowing the field of competitors down to the seven finalist teams.
| Bob Baierl |
| Frances Baldwin |
| Chris Botting ’83 |
| Richard Cessar ’73 |
| Kelly Costello ’07 |
| Meredith (Bachman ’08) Cote |
| Craig Creaturo ’92 |
| Jeff Curran ’85 |
| Jay DiNucci ’87 |
| John Emery ’75 |
| Ruth (Dykstra ’07) Entwistle |
| Chuck Gaetano ’74 |
| Alex Graham ’62 |
| Glenn Grossman |
| Lissa Hilsee ’80 |
| William Howell ’81 |
| Edward Huttenhower ’76 |
| Melissa (Marshall ’92) Jacobs |
| Barbara (Spotz ’79) Johnson |
| Bob Keller ’73 |
| Andy Kmiec ’96 |
| Karolina Lagerquist ’16 |
| Beth (Fox ’96) Lepore |
| Don Lockhart ’67 |
| Evan Lowe ’89 |
| Beth (Ranker ’96) Marraccini |
| Drew McCandless ’84 |
| Glenn McDonald ’76 |
| Scott McDowell ’87 |
| Winifred (Williams ’77) McGee |
| Alan Mesches ’71 |
| William Messner ’96 |
| Ronald Miller ’75 |
| Brian Montgomery ’96 |
| Tyler Nichols ’11 |
| Robin Parsons |
| John Romain ’85 |
| Steven Roman ’96 |
| Daniel Rossi-Keen ’99 |
| John Roush |
| Kelly Shields ’97 |
| Zoe Simek ’14 |
| Zachary Smith ’15 |
| Allyson (Baird ’88) Sveda |
| Chris Tobias |