Bucknell’s annual BizPitch, led by Steve Stumbris, is a competition open to full-time students, in which participants have the chance to present early-stage concepts for new products, companies or services to a panel of judges. For this “Shark Tank” style event, students spend months designing both their ideas and their extensive pitch, before, if selected as a finalist, they are able to ultimately present to the judges in hopes of receiving the first, second, third, fan favorite or changemaker award for a monetary prize to continue developing their concept.
This year’s Bizpitch finally took place earlier this week on Monday, April 13 and showcased six incredible concepts from members of Bucknell’s student body. The judges panel consisted of three Bucknell alumni each with a rich background in both marketing and production: Matt Hornbuckle ’07, a founder, brand builder and currently working on Fivestem.com, in the healthier for you food space; Jasmine Niernberger ’11, a Licensed Contractor and owner and partner of Brightwood Design+Build; and Sabrina Kautz ’06, a brand builder and business strategist.
The judge’s score sheets consisted of a comprehensive rubric that ultimately determined the final scores of each contestant. The categories are generally related to the following ideas: How they were able to describe a problem and their solution, demonstrate their market and customers, how innovative their concept was, how feasible the company is and of course, the pitch itself.
Before the finalists began, the competition first recognized this year’s ‘Rising Stars,’ a group of three first-years, Henry Melrose, Carter Applegate, Vance Johnson and their pitch, “Buck Block,” a customizable device to promote focus on students’ cell phones either through individual or institutional subscriptions.
Next, the finalists began to present their concepts to the judges.
“ForcedOut”
Business partners Jessica Benattar ’26 and Caitlyn Scott ’27 gave the first pitch of the evening for their product, “ForcedOut,” a thoughtfully designed glove liner, intended to protect soccer goalies’ hands in cold and wet conditions and thereby prevent injuries. Both Benattar and Caitlyn Scott are members of the Bucknell Women’s Soccer team, as a goalkeeper and midfielder, respectively and offered valuable insight into the need for an underglove liner designed for keeping warm and dry without sacrificing performance. The glove itself is designed with merino wool on the back, mesh between each finger and Polartec on the palm; Benattar and Scott explained that these materials make the gloves both washable and inexpensive to make.
The business partners were then asked follow-up questions by each judge, which offered more insight into future ideas, including their plans to launch their completed product and expand the market, potentially beyond just soccer goalies.
“Milnk”
Emanneul Mudungwe ’28 gave the next pitch for “Milnk,” a personal career assistant for college students, designed to help cultivate meaningful relationships and keep track of key activities so they can be better prepared for every step of the recruiting process. The app is already at the end of production and ready to launch; some of its features include advice for creating professional relationships, interview coaching, elevator pitch practice and task management. He reiterated that what makes “Milnk” stand out from alternatives is that it helps you integrate apps you already use into one manageable place. The first target audience for subscription is, of course, college students, then involved parents and finally, potentially college career centers.
The judge’s follow-up questions allowed him to elaborate further on more attributes of the app, including its low price compared to others on the market and potentially considering additional features like networking.
“Avakas Lab”
SooAh Lay ’27 was next to pitch her product, which was the CanSat Learning kit, a hands-on engineering education kit and supplementary learning platform that brings accessible, structured satellite design programs to middle and high school students. She explained that as a young child interested in STEM and engineering, there weren’t any hands-on experiences relating to these fields. With her CanSat kit, young and eager students are able to work with a miniature satellite built around real space exploration concepts, including coding, data collection, engineering and testing.
The follow-up questions by the judges provided more insight into the product such as its ability to be used more than once and the supplemental web-based learning platform that comes with the kit.
“Club Ralley”
Abby Platt ’26 and Jaycie Mair ’27, members of the Bucknell Women’s Tennis team, gave their pitch next for “Club Ralley,” a network for athletes to connect and continue playing sports after leaving their team. They explained how, after leaving a structured team environment, it can be hard to replicate something like that with the sport you love. The app itself can be filtered by sport and skill level, so users can find others nearby interested in playing or potentially creating a team. They plan to finish the app development and beta testing before beginning in major cities.
Platt and Mair offered more insight in response to judges’ questions, such as their plans to hopefully collaborate with fitness brands and recreational centers, as well as their recent testing event in Dallas, which was incredibly successful.
“iKUSASA”
Omuhle Ndhlovu ’27 was next to make a pitch and shared the concept for iKUSASA, a youth-led innovation initiative driving change in Zimbabwe by taking what’s wasted to create opportunity.
Ndhlovu explained how seventy percent of youth in Zimbabwe are unemployed and there are 170,000 tons of food wasted annually. iKUSASA offers a solution for both of these problems. The project would take what is wasted and instead create jobs and products by turning waste into an agricultural system as feed to both sell to farmers and foster poultry, while employing, empowering and training the youth of Zimbabwe.
The follow-up questions helped to clarify and elaborate on iKUSASA; Ndhlovu explained that the initiative already has potential partnerships and a wide population of youth interested and excited about the jobs offered.
“Local Loop”
The last pitch of the night was given by Anna Ottman ’26, for her app, “Local Loop,” a personalized local discovery app that connects consumers with small businesses nearby. Small businesses can do a free basic listing, or pay a small monthly premium, much cheaper than alternatives, to offer promotions and discounts. Ottman noted that in both small towns and bustling cities, it can be incredibly hard to find things to do, but the problem isn’t what to do, it’s how to find it. This social-media-like app curates a feed that can be filtered by finance and distance, where consumers can find places near them and see what friends are doing too.
The follow-up questions presented by the jobs allowed Ottman to expand more on the app, including its focus on charging the stores a small, reasonable price, while keeping it free for consumers and her plans for continuing production.
After a Q&A portion with past BizPitch winner Elizabeth Malley and fan favorite Mikey Brant, the judges came to their final decision about the evening’s results:
First place: “iKUSASA,” Omuhle Ndhlovu ’27 ($6,000)
Second Place: “Avakas Lab,” SooAh Lay ’27 ($2,500)
Change Maker: “Avakas Lab,” SooAh Lay ’27 ($2,500)
Third (tie): “Club Ralley,” Abby Platt ’26 & Jaycie Mair ’27 ($2,000)
Third (tie): “ForcedOut,” Jessica Benattar ’26 & Caitlyn Scott ’27 ($2,000)
Fan Favorite: “Local Loop,” Anna Ottman ’26 ($1,846)
