The Second Annual UCI Blackstone LaunchPad ANTrepreneur Awards honored dedicated UCI entrepreneurs for their hard work throughout the year.
The night began with opening remarks from David Ochi, executive director of Blackstone LaunchPad, who welcomed the audience and described the format of the ceremony. “We have structured this event like an Oscars; in other words, there is not one ANTrepreneur of the Year Award that we just honor one person for being the best ANTrepreneur of the Year,” Ochi explained. “There’s a Best Movie but there’s also a lot of other awards, and that’s really designed to help you to see what other ANTrepreneurs are doing that really are outstanding efforts in areas of entrepreneurship.”
With over twenty-five award categories, Ochi and Blackstone LaunchPad Assistant Director Breanna Bremer alternated in introducing the different awards. Bremer and the Blackstone LaunchPad interns presented awards to the winners. In lieu of an acceptance speech, each winner gave a thirty second pitch describing their business to the audience of ANTrepreneurs, mentors, friends, and families. The event also recognized five ANTrepreneur advocates for their continued support of the Blackstone LaunchPad program and their pivotal roles in fostering entrepreneurship at UCI.
The ceremony culminated with the 2016 ANTrepreneur of the Year award which was presented to Mark Deppe for eSports. Inspired by the ever-growing competitive video gaming industry, eSports is a UCI initiative that will be launched in the fall and will help UCI become a larger player in the world of gaming and organized multiplayer video game competitions. The eSports program will center around competition, academics, community and entertainment. The initiative will bring scholarships and teamwork to support UCI’s video gaming research and community. “We’re the first public school to go into competitive video games,” said Deppe.
ANTrepreneur winners:
Jessica Quiki
Foxi
Best Female Owned Business
Joseph Cachapero
Free Clinic Project
Best Non-Profit Startup
Tyler Schiller
Shark Fin
Best Original Idea
Brett Weir
Lamestation
Best Marketing Technique
Fulya Ozcan
Beatpool
Best App
Brian Leung
BottleRocket
Best Growth Strategy
Maslow Construction Robots
Best Environmental and Corporate Sustainability
Yasemin Sarigul-Klijn
Red Lion Robotics
Best Female Innovator
Ramin Rajaii
Mindfull
Best Male Innovator
Cyrus Taghehchian
Flyt
Visionary of the Year
Natalie Sweis
FailSafe
Most Improved
Esosa Agbonwaneten
Bulletin, LLC
Most Dedicated
Eric Casavant
Newport Flips
Best Bootstrapping
Nathaniel Dalerio
Serious Side Projects
Best Prototype
Evan Schein
Memorlane
Best Pivot
Manisha Priyadarshini
Xchange
Best Problem
Students
Social Sciences 189
Best Crowdfunding Campaign
Karan Kanwar
Pippy
Best Intellectual Property
Michaela Holland
Anteater TV
Most Impactful for the UCI Campus
Crystal Sanchez
Guardian Locket
Most Potential for Societal Impact
Carol Choi, Michael Dennin, Bill Maurer, Kristie Lin, and Annette Buckley
ANTrepreneur Advocate
Alton Chisom
Versafit
Best Alumni ANTrepreneur
Gina Heitkamp
Middle School Moguls
Best Fundraiser
Bart Greenberg
Mentor of the Year
Tom Schultz
Ideator
Supporter of the Year
Mark Deppe
UCI eSports
ANTrepreneur of the Year