Michelle McEacharn, dean of the College of Business and Social Sciences, announced the six teams competing in the final round of the Entrepreneurship Pelican Cup last Friday.
A hands-on business plan competition, the Pelican Cup encourages future entrepreneurs to solve local problems through innovation and creativity. Participating students worked with faculty mentors to create a business proposal, ranging from medical devices to iPhone apps.
This year, 22 teams participated in the Pelican Cup, spending months drafting and editing business plans. Judges selected two ULM teams as finalists: Trigworks and SketchMan. Automatic AI, LLC entered the finals, representing the University of New Orleans. Tulane University partnered with the University of Louisiana Lafayette to form finalist WavRC. Students from Southeastern University and Tulane University collaborated, creating Cantaloupe AI. Lastly, a third team from Tulane University, Tipzy, qualified for the Pelican Cup finals.
These six lucky teams must endure two more rounds of competition to claim the coveted cup.
On March 26, the finalists will deliver oral presentations to a panel of judges, who select the top three competitors. Finally, the CBSS will host an elevator pitch competition during which a representative from each finalist team spends 90 seconds pitching an idea to the judges.
The prize pool for the 2024 competition equals over $96K. The first-place winner will receive $50K, while $25K and $10K will be awarded to the second-place and third-place winners respectively. Additionally, the top three teams’ faculty advisors will receive $3K each. Furthermore, the winner of the Elevator Pitch will be granted a cash prize of $2K.
After announcing the finalists, McEacharn praised the Pelican Cup as a unique opportunity that benefits both students and Louisianans. She said that competing students deserve the hefty cash prize and recognition for changing thousands of lives each year.
“We are so excited for what has happened with this competition and how this change in the landscape of the state of Louisiana and change in the lives of students across the state of Louisiana,” McEacharn said.
