{"id":3005,"date":"2023-03-10T11:16:43","date_gmt":"2023-03-10T16:16:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/departments\/entrepreneurship-and-innovation\/?p=3005"},"modified":"2024-04-29T13:39:25","modified_gmt":"2024-04-29T17:39:25","slug":"clark-tank-2023-and-beyond-winners-announced","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/departments\/entrepreneurship-and-innovation\/2023\/03\/10\/clark-tank-2023-and-beyond-winners-announced\/","title":{"rendered":"Clark Tank 2023 and Beyond – Winners Announced"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program<\/a> and School of Management<\/a> continue to inspire and fund Clark University<\/a> entrepreneurs through Clark Tank<\/a> events in many creative ways. Three of the four Clark Tank 2023<\/a> events have concluded with impressive students showcasing and pitching their ventures. The fourth event, Clark Tank Crowdfunding, is coming up in late April.<\/p>\n

Clark Tank Donors<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Clark Tank has emerged as the premier venture funding event on campus due to the generous funding donation of Clark alumni\u00a0 Samantha Goodman<\/a> (’11) and her father Michael Goodman. Their continued involvement and insight have spearheaded the unprecedented growth of Clark Tank in the last three years.<\/p>\n

Samantha was first attracted to the entrepreneurship program when she fell upon the student-run website<\/a> and was impressed by the student ventures and social awareness of Clark entrepreneurs. Samantha was looking to give back to Clark University and what she saw on the website aligned with her interest in social issue education and her venture Swing Issues Media. <\/a>\u00a0Swing Issues Media’s mission is to engage and inform our audience on the major issues affecting not only our country but the world \u2013 what we call Swing Issues. We believe that an informed population is best served to make good decisions to carry our country, and the world, into the future. All of our content aims to be factually accurate and to work as a starting point for our audience to further engage in the topics we discuss here. Hopefully, it will serve as the launching pad for future learning and active citizenship.<\/em><\/p>\n

The substantial growth of Clark Tank and the increased quality of student ventures have inspired other alumni to donate funding awards in identified categories. Generous alumni donors Debra Harrsch<\/a> (’80) CEO of Brandwidth Solutions earmarked $1000 to start the first Clark Tank Marketing Pitch Competition; Christina Bai<\/a> (MS ’12) philanthropist, entrepreneur, and investor provided two additional Community Impact awards of $500 in Venture Development; and Ryan Cohen<\/a> (MBA ’18) a serial entrepreneur in the cannabis industry added two $100 awards to the Business Pitch Competition.<\/p>\n

Clark Tank Committee 2023<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Kicking off the Clark Tank 2023 season, the Clark Tank Committee 2023, comprising three returning faculty\/staff members and two new additions, started by reviewing Clark Tank Venture Development applications back in October of 2023. This is the fifth year for member Teresa Quinn,<\/a> Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program Manager, and the fourth year for Jennifer Plante<\/a> (’00), Associate Dean of Academic Success, and Julie Bolduc<\/a>, Director of Student Employment. Added to the committee each year are Clark alumni and Clark Tank alumni and current students. This year Jose Castro <\/a>(’22) Bilingual Program Coordinator, EforAll Greater Worcester, and Sujhan Ghimire<\/a> (’23), and Clark Tank alumni (’20) filled those roles with great insight and expertise.<\/p>\n

An important order of business for the committee was to start the search for the Clark Tank 2023 logo. The yearly logo design contest resulted in the winning logo by Erica Cai (’26). Erica was honored as the designer at the Clark Tank Venture Development finals.<\/p>\n

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Clark Tank 2023 Logo Design Winner Erica Cai ’26<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The committee reviewed 30 student venture applications for consideration for Clark Tank Venture Development in October 2023. Of the 30 submitted applications, 26 students with 22 ventures were chosen by the Clark Tank 2023 Committee to move forward in the competition.<\/p>\n

Due to its popularity, the Venture Development event is the only Clark Tank event that requires an application process, however, this is a relatively new process. The interested student groups have substantially grown since 2018 with only one identified participant. With the continued awareness and growth of Clark Tank, the committee sees an application process in the future for additional events.<\/p>\n

Clark Tank Venture Development<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The 26 students accepted to Clark Tank Venture Development<\/a><\/em> enrolled in a class during the fall 2022 semester that covered topics from business development, finance, marketing, legal, sales, and of course, pitching. Alumni guests Guy Pistone<\/a> (’15), Crysta Spitzfaden<\/a> (’19), and Debra Harrsch (’80) stopped by class to share start-up insight or gave workshops on pitching and marketing. The students also chose a mentor to help them throughout the process. The required course is not for the faint of heart and truly tests the student’s commitment to the rigors of entrepreneurship and running a venture. No shame is levied on the student that decides next year might be a better time to compete, however, all students receive full course credit for finishing the class.<\/p>\n

After completion of the class, 18 student ventures accepted the challenge and moved forward to the semifinals. After hours of mentorship and practice the semifinalists presented their eight-minute pitch to the committee on February 10\u00a0 for passage to the finals. Although all participants made tremendous progress in their own right, it was only the top 12 that moved forward to the finals to pitch to a distinguished judging panel of alumni and community partners.<\/p>\n

Finals were on February 24 in Tilton Hall starting at 9:00am with participant tabling, and pitches at 10:15am. Each student was allowed 15 minutes to pitch their venture and field questions from the judges. The judges got down to business after the pitches concluded and deliberated to award funding. Winners were announced at 4:00pm in front of a packed house of participants, family, friends, and guests. For the third year in a row, the event was live-streamed with over 155 viewers tuning in throughout the day. A recording can be found on the student-run website www.clarkstudentventures.com.<\/a><\/p>\n

Judging Panel:<\/p>\n