Second Annual Iona Innovation Challenge Winners Announced
Iona College's Hynes Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation hosted its second annual Iona Innovation Challenge final pitch event with $6,000 in cash prizes.
NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. – Iona University's Hynes Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation hosted its second annual Iona Innovation Challenge final pitch event with $6,000 in cash prizes. Participating students had the opportunity to pitch ideas that tackled real-world problems. Student teams self-selected their solutions into one of three tracks - business ventures: ideas driven by value creation through economic returns; social entrepreneurship: ideas driven by social change; and technology innovations: ideas driven by technological innovations.
Christoph Winkler, Ph.D., endowed professor and founding program director, welcomed the full house of Iona students, faculty, staff, mentors and Westchester community members.
"We are building a program that gives students across all schools and disciplines an opportunity to explore their entrepreneurial potential; allowing them to take ownership of their learning, and putting themselves at the center of their success," said Winkler.
The two-month competition began with the Iona Innovation Kickoff on February 8, with 18 teams and 31 students.
"Today, we are excited to hear from the finalists; the nine teams that have come this far and put in the effort to get to where they are,” said Lendynette Pacheco-Jorge, assistant director of curricular & co-curricular programming.
Pacheco-Jorge reminded the crowd their journey included three milestones that consisted of a 30-second pitch, a 1000-word executive summary and a 10-slide pitch deck. Teams attended workshops such as ideation, business modeling, pitch prep, and more. They engaged with mentors and local entrepreneurs throughout the challenge, who then nominated teams to present to judges on the final pitch event.
The judges for the evening included: James P. Hynes '69, '01H; Anne Marie Hynes, Esq.; Danielle Butin, MPH, OTR; Sean O’Shea '13, MS '14; and Darrell Wheeler Ph.D., MPH, ACSW. Judges listened to four-minute pitches that were followed by a Q&A. The final pitches were judged on eight criteria: feasibility, uniqueness, market need, impact, cost of implementation, ease of implementation, idea articulation, and overall impression.
The nine teams ended the night on a high note with a classic big check, with prize money ranging from $250 to $1,000.
The Hynes Institute congratulates all students and teams who participated and made the experience a success.
Business Venture Track
FIRST PLACE - $1,000
SHOTCA: A digital socio-economic marketplace merging innovative technology with the lucrative online art market.
Raymond Carapella ’20, Anthony Danial ’20, Rushabh Singh ’21, Jonathan Valle ’20
SECOND PLACE - $500
Bright: A subscription-based box that delivers engaging & cognitive activities to elderly who may suffer from mental illness.
Amanda McCormack ’19
THIRD PLACE - $250
RedZone: Sports newsletter for businesswomen to keep them informed of the world of sports.
Colin Longsdon ’22, Wynn Johnson ’22
Social Entrepreneurship Track
FIRST PLACE - $1,000
Entrepreneurial Adventure Camp: Design thinking camp accelerating entrepreneurship education. Lisbeth Baez ’20, Sabita Dhanpaul ’20
SECOND PLACE - $500
KOMIDA Food Systems: Re-thinking the way we grow produce using an advanced closed-looped system. Alberto Goncalves ’20
THIRD PLACE - $250
The People’s Kitchen: Helping achieve the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals, specifically to produce and consume responsibly, and to eradicate hunger. Alexandra Arluna ’19
Technology Innovations Track
FIRST PLACE - $1,000
Generation Access: An app that conducts hair assessments and matches users with products for their hair type. Maimouna Mbacke ’20
SECOND PLACE - $500
Intonate: A voice coaching app for people seeking to alter their vocal range, pitch, resonance, and intonation. James Shoptaugh ’20
THIRD PLACE - $250
StayPut: A software application that allows users to order food directly to their seat at stadium venues. Vishnu Mackenchery ’20, Santi Mascolo, Phil Raviele ’21, Anthony Scimeca ’19
Fan Favorite Track
A 2-week social media competition where the semi-finalists crowdsourced likes on Instagram.
WINNER - $750
SHOTCA: A digital socio-economic marketplace merging innovative technology with the lucrative online art market. Raymond Carapella ’20, Anthony Danial ’20, Rushabh Singh ’21, Jonathan Valle ’20
ABOUT IONA
Founded in 1940, Iona University is a master's-granting private, Catholic, coeducational institution of learning in the tradition of the Edmund Rice Christian Brothers. Iona's 45-acre New Rochelle campus and 28-acre Bronxville campus are just 20 miles north of Midtown Manhattan. With a total enrollment of nearly 4,000 students and an alumni base of more than 50,000 around the world, Iona is a diverse community of learners and scholars dedicated to academic excellence and the values of justice, peace and service. Iona is highly accredited, offering undergraduate degrees in liberal arts, science and business administration, as well as Master of Arts, Master of Science and Master of Business Administration degrees and numerous advanced certificate programs. Iona students enjoy small class sizes, engaged professors and a wide array of academic programs across the School of Arts & Science; LaPenta School of Business; NewYork-Presbyterian Iona School of Health Sciences; and Hynes Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation. Iona is widely recognized in prestigious rankings, including The Princeton Review’s 2025 national list of “The Best 390 Colleges” and The Wall Street Journal/College Pulse’s “2024 Best Colleges in America,” which ranked Iona at #66 in the nation overall and #8 in the nation among Catholic schools. Iona’s LaPenta School of Business is also accredited by AACSB International, a recognition awarded to just six percent of business schools worldwide. In addition, The Princeton Review recognized Iona’s on-campus MBA program as a “Best Business School for 2023.” Iona also offers a fully online MBA program for even greater flexibility. In July 2021, Iona announced the establishment of the NewYork-Presbyterian Iona School of Health Sciences, which is now principally located on Iona’s Bronxville campus in collaboration with NewYork-Presbyterian. Connecting to its Irish heritage, the University also recently announced it is expanding abroad with a new campus in County Mayo, Ireland. A school on the rise, Iona officially changed its status from College to University on July 1, 2022, reflecting the growth of its academic programs and the prestige of an Iona education.