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At the 11th annual Ole Cup, a panel of entrepreneurial alumni and parents judged 10 different business pitches presented by St. Olaf College students and awarded thousands of dollars in prize money to support the development of their start-ups.

The Ole Cup was conceived by the late Brad Cleveland ’82, CEO of Proto Labs, who wanted St. Olaf students to realize how much fun it can be to be an entrepreneur. Hosted each year by the St. Olaf Piper Center for Vocation and Career, the entrepreneurial competition has helped launch successful businesses like JonnyPops, Red Foods, Teranga Strings, The Shop 1500, and the Ole Thrift Shop, as well as social ventures such as Elimisha Kakuma, founded by Mary Maker ’23. 

This year, Hamzah Azzam ’27 won first place for his pitch for LeafyGoods, a business idea that seeks to transform fallen leaves into biodegradable tableware. Azzam will receive $10,000 to support his venture, which was inspired by the seasonal leaves he has encountered throughout his life — from his home in Lebanon, to his time at United World College in Norway, and now at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. As the winner, Azzam advances directly to the semifinal round of the Minnesota Cup student division, where he’ll compete for the grand prize of $50,000.

“I see the Ole Cup growing even more than it already has because there is an institutional focus and commitment to innovation, and that’s only going to skyrocket,” says Meghan Anderson, Piper Center Associate Director

Mohamed Radalla ’25 and Kate Zhylinskaya ’25 won second place for their pitch for Socrates, an institution-specific AI tool designed to instantly answer common questions and simplify meeting bookings. They will receive $5,000 to support the launch of Socrates, with the hope that their product will lead to a significant reduction in the time students, advisors, and administrators spend searching for information. 

Cathal Mee ’27 won third place for his pitch for Roseville Tennis Camps. Mee, who is a member of the St. Olaf Men’s Tennis Team, will receive $3,000 to support his business venture. Mee started his tennis camps two years ago, renting courts in Roseville, Minnesota, and offering lessons to the community at affordable prices. Roseville Tennis Camps seeks to provide a fresh, creative, and affordable alternative to traditional lessons for athletes of all ages.

Lea Komba ’28 won the Best Social Venture award and will receive $5,000 for her social nonprofit Biso based in Angola. Biso, inspired by the Lingala phrase Biso na Biso, was created a couple of years ago by a group of young Angolan students — including Komba — who wanted to address a crucial problem:

“The fact that our educational system in Angola lacked an intersectional curriculum that combined art, culture, social innovation, and technology,” explained Komba during her presentation.

Biso seeks to create a hybrid hub that blends digital and physical spaces to teach social change and provide a platform for young Angolan changemakers to learn skills, engage in activism, and learn about current affairs. With her Ole Cup win, Komba will now be moving to the Global Finals of the Fowler Global Social Innovation Challenge at the University of St. Thomas, where she can win up to $25,000.

Andrea Hanson ’25, Rain Hartos ’25, Victory Ma ’26, and Rasmey Eav ’27 earned the People’s Choice Award, receiving $1,000 for their venture: BloomMates. BloomMates is an app focused on supporting mental well-being by reimagining digital connection through a blend of daily journaling, virtual gardening, and meaningful floral gifting. The application rewards users with real coupons redeemable at local florists, encouraging both personal reflection and community engagement.

After a morning of 10 presentations from student entrepreneurs — each followed by questions from judges — Greta Wodarcyk ’13 gave a keynote address titled How I Realized I was an Entrepreneur. She described her journey as a chemistry and music double major at St. Olaf, through her graduate Ph.D. program, to her first position at a pharmaceutical research company. She is now the co-founder and principal of CatalystBio, a global life sciences advisory firm dedicated to moving first-in-class, first-in-kind technologies off the bench and into the clinic. Rather than framing it as a journey of becoming an entrepreneur, Wordarcyk framed it as a journey of realizing that she was an entrepreneur.

“Entrepreneurism is something that everyone has, but others have more of it than others. You realize it over time,” Wodarcyk told Ole Cup attendees.

Piper Center Associate Director Meghan Anderson, who organizes Ole Cup and mentors the students who compete, was impressed by the work each team put into their pitch.

“There are many apps that are being pitched this year, and while that’s not something that is uncommon, what’s been brilliant and incredible to see is the apps are already developed and sold on the app store,” Anderson says. “Typically for this competition it’s wireframing and some proof-of-concept images. But this year there were more apps that were launched on the app store and people were already buying the products.”

Anderson adds that she sees Ole Cup continuing to grow, bolstered by the college’s new strategic plan.

“I see the Ole Cup growing even more than it already has because there is an institutional focus and commitment to innovation, and that’s only going to skyrocket,” she says. “At the Piper Center, students are at the core of everything we do. We want to put students and innovation together.”

Watch the full Ole Cup competition below.