2017 Ole Cup Participants
ChocNoire: Rudorwamwari Nyakanda ’19 and Gabriela Lucia Nesheim ’20 (Second Prize Winner)
Every day Black women around the world are stigmatized for their dark skin by the unavailability of beauty products that complement their skin tones. Research has proven that the makeup industry’s white Eurocentric beauty ideals, consequentially leading to the unavailability of shades for brown skin, has led to many black women bleaching their skin to fit beauty standards. Diversity in lipstick shades alone has the power to compel confidence in Black women. ChocNoire lipstick palettes are specially formulated to suit the diverse skin tones and personalities of the modern Black woman.
Nimble Fingers: Precious Ismail ’17 (Best Social Venture)
The Nimble Fingers Project aims to equip 20 young women from low-income backgrounds in Lagos, Nigeria over a period of 6 weeks with vocational skills and materials needed to create and run a sustainable small-scale business. Empowering young women in this way allows them to become financially independent, and provides an alternative solution to underage marriage. To effectively target the problem of violence against women and build peace within the community, both education and the support of the community is necessary. Nimble Fingers aims to create systems that eliminate the cultural factors of patriarchal dominance that perpetuate violence against women.
StudyForth: Sam Burian ’20
In high school, we struggled with studying and college applications. The only advice online was didactic and boring. We believe doing well in high school and attending college have a profound impact on one’s life, so we created Study Forth to teach high schoolers these skills. We have been publishing articles and videos for 20 months, have reached 4,200 unique visitors, and are working with high school staff to develop and share our content. Having just finished high school, we understand this generation of technologically savvy high schoolers and can provide a more engaging and understanding peer to peer perspective.
Eurosploring: Franz Harris ’18
Are you a DIY traveler that doesn’t want someone to hold your hand or make decisions for you? Do you want to explore a mountain canyon or ride a dirt-scooter down the Matterhorn, or are you more interested in seeing museums? “Eurosploring” allows you to “get off the beaten path” and travel as a local, or see all the places you want to see on your own time, allowing you to have a much more fulfilling cultural experience. The idea behind “Eurosploring” is to help travelers experience foreign culture as a local. Our staff will meet the travelers at their destination and will provide an orientation. Travelers will be sent on their way with a GPS and/or a cell phone for guidance and communication while “Eurosploring.”
Konnyaku Cream: Anders Cologne ’17 and Marja Ronnholm-Howland ’17
The Turkish ice cream Maraş Dondurma has a unique chewy and elastic texture. Despite market demand, it lacks wide distribution in the United States, and is unavailable in Minnesota. This is due to the monetary and legal challenges of acquiring the ingredient which gives it its texture, Salep flour. Konnyaku Cream will produce Maraş Dondurma of similar quality and at a cheaper price point by replacing Salep with Japanese Konnyaku Flour. Konnyaku Cream will establish a loyal local following through a grassroots marketing campaign, and proceed to disrupt and take a share of the traditional US ice cream market.
The Photobay: Edward Veem ’17 and Siimon Sander ‘18 (Third Prize Winner)
The service industry is rapidly being redefined through services like Uber and AirBnB, but the photography sector has not yet experienced similar transformations. People need high-quality photographs for social media platforms, websites, and businesses more than ever, but finding a photographer takes time and is expensive. ThePhotoBay is an online platform that connects aspiring photographers with anyone who needs high quality photographs but cannot afford them. We connect the parties, people get their photos done for free and aspiring photographers get to expand their portfolio and experience. ThePhotoBay is photography made accessible to everyone, anywhere.
Warble: Jakob Otten ’19, Danny Harrington ’19, Elliot Carson ’19, and Griffin House ’19
Currently, if you and your friend want to listen to the same music at the same time, you’re out of luck. Warble is a social music application that remedies this problem by allowing users to start personal music broadcasts that anyone around them can join. Whatever the group leader plays on their phone is broadcasted to the other phones in the group; it’s like making your own radio station to enjoy with your friends! None of the connected phones listening to your broadcast need to own any of the music you play- they can simply enjoy your djing. Warble opens the door for runners, cyclers, weightlifters, and fitness enthusiasts of all stripes to connect with each other on a new level while working out, revamping their traditional exercise experience.
SEdLIC: Leonard Vibbi ‘17
Sustainable Education in Low Income Countries (SEdLIC), a hybrid technology company; provides affordable and high standard education for Low Income Countries in Africa. SEdLIC will develop and deploy a digital platform that provides free unlimited learning resources curated to fit academic curriculums in colleges. By working with teachers/professors in colleges to create affordable supplementary digital educational contents for students, we solve the pain problems of low salaries and poor condition of service for teachers/professors through provision of extra source of income. SEdLIC is poised to make a win- win learning platform for teachers/professors and students in Africa.
Check-paint: Vitaly Ievlev ‘18
Check-paint is a business of assembling and selling painting guide kits. The product is a modified version of Paint by Numbers. Unlike its main competitor, Check-paint enables the customers to be more creatively involved in the process. At the same time, it preserves and amplifies the main competitive advantage of Paint by Numbers: the ease and accessibility of making big scale paintings for people who have no fine-arts background. This product addresses an underserved need coming from inexperienced hobby artists (majority). The need is for a simple step-by-step painting guide which has everything necessary to create one great painting.
Prometheus: Andrew Lee‘18 and Magnus Cardell ‘18
The nixie alarm clock is a device that combines the beauty of analog design and intelligence of modern programming. The unique appeal of nixie tube displays are by themselves a relic of the past but by connecting them to your smartphone, they can become a part of everyday life. Our nixie clock can be controlled wirelessly from your phone or desktop to set the alarm time, melody, time format, and other aesthetic features. The problem with modern alarm clocks today is that none incorporate all of the three following attributes: beauty, convenience, and functionality. Our product incorporates all three. Beauty is achieved by the nostalgic design of the nixie tubes. Convenience comes from the simple user interface where the user controls their alarms and settings. Functionality is accomplished by its ability to pair with an existing sound system through Bluetooth. It is a feature rich product with a high-end design for a moderate price.
Da Vinci Industries: Anthony Valiulis ‘19 (First Prize Winner)
Da Vinci Industries is determined to bring innovation to point of sale technology. We want to revolutionize the retail world through inventory tracking technology. Our first product, AcuTrack, has to potential to save retail stores millions of dollars every year by streamlining the way the industry tracks products. Our goal is to help retail stores across the nation streamline their inventory tracking systems and inventory management.
The Schedule
Welcome & Registration
8:30 a.m. – Coffee and pastries (Buntrock Crossroads)
Business Pitches in Viking Theater (Buntrock Commons)
9:05am – ChocNoire
9:15am – Nimble Fingers
9:25am – StudyForth
9:35am – Eurosploring
9:45am – Konnyaku Cream
9:55am – The Photobay
10:05am – Break
10:15am – Warble
10:25am – SEdLIC
10:35am – Check-paint
10:45am – Prometheus
10:55am – Da Vinci Industries
Meet the Students (Buntrock Crossroads)
11:15 a.m. – Reception in Buntrock Crossroads to meet the students pitching
Lunch & Awards Ceremony in Valhalla (Buntrock Commons 3rd floor)
11:45 a.m. – Keynote by Allison Gettings ’05, Product Manager Red Wing Shoe Co.
1:00 p.m. – Event concludes
Judges Ole Cup 2017:
Allison Gettings ’05, Product Manager Red Wing Shoe Co. (Keynote Speaker)
Adam Gettings ’04, Co-Founder at RoboteX and Travel Sherpa
Connor Wray ’14, CFO, Jonny Pops
Dick Vogen P’95/’99, Logistics Technology Consultant
Jennifer Sawyer ’94, Principal, Rebound Enterprises
John Long ’91, CEO, Avionte
Jonathan Pearce ’01, CEO, Zipnosis
Leslie Moore ’77, Director, Piper Center for Vocation and Career (Ex-Officio Non-Voting Member)
Megan Tsui ’96, Executive Director, Red Wing Downtown Main Street
Roberto Zayas, Associate Director, Entrepreneurship (Ex-Officio Non-Voting Member)
Sian Muir, Entrepreneur In-Residence, St. Olaf College (Ex-Officio Non-Voting Member)