More than $50,000 was won by six competitors in the eighth annual USC Proving Ground.
Proving Ground is a Shark Tank-style competition where contestants are allotted five minutes to present their innovative ideas to three judges.
Tina Abbasi and Drew Ferguson received the Avenir Discovery Prize, which includes a check worth $17,500 for their app navibās — a program that focuses on geological networking and emergency services during crowded events such as sporting events or festivals. navibās uses existing smartphone hardware to allow the user to connect with others at the event when their phone doesn’t have any cell reception. This app would also allow EMS services to find your location if you needed any assistance according to Ferguson.
“This really gets the giant ball rolling,” Ferguson said, when asked what the $17,500 will do for his business. He was inspired to create the app when he was unable to contact with his friend even after 10 phone calls at a music festival in Florida.
Jason Thomas received the Maxient Innovation Prize worth $17,500 for his app Sow Inc. The app connects farmers to consumers who crave farm fresh food. Thomas says he wants to create a platform where farmers can list their goods and consumers are able to buy the goods straight from their phone and have their purchases delivered to them.
Thomas’s goal is to connect the farmer with the community.
“It makes it a personal experience instead of just a transaction,” Thomas said. Thomas urges consumers to shop locally to preserve community farmers he says are in critical condition.
“The coolest part is knowing that this is not just and idea anymore; it’s reality and it’s something that I can pursue,” he said. He’s eager to work full-time on Sow Inc. beginning this summer after graduation.
Judge Aaron Hark, co-founder of software company Maxient, warned the entrepreneurs that no product is a guaranteed success.
“Not every idea is going to be a mass market success, not every idea will be successful, that’s part of entrepreneurship, you try and you fail,” Hark said.
Zachary Carlton received the SCRA Technology Ventures Fan Favorite Prize, which was voted on by audience members. This prize was worth $5,000 for his agribusiness Amoya-Agri. Amoya-Agri focuses on sustaining the production of cash crops in east Africa by leasing farmland to small and mid-sized farmers.
“A lot a stress and blood, sweat and tears went into this, so it feels really good,” Carlton said.
Carlton wants to help develop a model that gives “the small farmer more power, more autonomy and access to a model that turned their labor into productivity and profit.”
Judge Candice Hark, co-founder of Maxient with Hark, emphasized the importance of drive in entrepreneurs.
“Drive — somebody who really believes in their idea and has the energy and the passion to make it happen,” Hark said. And if they aren’t driven, “it can fall flat.”
But the other three final competitors didn’t go home empty-handed; In fact, they raked in a combined $12,500.
Matthew Testa received a $5,000 check for his product Kooler Wheels. This product is simply a set of wheels that can be placed on coolers to transport more efficiently. Kooler Wheels was presented on various Yeti coolers, but Testa said the wheels can fit other coolers as well.
Chris McKinney and Hanna Lamm won a $5,000 check for their business Blue Chip AI. Blue Chip AI uses artificial intelligence to manage data analysis for mid-to-large-sized businesses. Currently, Blue Chip AI is able to operate at 10 percent of the cost of other solutions in the market.
Mason Eckley won a $2,500 check for his app Mudita U, which updates users on athletes they wish to follow. Mudita U uses the NCAA database and the team databases to stat-track the athletes and sends push notifications to the user’s phone.
“All the folks should really keep going and pressing even if they didn’t win,” Hark said.
Brittany Strampp, a second-year global supply chain and operations student who attended the event, said she was inspired to see past and current winners who share the same “drive, that entrepreneurship spirit to keep going.”