Feliciano Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation
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May 7, 2018

Winners ecstatic in $80,000 BulbHead.com student pitch contest

Posted in: Events, Young Entrepreneurs

Students on the winning team, Wheatpaste, celebrate as their name is called at the 2018 BulbHead pitch contest.
Students on the winning team, Wheatpaste, celebrate as their name is called at the 2018 BulbHead pitch contest.

Three student teams from Montclair State are celebrating after winning $80,000 in prize money in the BulbHead Inventors Day for Aspiring Entrepreneurs annual contest held May 2 at the university’s conference center.

The contest is generously funded by alumnus AJ Khubani, founder and CEO of BulbHead.com.

Students stand on stage with oversized checks, and the judges.
The three winning teams, with the finals judges.

The winning teams were:

First place for $50,000: Wheatpaste, a community engagement app, with George Garcia, a senior Entrepreneurship major; Matthew Szot, a senior Applied Nutrition major and Entrepreneurship minor; and Jacob Gilbert, a junior Psychology major and Entrepreneurship minor.

Second place for $20,000: Eatree, makers of a vegetarian burger with sights on launching a healthy fast-food chain, with Visual Communication Design majors Lauren Wisnewski, a senior, and junior Sarah DiPirro; Visual Arts junior Lauren Green; and Bailey Capra, junior Exercise Science major.

Third place for $10,000: Culture, a clothing company that will create opportunities for the workers making the garments, with Kent Daniel, a senior Management major, and Sasha Mejia-Rivas, junior Fine Arts, Photography major. Both students are pursuing the Entrepreneurship minor.

At each prize level, team members will share 20 percent of the award, with the remaining 80 percent to be invested in the startup venture under the coaching of the Feliciano Center for Entrepreneurship.

View photos from the contest’s finals.

Read about the BulbHead contest in stories by ROI-NJ and Montclair State and the university’s magazine.

The judges for the contest were:

FINALS:
AJ Khubani, founder and CEO of BulbHead.com
Kim Wales, founder and CEO of Wales Capital
Tracy Doyle, president and CEO, Phoenix Marketing Solutions
Dennis Bone, director of Feliciano Center for Entrepreneurship

Photo of four judges, seated, at microphones.
The finals judges from left: Dennis Bone, Kim Wales, Tracy Doyle and AJ Khubani.

SEMI-FINALS:
Clark Lagemann, cofounder of MedPro Wellness
Guy Falzarano, founder and CEO of Lightbridge Franchise Company
Hakika DuBose, owner of Kika Stretch Studios
David Segura, angel investor and founder of Giant Media

Four judges standing in formal pose for photo.
Semi-finals judges from left: Guy Falzarano, Hakika DuBose, Clark Lagemann and David Segura.

The contest’s master of ceremonies was Anthony “Sully” Sullivan, pitchman for OxiClean and more.

Anthony "Sully" Sullivan, pitchman for OxiClean, asks a question during the contest.
The event’s MC, Anthony “Sully” Sullivan, pitchman for OxiClean, asks a question during the contest.

For updates on the contest, and info how to participate in the future, visit our pitch competition page.