Meet Our 2023 Paladin Pitch Competition Finalists

The 2023 Paladin Pitch Competition is quickly approaching and we hope you're as excited as we are to see this year's finalists pitch their big ideas live on stage. We urge you to RSVP for this year's occasion, which is set to take place during Furman University's Campaign Launch Weekend, an event that commemorates the university's third century of providing exceptional higher education.

Paladin Pitch is an exciting event that showcases the innovative ideas of four student finalists who will pitch their ideas to a panel of judges and a diverse audience of students, faculty, alumni, and community leaders. Finalists will be competing to take home the $10,000 Johnny Flynn Paladin Pitch Award to support their entrepreneurial venture. With a focus on creativity and entrepreneurship, the event helps fuel the translation of innovative ideas into action. It is a fantastic opportunity for students to gain valuable experience in presenting their ideas, networking, and building confidence in their entrepreneurial endeavors.

P.S. Did we mention the audience will get to select their crowd favorite? You don't want to miss out on this.

RSVP for Paladin Pitch

The Paladin Pitch Competition is proud to present four student finalists who have diverse interests and passions, each with their own unique perspective and approach to entrepreneurship.

Ivan Agyaakwah, Founder of College Coach

Ivan, a sports enthusiast and member of Furman's soccer team, is creating an innovative way to connect college and professional athletes with aspiring players through individualized coaching. Ivan's goal is to increase homegrown soccer talent through one-to-one coaching and mentorship.

Spencer Tate, Co-Founder of Flow

Spencer has a keen interest in technology and is developing a platform to empower mid-sized businesses to boost efficiency and profits. Designed with simplicity in mind, Flow is an intuitive data analytics platform that amplifies artificial intelligence to leverage a company's existing data for better decision-making without investing in high-cost data science teams. Spencer's Co-Founder Nemath Ahmed attends Georgia Tech and the two are passionate about innovation within technology.

Patrick Flagler, Co-Founder of BioLink

Passionate about sustainability, Patrick has created a concept that encourages eco-friendly practices on college campuses (and beyond) in partnership with corporate entities that taps into an emerging biodiversity credit market. His venture will provide a market where biodiversity credits can be purchased in order for practices to be carried out on college campuses.

Aubrey Zoodsma, Co-Founder of Astrea, LLC

Aubrey used her interest in sorority life to develop a business concept that aims to revolutionize the sorority jewelry industry. She and her mom founded Astrea, LLC with a desire to make custom tennis bracelets that reflects a sorority's color scheme.

These student finalists bring a wealth of creativity, knowledge, and experience to the competition and are sure to impress the judges and audience alike.

March 30, 5:30 - 7:00 PM

GVL Starts Demo Day. This event will provide you with the opportunity to network with 24 entrepreneurs who are a part of the current GVL Starts cohort. Three $5,000 checks will be awarded - one for best technology venture, one for best product venture, and one for the crowd favorite which will be voted on by those who attend.

April 13-15

The Campaign Launch Weekend - Join us for the launch of Furman's largest campaign to date! We will be celebrating the university's third century of continued higher education excellence.

April 13, 4:00-5:30 PM, Paladin Pitch Competition
April 14, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM, 15th Annual Furman Engaged
April 15, 9:45 AM- 4:30 PM, Furman Showcase

June 5 - August 11

Summer Business & Innovation Boot Camp for Furman students. Provides students with three weeks of classroom learning followed by six-weeks of consulting experience with local, growth-stage companies.

How To Get and Keep Young Professionals with Kamber Parker

In honor of Women's History Month, this month's Class E Podcast features Kamber Parker '17. Kamber shares how she started her own company, YoPro Know, to help businesses inspire young professionals as they enter and navigate their way through the workforce. Tune in to understand the importance of finding the factors that influence individuals to stay or leave a company. This episode will help managers at all levels understand their young employees better.

What is

The Hill Institute?

We help you LAUNCH. We not only help aspiring entrepreneurs and founders launch new ventures, but we also develop the skillsets they need to be a successful entrepreneurial leader.