Skyward: Edition 3
54 2024: Innovation in Action
54 is UIUC’s startup competition where students have the opportunity to dive into the world of entrepreneurship. In the span of– yes, you guessed it– 54 hours, participants can pitch ideas, form teams, and grind together to build their startups from the ground up. It’s fast paced and spontaneous, but it's the perfect environment for entrepreneurs to start. Full of mentors, panels, and a finale where participants can pitch their ideas for a prize, 54 is where people can take action.
Day 1: Liftoff
The energy in the air was filled with excitement as people piled through the doors. We kicked things off with a keynote by Alex Kosyakov, founder of Natrion and the winner of Cozad 2021. Alex shared his journey as a founder, walking us through the highs and lows of entrepreneurship. Alex was asked, “What was your best and worst day?”, and he didn’t hold back from being vulnerable while answering this question. He talked about a time when his company had $0 left, he had to ask his team to take pay cuts just to keep the business afloat. He also spilled some teasers with exciting news, alluding to defense contracts and “something in the works with a company in Cupertino named after a fruit.” (hint: Apple!)
With this, the ice was officially broken! People started mingling, forming those first connections with people who would soon end up being their teams. Our second talk of the night was from Elias Kourpas, the Director of Strategy Innovation & Entrepreneurship at UIUC. He gave an overview of the university’s entrepreneurship ecosystem and touched on his experiences: in and out of academia, worked in IBM, came back to entrepreneurship, etc.. This served as the perfect transition to allow students to think about their own entrepreneurial paths.
After some pizza and more networking, it was time to get down to business. Teams began to form as people shared ideas and found people to join them, turning strangers into business partners by the end of Day 1, proving that at 54, you can find your future co-founders and build something truly impactful.
Day 2- Grinding and Growing
Saturday was all about getting to work. Teams were already established and ideas were starting to shape. One of the day’s highlights was a keynote by Priya Kumar, founder of Sakura MedTech. Her startup journey began right here at UIUC, where she and her roommate brainstormed the initial concept together. Though she’s currently working on a prototype, the path to get as far as she has wasn’t easy. Priya spoke about losing a co-founder for personal reasons and rebuilding the company from scratch. Her story was a powerful one as it served as a reminder of the resilience required to succeed in the startup world!
After this, we hosted a tech panel featuring Joshua Love (ZiteAI), Advay Gupta (Pathlit), and Sayuj Jain (DataPull), three tech startup founders. A standout moment occurred when they talked about managing team conflicts and the importance of seeing your clients as humans, not just transactions, which was a point I (and everyone else in the room) loved!
The day ended with mentorship sessions where teams rotated between different mentors and got suggestions to refine their startups in preparation for the final pitches the next day.
Day 3- Pitches and The Grand Finale
Sunday arrived, and with it, so did the past 54 hours of hard work from the participants. Before the main event, teams received one-on-one guidance from our very own founder of Founders, Eric Mills!
From 4PM to 7PM, the pitches started, each one being very diverse in nature. Here are a few to highlight:
BraxTocin: Medtech
Eat the Whole: A low-calorie chip alternative, created by one of our very own Founders members (shoutout Arjun!)
Harmoni: Beauty positivity/guide, online platform
Launch Lodge: Entrepreneurship “house”/community for college students
NutriScan: Meal planning/grocery shopping/wellbeing
After hours of pitching and presentations, the judges had a tough call to make. Ultimately, BraxTocin took the prize! But 54 isn’t just about winning; it’s about the journey and growth you make along the way. It's about seeing students from various backgrounds come together to build something meaningful!
Skyward: What’s Next?
As we wrap up this edition of Skyward, know that there’s so much more to come! Future editions will showcase other Founders projects and provide a behind-the-scenes look at what’s happening in the world of student entrepreneurship here at UIUC. We’re just getting started!
Skyward, together!
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Written by: Jiya Soni