20 Utah highschool groups compete for $30K in prizes

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SALT LAKE CITY — Younger entrepreneurs from across the Beehive State spent the previous weekend competing for $30,000 in money and scholarships from the College of Utah.

The Excessive College Utah Entrepreneur Problem, hosted by the U.’s Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute, included 20 groups who had been narrowed down from over 150 functions battling for the $10,000 grand prize.

When it was all mentioned and carried out, West Excessive College’s Rocket Tutors and the staff’s budding enterprise had been topped because the winners.

The enterprise seems to offer free one-on-one on-line math tutoring and was began by Syna Aggarwal along with her brother, Arya, after a private expertise with needing a tutor.

“Final yr, I began actually struggling in my math class, and my dad and mom obtained me on-line tutoring, and it actually began serving to me,” mentioned Syna Aggarwal, a junior at West Excessive College. “So, me and my brother got here up with the concept there are a whole lot of college students on the market struggling, besides they do not have the sources to pay for it.”

Rocket Tutors’ mannequin gives free tutoring by way of donations from firms and people. The donors obtain a tax profit and alternative to “make an affect on individuals’s lives,” whereas the Rocket Tutors will acquire a small transition price to cowl enterprise bills, in keeping with a launch from the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute.

The staff is hopeful that this concept can profit college students who might not be capable of afford tutoring by way of conventional avenues.

“I feel our concept is necessary as a result of there are simply so many college students on the market fighting math and so many college students on the market that may’t afford tutoring, so I feel it may have a very huge affect,” Syna mentioned.

The Excessive College Utah Entrepreneur Problem is the youth model of the collegiate Utah Entrepreneur Problem, which is able to supply $100,000 in money and prizes this yr. For the highschool competitors, groups had been offered with an issue and needed to give you a artistic enterprise answer to handle the issue.

Rounding out the High 3 of the competitors was Munk Skateboarding of American Fork Excessive College, which positioned second and took house $5,000; and Sailrugs of Herriman Excessive College, which positioned third and took house $2,500.

In response to a launch from the institute, Munk Skateboarding is “geared towards constructive messages of motivation whereas doing one thing exhausting, like skateboarding or the rest.”

They staff needs to make a product much like a suede shoe patch to guard and lengthen the shoe’s life whereas skating.

Sailrugs makes handcrafted, tufted rugs, and a launch from the institute says purchasers sometimes method the founder with a want to get their enterprise emblem or one other artwork kind changed into a rug.

Along with the High 3 groups, all 20 groups within the competitors had been provided a spot within the Lassonde Founders program, which features a $1,000 housing scholarship for college kids to stay in and launch companies collectively at Lassonde Studios.

“We had many nice groups competing this yr, and it was very exhausting for our judges to decide on the winners from the High 20 groups,” mentioned Logan Bogesvang, pupil director of the Excessive College Utah Entrepreneur Problem. “We invite all highschool college students in Utah to be taught extra concerning the competitors and take part subsequent yr. The applying will open within the fall. All you want is a enterprise concept to take part.”

A listing of all 20 groups and their enterprise concepts may be discovered right here.

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