Pivot to Virtual Platform Yields Largest Participation Numbers to Date for Startable Program
The Final Event & Prize Winners
The results of the 2020 Startable Pitch Competitions yielded winners in Product Design and Web Design categories. On Wednesday, July 29th, during a virtual awards ceremony, twenty-three teens took home over twelve thousand dollars in cash prizes.
The virtual Final Event and Awards Ceremony was a compilation of student pitch videos, highlights of product designs, and walk-throughs of student created websites, with a pre-show featuring music from YMCA Lighthouse Project and Startable Alumni. Startable and YMCA Lighthouse Project have partnered in the facilitation of helping teens monetize music, art, and
fashion for the past 4 years.
The Final Event displayed the results of our three pitch competitions. The top three winners from our web design cohort were awarded cash prizes with the 1st place winner taking home $750 and the top 10 winners from the two divisions of our product design cohorts took home $11,000 with the first place winners receiving $1000 each. Division I consisted of 13–15 year old students, and Division II was 16–18 year old students. In total, 23 students took home over $12,000 in cash prizes.
With over 100 students participating, it was the most competitive final since the program’s inception in 2014.
Marvi Ali — 1st place Web Design — Zumantra is a social entrepreneurship venture that collaborates with cooperatives of women artisans in South Asia to develop handmade products and sell the goods on the e-commerce platform zumantra.org. Marvi is a returning Startable Alumni and two-time Startable Pitch Competition winner.
Lara Scherer — 1st place Product Design Division I — Tersus Inc. is a company focusing on the problem of the spread of germs in schools. Lara designed a system of retrofitting desk covers and storage racks that uses UV-C light strips to disinfect desk guards overnight. Lara is a returning Startable Alumni whos team took second place in the 2019 Startable Pitch Competition.
Aastha Singh — 1st place Product Design Division II — Salus is a face mask sterilization solution that is small, practical and portable and uses industry tested solutions for the modern problem of sanitizing reusable face masks.
The 2020 Virtual Program
Students in the Product Design cohorts learned drafting and CAD skills to make 3D models of their product ideas. A UV light cover to sterilize keyboards, an interchangeable multitool, and a product-depositing hairbrush were a few of the top winning pitch concepts. Students in the Web Design cohort created visual marketing strategies that would drive customers to their sites to purchase handmade facemasks, fashion items upcycled from thrift stores, and digital downloads of their music.
The pivot to a virtual program led to the development of a new web design curriculum.
“It takes time and a clear strategy to plan effective educational content, so when Covid-19 became a threat to in-person programming, we pivoted fast, putting the resources where they were most needed,” explained Staci Offutt, who has directed the Startable program for the past 3 years. “We focused on moving the curriculum to open source platforms and facilitating a robust Mentor training and support structure. Startable Mentors are a critical part of student success, so we focused on empowering them with the tools they would need to scaffold that success.”
Startable uses a project-based learning methodology to provide a springboard for innovative thinking. While the short-term goals include skill building in the areas of technology and entrepreneurship, the core foundation of the program promotes life-long learning and prioritizes community. Community partnerships have allowed the program to expand outside of Allegheny County including the addition of a Greene County location last year.
Have You Met…John-Glen Davis and Justin Harvilla, Startable Greene Mentors
The pivot to a fully virtual program model allowed Startable to host students from any location. “We immediately saw applications from Westmoreland and Butler counties,” Offutt said. “The goal is to include students from all nine counties of Southwestern PA, the region that Innovation Works serves.”
Startable is a program of Innovation Works, a non-profit whose mission is to connect, support and expand the startup & entrepreneurial ecosystem within Southwestern Pennsylvania. The Startable Program was born out of the need to create a pipeline of young entrepreneurs and to prepare local youth for follow-on opportunities available in the region, many of which Innovation Works facilitates.
