Sara Sakowitz ’18CC was the winner of the Columbia Venture Competition #StartupColumbia Challenge announced at the StartupColumbia Festival on April 29th at Miller Theater on the campus of Columbia University. The Columbia Venture Competition kicked off on February 19th and culminated in the final pitches on Thursday, April 28th, the day before the Startup Columbia conference.
The winners of the CVC were announced throughout the day of the Festival. Videos of the finalists and the award announcements can be found here. If you have a minute check out these videos of the first-, second-, and third-place winners taking significant funding that will fuel their startups to the next stage of growth.
Sara found out about her $25,000 first-place prize when Johnnie Walker, CFO of Festival sponsor temp CFO announced the winners from the podium near the end of the day-long Festival.
First place went to Blue Moon Box, Sara Sakowitz ’18CC, founder. Her startup is built around a monthly subscription box filled with science projects designed for parents to play and learn with their young children. Click here for the Blue Moon Box video.
Second place — and $15,000 — went to co-founders Michelle Bacharach, NYU and Konstantin Itskov ’16GS who increase e-commerce conversation rates by helping online shoppers select the perfect products. Click here for the FindMine video.
The third place $10,000 prize went to team Exubrancy a health and wellness platform aimed at keeping your employees happy, relaxed and enjoying their jobs. Click here for the Exubrancy video.
