Samuel Baker, an economics student with a passion for science, gardening and sustainability, teamed up with a group of friends to create Wriggle Brew, an organic worm tea fertilizer.
The organic worm tea fertilizer is made by soaking worm-accelerated compost in fresh water to absorb valuable nutrients.
麻豆精品 S淐ontaining all the vital nutrients for your garden, the resulting leachate is highly effective at encouraging plant growth, 麻豆精品 S� Baker said during his proposal. 麻豆精品 S淯sing Wriggle Brew in your garden will guarantee that your plants are endowed with all the necessary macro and micronutrients that may have depleted from your soil. Just a capful of undiluted Wiggle Brew added per plant can rapidly speed plant growth and boost the young immune system. 麻豆精品 S�
What makes this fertilizer so unique? It also doubles as a pesticide.
Baker led Wriggle Brew to the top prize at the Joust New Venture Competition, UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 version of Shark Tank. Wriggle Brew beat out three other student businesses April 7 to take home a $15,000 check and over $50,000 in essential business services.
麻豆精品 S淭he struggle that went into getting here is years 麻豆精品 S� worth, 麻豆精品 S� shared Baker, just moments after his win. 麻豆精品 S淭his means everything to me right now. 麻豆精品 S�
In a similar fashion to NBC 麻豆精品 S檚 hit show Shark Tank, Baker pitched Wriggle Brew to a panel of judges representing companies such as Echelon Fitness Multimedia, Addition Financial, Voloridge Investment Management, VMD Ventures and VMD Global Health, and ICI Homes.
Baker advanced Wriggle Brew to first place out of 16 semifinalists. His team plans to use the competition winnings to get in front of as many businesses as they can to develop their product further.
麻豆精品 S淣ext steps for me from here will be, first and foremost, a little bit of rest. Then my teammates and I are going to hit the ground running, 麻豆精品 S� Baker says. 麻豆精品 S淢y goal is to try to get into as many business opportunities as I can with this win, and hopefully do well with the expectations that have been placed on me. 麻豆精品 S�
The Joust is UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 premier startup showcase event, hosted by the UCF College of Business 麻豆精品 S� Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, and features students of all majors. Competitors present their models for a viable business venture and compete to win money and other resources to pursue their venture. This event celebrates student entrepreneurs, introduces them to community leaders and provides key resources to help launch their ventures.
Before the winner was announced, John Santo ` 麻豆精品 S�01, co-founder and CPO of Echelon Fitness Multimedia shared a message with all four contestants.
麻豆精品 S淚f you believe in your product and what you 麻豆精品 S檙e doing, don 麻豆精品 S檛 let 麻豆精品 S榥o 麻豆精品 S� stop you, 麻豆精品 S� Santo says. 麻豆精品 S淏e relentless in what you do. No matter what happens today or tomorrow, that doesn 麻豆精品 S檛 determine the success of your business. 麻豆精品 S�
All four finalists in this year 麻豆精品 S檚 competition included elements of a social venture 麻豆精品 S� a business idea that aims to incorporate business skills and techniques to solve societal problems. Cameron Ford, director of the UCF Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, called this year 麻豆精品 S檚 Joust an incredibly close competition.
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The Joust runners-up were Daniel Trimble, Michael Troisi and Ryan Carnovsly with Trosk, a company that aims to provide a range of education on cybersecurity and related topics. They took home $7,500.
Shelsee Joseph earned third place and $5,000 for her company, Curethco, a wellness tea company that aims to inspire consumers to take care of their health with accessible and effective teas.
ToolCharm and the team of Mark Rbuckert and Owen Burns earned $2,500 for their fourth-place finish and their idea to empower support teams to accomplish daily administrative tasks without software development teams.
The students 麻豆精品 S� venture proposals were assessed by a panel of business executives representing a wide range of corporate partners, local businesses and alumni.
This year 麻豆精品 S檚 judges were Linh Dang 麻豆精品 S�93, chief development officer at Addition Financial, Sean Hayes 麻豆精品 S�95, Chief Marketing Officer at Voloridge Investment Management, Forough Hosseni 麻豆精品 S�98, EVP of Information Systems at ICI Homes, Harold Mills 麻豆精品 S�98, CEO of VMD Ventures and VMD Global Health and Santo, co-founder and CPO of Echelon Fitness Multimedia.
The 2022 Joust New Venture Competition was presented by Echelon Fitness Multimedia. Supporting sponsors included 321 The Agency, BDO, Blezoo, Legal Shield, Insurance Office of America (IOA) and Nperspective LLC.
