Thirty-two college teams move on to semi-final round in national collegiate startup tournament; only Entrepreneurial Eight will go to South By Southwest for finals in March

College student teams from across the country have made it past the first round in Student Startup Madness tournament.

Wednesday, Jan 8, 2014
Contact: Sean Branagan
(315) 443-6310 • startups@syr.edu

Thirty-two startups from 22 colleges across the nation have made it to the semi-final round in the 2013-14 Student Startup Madness competition. The first two rounds of the tournament are held online, and the competition culminates with the Entrepreneurial Eight finals LIVE at South By Southwest (SXSW) Interactive in Austin, Texas, on March 10, 2014.

Student Startup Madness (SSM) is the only nationwide collegiate tournament focused on digital media startups. It affords college student startups the opportunity to compete against fellow student entrepreneurs, grab the attention of potential investors and supporters, and build an elite professional network. At the SSM finals at SXSW, eight elite college student startups will pitch their business to well-known investors and entrepreneurs who can help them transform their idea into success.

SSM is promoted and supported by six anchor universities in six regions across the country: Syracuse University in the Northeast, Bucknell University in the Mid-Atlantic, Georgia State University in the Southeast, Saint Louis University in the Midwest, Michigan State University in the Great Lakes and The University of Texas at Austin in the Southwest. Corporate sponsors for the tournament include: Turner Broadcasting’s Media Camp, TriNet and other companies who support early-stage ventures.

The 2013-14 SSM 32 Semi-Finalists: (in alphabetical order)

• Advlo from Syracuse University
• BABU – Receipt Reducer from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• Burpy from University of Texas at Austin
• Carbon Cash from Michigan State University
• Centscere from Syracuse University
• Coast from Ithaca College
• Cooper Union Info from The Cooper Union for The Advancement of Science and Art
• DepthChartz.com from University of Memphis
• DragAroundMe from Wayne State University
• Eventable from University of California at Berkeley
• Find My Song from University of Southern California
• Flippr from University of Southern California
• Folyo from Michigan State University
• Kinect PT from University of Virginia
• Million Dollar Scholar from Morehouse College
• Movez from Georgia State University
• Notefu.ly from Seton Hall University
• PlatypusTV from Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) and Syracuse University
• PrintLure from Syracuse University
• RoomScapeU from Florida State University
• Rootloop from Michigan State University
• ScheduleFast from Bucknell University
• SemanticMD from Carnegie Mellon University
• Servabo from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• SportsCave from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• StylePuzzle from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• uCal from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• UChicago Events from University of Chicago
• University Beyond from Syracuse University
• Viddobuy from Central Connecticut State University
• Voicum Cleaner from Albany State University
• YAPPERapp from George Washington University

SSM Tournament Format

Each round of the nationwide tournament will build momentum, awareness and social media buzz, drawing attention to colleges and universities as sources for innovation, entrepreneurship and talent while showcasing university entrepreneurship and encouraging college students to start businesses.

More than 100 teams applied online between August and the end of November. The first round of competition was conducted online among the 64 startup teams via Gust.com, a platform used by Angel investors around the world. From the starting field, 32 semi-finalists were chosen and now advance to the virtual regional round, based on their home college location, with some teams moved to bring balance to the competition. From the virtual regional round, the finalists (the top team in each region, plus two at-large teams) will be chosen in late January. These finalists—“The Entrepreneurial Eight”—will be invited to pitch to a celebrity panel of well-known entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and investors at the Student Startup Madness national finals in Austin, Texas, on March 10, 2014, at the SXSW Startup Village main venue at the downtown Austin Hilton hotel conference center, salon A.

About Student Startup Madness

The Student Startup Madness concept was developed by Sean Branagan, director of the Center for Digital Media Entrepreneurship at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, in conjunction with SXSW. Student Startup Madness, along with its sponsors and host universities, believes in American entrepreneurship and on-campus startups—and wants to help young student entrepreneurs succeed and become a part of the SXSW experience.

Student Startup Madness debuted in 2012 at SXSW Interactive with a launch event and kick-off pitchfest, where five student startup teams representing eight colleges and universities pitched their ventures and won prizes. In 2013, SSM was selected as a SXSW Partner Program and invited into the main venue of SXSW Startup Village. For more on Student Startup Madness, visit the website (https://studentstartupmadness.com), see us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter: @StartupMad.