Pitch Dingman Competition, the Dingman Center’s signature annual competition, provides the university’s most talented student entrepreneurs the opportunity to compete for seed funding and exclusive access to venture development resources. This year, the Dingman Center is expanding the competition by doubling the prize funding and adding three competition tracks for University of Maryland students to enter. Students from any college or major can now compete for over $70,000 in non-dilutive startup funding.
Beyond funding, the competition provides a vehicle for entrepreneurs to learn the skills needed to grow their ventures and deliver a successful venture pitch. In the finals, the top student entrepreneurs deliver pitches to an expert panel of judges composed of founders and investors.
Competition Tracks
Track 1: The David and Robyn Quattrone Venture Track
This track is targeted to students with scalable ventures that already have traction (revenue, users, investment and/or grants).
Grand Prize: $30,000
2nd Place: $10,000
Semifinalist Prize: $500; $6,500 in AWS Activate Credits
Audience Choice Prize: $1000
Track 2: Main Street Track
This track is for small businesses with revenue and/or initial customers but not focused on scale.
Grand Prize: $15,000
2nd Place: $5,000
Semifinalist Prize: $500; $6,500 in AWS Activate Credits
Audience Choice Prize: $1000
Track 3: Fearless Ideas Track
This track is for students who do not yet have a developed venture. This idea-style challenge asks students to improve/solve a specific problem each year through venture creation. Learn about this year’s challenge!
Grand Prize: $5,000 and guaranteed admission to our Terp Startup summer accelerator program (additional $5,000 stipend)
Competition Dates
David & Robyn Quattrone Venture Track + Main Street Track
- Applications open: January 12, 2021, at 12 a.m.
- Application deadline: February 12, 2021, at 11:59 p.m.
- Quarterfinalists notified: March 4, 2021
- Semifinalists notified: March 9, 2021
- Semifinals Coaching Sessions: March 26, April 2 & April 9, 2021
- Pitch Dingman Competition Semifinals: April 16, 2021
- Finalist Coaching Session: April 23 & 30, 2021
Fearless Ideas Track
- Applications open: March 1, 2021, at 12 a.m.
- Application deadline: April 5, 2021, at 11:59 p.m.
- Winner notified: April 28, 2021
All Tracks
- Pitch Dingman Competition Finals: May 4, 2021
Eligibility
All current University of Maryland - College Park (UMD-CP) and UMD-CP at Shady Grove students, both graduate and undergraduate, are welcome to apply. Applicant teams must be composed of at least 50% UMD-CP students as part of the founding team and currently serving on the lead management team. Ventures of any industry are welcome.
2021 Winners
Main Street Track
Audience Choice ($1,000): Hana's Cake Bar - Hana Bekele '21
Hana's Cake Bar is a bespoke bakery that tailors to every customers' needs for baked goods.
2nd Place ($5,000): STEPS Inc. - Sanketh Andhavarapu '23, Uzair Chaudhary '23
STEPS connects volunteers with paying K-12 families seeking personalized, 1 on 1, and long-term tutoring.
Grand Prize ($15,000): Fancy & Spicy - Brin Xu '22
Fancy & Spicy started from a popular Chinese Sichuan food blog, providing authentic Chinese food recipes, cookbooks, cooking events, and cooking consultation.
The David and Robyn Quattrone Venture Track
Audience Choice ($1,000): Technica - Hugo Burbelo '22, Utsa Santhosh '22
Technica sells an innovative online event platform that is custom-built for hackathons to other technology events and corporate partners in order to improve the experience and engagement of their attendees in a virtual format.
2nd Place ($10,000): Technica - Hugo Burbelo '22, Utsa Santhosh '22
Technica sells an innovative online event platform that is custom-built for hackathons to other technology events and corporate partners in order to improve the experience and engagement of their attendees in a virtual format.
Grand Prize ($30,000): Blimp Logistics - Camilo Melnyk '21, Spencer Yaculak '23
Blimp Logistics is developing a drone delivery system that will provide last-mile delivery services to businesses shipping packages under 30 lbs. in both suburban and rural areas.
2021 Finals Judges
David Quattrone, MBA '05
Co-founder & CTO, Cvent
Chris Ballenger
Founder & CEO, APEX Strategies
Tom Parsons '93, MBA '10
President, Parsons Ventures, Inc
Athena Abbott, MBA '91
Director, Pharma Data Product Strategy, CVS Health
Shelly Kapoor Collins
Founding Partner, The Shatter Fund
Manpreet Singh '03
Chief Investment Officer, Singh Capital Partners
Danny Wright
Chief Operating Officer, 1863 Ventures
2020 Winners
Grand Prize ($15,000): Hydraze – Charles Grody '20, Jack Sturtevant '20, Tuvia Rappaport '20
Hydraze Inc. is a sustainability-oriented venture that develops disruptive automatic toilet flushing technology with the ability to reduce average toilet water consumption by 45% which would save UMD at least half a million dollars annually.
Second Place ($7,500): AlgenAir LLC – Dan Fucich, PhD '20, Kelsey Abernathy
Indoor carbon dioxide accumulation is detrimental to our health and productivity. The aerium is the world's first natural air purifier that uses algae to reduce carbon dioxide and produce oxygen as effectively as 25 house plants.
Third Place ($3,500): Door Robotics – Joshua Ermias '20
Door Robotics is at the intersection of drones, virtual reality, and photography. We are launching a drone with an integrated virtual reality camera system.
PPE Award ($1,000): BraceLint, LLC – Daniel Raithel '20
BraceLint is a completely flat, single-use, and patent-pending version of the lint roller that allows anyone to freshen their clothing once they are out of the house.
PPE Award ($1,000): SweetsbyCaroline – Caroline Ta '21
SweetsbyCaroline is a catering business that specializes in custom french macarons, cakes and cupcakes for your parties and events. We value and aim to bring your ideas into unique and delicious products while using the best quality ingredients.
2020 Finals Judges
David Quattrone, MBA '05
Co-founder & CTO, Cvent
Matt Fishlinger '07
Founder & COO, Gramercy Risk Holdings, LLC
Aurelia Flores
Managing Member, Athena Digital Media Group
Tom Parsons '93, MBA '10
President, Parsons Ventures, Inc
Angela Singleton
Director, TEDCO Builder Fund
Becky Smith
EVP, Chief Strategy & Marketing Officer, SECU
Prize Breakdown
David & Robyn Quattrone Grand Prize: $15,000
Parsons Ventures, Inc Second Place Prize: $7,500
Third Place Prize: $3,500
2020 PPE Award (Pandemic Perseverance in Entrepreneurship): $1,000
Audience Choice: $500 at Semifinal Competition
SECU Finalist Award: $500
Other sponsored Prizes: various amounts
2019 Winners
Grand Prize ($15,000): Aurora Tights - Jasmine Snead '18, MBA/MPP '21, Imani Rickerby ’17, Sydney Parker ’18
Performance sports apparel for women of all skin tones and sizes.
2nd Place ($7,500): Solr Tech - Alex Onufrak ‘21
Solar-powered charging stations that can retrofit to any patio umbrella.
3rd Place ($3,500) & Audience Choice ($1,000): Synapto - Chris Look ’20, Megha Guggari ’20
A device using AI and portable EEG to streamline Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis.
2019 Finals Judges
David Quattrone, MBA ’05
Co-founder & CTO, Cvent
Bill Boyle ’81
Founder, FiberGate Inc.
Cassie Costin
Community Market Leader, SECU
Gloria Jacobovitz
Technology Manager, Applied Physics Laboratory
2018 Winners
Grand Prize ($15,000) : Symbiont Health (Emergency Detection Systems, LLC)- Erich Meissner ’18, Maria Chen ’19, Kyle Liu ’20
An innovative technology to detect falls for seniors and nursing home patients.
Second Prize ($7,500): BEEQBOX - Brianna Queen ’19
A vegan and cruelty-free cosmetics company featuring feminist branding.
Third Prize ($3,500): Dark Sonar Technologies - George Lee ’18
A cybersecurity company that prevents synthetic identity fraud on websites and mobile apps.
Audience Choice ($1,000): Flee - Didac Hormiga ’19
A mobile app that helps students discover events and entertainment around campus.
2018 Finalist Judges
Robert Hisaoka ’79
Investor and Philanthropist
David Quattrone MBA '05
Co-Founder & CTO, Cvent
Rob McGovern ’83
Founder & CEO, PreciseTarget
Michele Moore
Vice President of Retail Banking, SECU
Dick Patterson
President & CEO, RR Automotive
Connie Weaver ’75
Co-Founder & CEO, Tracker Group
2017 Winners
Grand Prize ($15,000) and Audience Choice ($1,500): Curu- David Potter ‘18, Abb Kapoor ‘18
A website and mobile application that assesses spending habits and offers ways to optimize the user’s credit score.
Second Place ($7,500): CourseHunter - Aaron Bloch ‘17, Benjamin Khakshoor ‘18
A platform that interfaces with school registration systems to help students get into classes they need.
Third Place ($3,500): Gravity LLC - Richard Kong ‘20
An online publishing platform for Chinese and Korean fantasy stories translated into English.
2017 Finalist Judges
John Czupak ‘89
President and CEO, ThreatQuotient, Inc.
Christopher Groshko, MBA ‘05
Vice President of Retail Banking, SECU
Warren Harris
CEO and Managing Director, Tata Technologies
Julie Lenzer
Associate Vice President, Economic Development & Co-Director, UM Ventures, University of Maryland
David Quattrone, MBA ‘05
Co-Founder & CTO, Cvent
Liz Sara ‘80
Founder & CEO, Best Marketing LLC
2016 Winners
Grand Prize ($15,000) and Kimberly Marie Scholastic Achievement Award ($1,000): WeCook - Ryan Pillai ‘18
A tech company that brings personal chefs into people’s homes, at a low price to stock their refrigerators.
Second Place ($5,000) : ICOW – Jonathan Kau ‘16
A web app to simplify the higher-ed application process for international students.
Judge’s Choice ($2,000): Embitterment – Russell Garing, MBA ‘16
A craft cocktail bitters company.
Judge’s Choice ($2,000): VentureStorm – Tyler Denk ’16, Taylor Johnson ’16, Tommy Johnson ‘16
A web platform connecting entrepreneurs and student developers.
Judge’s Choice ($2,000) and Audience Choice ($500): uBoard – Natalie Urban ‘18
uBoard transforms student dorm beds with customized headboards that are stylish and comfortable.
2016 Finalist Judges
David Burd
General Manager, Uber
Paul Capriolo
CEO, Social Growth Technologies Inc.
Malcolm Gillian
Managing partner, Syndicate Group NYC
Jennifer Meyer
CEO, Betamore
Carmen Mirabile
Assistant Vice President of Marketing, SECU
David Quattrone, MBA ‘05
Co-Founder & CTO, Cvent
Greg Vetter
CEO, Tessemae's All Natural
About our Partners
David and Robyn Quattrone have been supporting the Pitch Dingman Competition since 2015. In 2020, the Quattrones significantly increased their support by providing funds that allowed the Center to go from offering $30,000 in total award funding to offering $65,000 in awards.
As a Pitch Dingman judge, David enjoys engaging with students on their innovative business ideas. It’s something that the family looks forward to every year.
“Every time David comes home from the competition, he tells us all about what the different submissions were,” Robyn says. “Even our kids are interested in it, which is not always the case when you talk to them about work.”
“The program inspires people to think creatively, launching something new or transforming an organization from the inside. That’s what makes the work compelling,” says David. “Hearing how people can get those lessons and experiences to use on their own adventures or create change within their spaces is rewarding and makes me excited for the future.”
Additional funding is provided by members of the Dingman Center Board of Advisors.
The Dingman Center would also like to thank the following sponsors:
- Chris and Vidya Ballenger '89
- Parsons Ventures, Inc.
- Amazon Web Services