This past week, Grand Valley State University proudly hosted the Michigan Collegiate Startup Challenge (MCSC), bringing together student entrepreneurs from across the state for a full day of innovation, competition, and connection.
From the high-energy Elevator & Showcase Round to the competitive Grand Startup Challenge finals, students pitched bold ideas across industries ranging from AI and sustainability to consumer products and fintech. The event highlighted the strength of Michigan’s collegiate entrepreneurial ecosystem and the impressive talent emerging from our universities.
MCSC saw record participation this year. We received 48 applications, representing over 70 students from 11 colleges and universities across Michigan, including Grand Valley State University, Kendall College of Art and Design of Ferris State University, Michigan State University, Western Michigan University, Eastern Michigan University, Central Michigan University, Northern Michigan University, Lawrence Technological University, Michigan Technological University, Wayne State University, and University of Michigan–Flint.
Elevator Pitch & Showcase
The Elevator & Showcase Round allowed student founders to present their ventures in a showcase-style format. Teams engaged directly with judges, sharing their business models, answering questions, and receiving valuable feedback in a conversational setting. This format created an interactive environment where judges could dive deeper into each concept and evaluate both the opportunity and the team behind it.
Winners:
- Michigan State University – DryX – Alvaro Anaenugwu
- UM–Flint – Artcelium – Austin Hall
- Northern Michigan University – ZiTech – Maya Van Berkum
Grand Startup Challenge
Students delivered a three-minute pitch followed by a two-minute Q&A session with the judges. This round highlighted each students ability to show off their business idea and communicate their value proposition, traction, and visions then followed by responding thoughtfully to challenging questions by the judges.
Winners:
1st Place
- Western Michigan University – CardAxis – Whitney Griffin
2nd Place
- Grand Valley State University – Scalable AI – Joshua Ross
3rd Place
- Michigan State University – CocoMar – Fatima Taha
4th Place
- Western Michigan University – Lampure – Jacob Meyer
We would also like to extend our sincere appreciation to the individuals who made this event possible.
Thank you to our Showcase Judges:
Matt Benson, John Russo, Nate Yenor, Kevin Grosch, Qi’Shaun Coyle, and Ken Miguel-Cipriano.
And thank you to our Grand Startup Challenge Judges:
Janet Wyille – Sr. Program Manager, Spartan Innovations
Alicia James – Owner & Founder, Flamingo Consulting
Zachary Konarska – Director of Marketing, Elevate Credit
Caroline Crowder – Director of University Partnerships & Operations, Whop
Gabrielle Campos – Community Coordinator, Bamboo Grand Rapids
Scott Wiggins – Vice President of Small Business Lending, LMCU
We are incredibly grateful for the time, expertise, and energy both groups of judges invested in supporting these student founders.
The Michigan Collegiate Startup Challenge continues to demonstrate the strength of Michigan’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and the remarkable talent emerging from our universities. We are proud to support these student founders as they take the next steps in building impactful ventures, and we look forward to seeing how their ideas continue to grow beyond this competition.
NEU 