The 2017 Idaho Entrepreneur Challenge concludes Friday, March 31. Twenty-six teams from across Idaho competed for $100,000 in seed funding generously provided by Zions Bank.
Sydney Axtell, our own MBA student and dean’s office GA, took 1st place in the health and healthy living category and received $10,000 of seed funding for her startup – berry box.
“My next challenge is to figure out how I should use the funding and it’s stressful to think about, but I’m so grateful to Zions Bank for providing the opportunity. It’s good stress,” said Axtell. ” The award money is obviously fantastic, but the best part of the competition was interacting, learning and gaining validation from the incredible minds of the judges. What an insane experience! I’ll be in touch with a few of the judges for mentorship in the future, but for now, I will head back to the Venture College and keep plugging away with the help of my current mentors: Kevin Learned, Ed Zimmer, Marilyn Bickle, and Whitney Hansen. ”
At the awards ceremony Friday, all participating teams were announced and each gave a one-minute pitch about their companies. Students from Boise State make up eight of the teams in the finals.