The Idea Pitch

Gabriel Crozier - PantryBot

PantryBot is an all-in-one AI kitchen assistant for busy parents and those new to living independently. Users create a digital pantry by adding food via text, image, or UPC. The AI then generates unique, delicious recipes with detailed ingredients and instructions based on what’s in their pantry.

Teni Fajuke - Travelswitht

A personalized travel planning service that helps busy travelers create stress-free, organized trips. Travelswitht offers custom and digital interactive itineraries tailored to each client’s preferences, complete with activities, experiences, and restaurant recommendations, all in one easy-to-use digital format designed for convenience and simplicity.
 

Olivia Fenneken - Bence Forrest Endo-lert

With intubated patients experiencing preventable injuries as a result of endotracheal tubes, our team of graduate students is conducting R&D to develop a hard-tech sensor device that detects changes in body temperature of intubated patients, which alerts staff before these injuries occur. 

Nat Foote - Roam VR

We are redefining what it means to “attend.” Our virtual reality streaming service delivers live experiences straight to users through high-definition, immersive 360° feeds– accessible on any compatible headset or device. RoamVR allows anyone to explore concerts, sports, and cultural experiences in real time, anywhere in the world! The fear of missing out? Consider it unmasked.
 

Lakshya Pandey - Alvora AI

Alvora AI is an intelligent career guidance platform that helps students discover the right majors and career paths through personalized AI matching and mentorship. By combining data-driven insights with human connection, Alvora empowers Gen Z students to make confident, informed academic and career decisions that truly fit their goals.
  

Benjamin Windt - LunaCase

LunaCase is a portable laptop case with integrated RF shielding that protects against in-person hacking in public spaces. LunaCase uses targeted shielding zones - particularly around high-risk areas on the laptop - to reduce electromagnetic leakage without sacrificing usability. LunaCase requires no power, no software and no subscription; it works passively as a physical layer of cybersecurity. 

Nathan Wood - Hero Foil

Introducing the Hero Foil. A patented turbine design that can harness the power of wind or water to create electricity. This revolutionary renewable energy concept can be the breakthrough needed to support the growing demand for power. The Hero Foil’s simplistic design can allow it to produce clean energy as cost-effectively as fossil fuels.
 

2024 JUDGES

Judge info for 2025 coming soon!

Greg Basford - Former Owner, Heritage Packaging LLC
Greg Basford is a seasoned professional with over 35 years of experience in the packaging industry. Throughout his career, he held roles ranging from salesperson to general manager, working with companies of various sizes, including Fortune 500 corporations. From 2007 to 2020, he owned and operated Heritage Packaging LLC in Lincoln, IL. In 2020, he sold his business and transitioned into semi-retirement. Greg is a Kent State alum, obtaining a B.S. in Business Management in 1985. He is married with two children—a 26-year-old son (also a Kent State graduate) and a 25-year-old daughter.

Betsy Engels - Founder, Acer Business Consultants
Betsy joined Acer in 2014 and launched Acer Business Consulting in 2018 to focus on helping local manufacturing companies grow. She has over 30 years’ of experience in manufacturing and has worked on growth initiatives ranging from building a sales and marketing team to evaluating mergers and acquisitions to driving new product development initiatives. Betsy has worked in metal processing and metal forming industries has experience in a broad range of materials related industries including steel processing, machining, forging, additive manufacturing and electroplating. She has a bachelor’s degree in Materials and Metallurgical Engineering from The University of Michigan and an MBA from The University of Houston. 

Amalia Munteanu - EIR and Executive Coach
Amalia Munteanu is an integrated marketing and advertising executive with 20 years of media industry experience across digital and television. She’s an award-winning marketer and story-teller, who’s led digital marketing and brand partnerships for NBC Universal. She led integrated partnerships for shows such as Tonight Show, Saturday Night Live, The Office, This Is Us, with many of the world's premiere brands including Google, T-Mobile, AMEX, Microsoft, Ford, Samsung and more. Her expertise is in building brands across platforms, driving revenue through partnerships, and strategic communications across media channels. Throughout her corporate experience, Amalia has demonstrated a passion for developing talent into business leaders. She is now bringing those executive coaching skills to Kent State's Ambassador Crawford College. Amalia holds a BA in Psychology and an MBA from Kent State University.

Faith Voinovich - Principal, Ohio Innovation Fund
Faith Voinovich serves as a key member of the investment team at Ohio Innovation Fund. She has led investments spun out of top research institutions, assisted companies in raising tens of millions in follow on funding, and served in a variety of board director, board advisor, and board observer roles, including at Invirsa, Clarametyx, Genetesis, DatAnchor, Complion (merged with RealTime CTMS), and Stirling Ultracold (exited to BioLife Solutions, NASDAQ: BLFS). In addition to her investment work, Faith is passionate about making venture capital more accessible, especially to demographics underrepresented across the industry. She's a founding mentor for VentureForward's Mentor Forward program, leads the OIF Student Experience Program (SEP), and serves as a College Coach for Breakthrough New York. Faith received the Rising Star Award from the National Venture Capital Association in 2023.

ABOUT THE IDEA PITCH

Pitch Your Idea for Funding

The Kent State Ambassador Crawford College of Business and Entrepreneurship’s John S. and Marlene J. Brinzo Center for Entrepreneurship is now offering a fall pitch competition for students who have an idea. The Idea Pitch Competition creates an opportunity for students to receive mentoring and feedback on their business idea, as well as win seed money. Student finalists pitch to a panel of judges. All finalists win a cash prize, and the first-place winner earns a guaranteed spot as Spring Pitch finalist.

Presenting Sponsor:
 

 

Ohio Innovation Fund (OIF) is a venture capital firm based in Columbus, Ohio whose member institutions include Kent State University, The Ohio State University and Ohio University. The OIF team has turned ideas into over $10 billion of market value, including several Initial Public Offerings and acquisitions by SAP, Medtronic, Dell, Intuit and Stryker. OIF's companies have been featured in prominent media outlets such as CNN, Forbes and The Wall Street Journal. Many Fortune 500 companies and leading universities are customers of OIF’s portfolio, and their strategic partners include Microsoft, Facebook, Citi and SAP, among others. Combined revenue growth was approximately 100 percent between 2016 and 2017 for OIF’s portfolio.

Bill Baumel oversees all operations of The Ohio Innovation Fund (OIF), a venture capital firm based in Columbus, Ohio. OIF has the largest early-stage venture capital portfolio of Ohio-based companies. Member institutions include Kent State University, The Ohio State University and Ohio University. OIF’s companies have been featured in prominent media such as CNN, Forbes and The Wall Street Journal. Many of the Fortune 500 and leading universities are customers of OIF’s portfolio companies, and their strategic partners include Microsoft, Facebook, Citi, and SAP, among others. Combined revenue growth was approximately 100% between 2016 and 2017 for OIF’s portfolio.

Turning "Bold Ideas" into thriving enterprises is what OIF partners with entrepreneurs to accomplish. One such bold idea was from a diabetic, who each night worried that they might not wake up in the morning because their glucose levels may go too low overnight, and the only diabetic testing was periodic finger pricks. Out of that bold idea came Dexcom and its continuous glucose monitor, which provides a glucose reading to diabetics' mobile devices every five minutes. A great step forward for diabetics, and a company now worth over $10 billion. This could be you! 

OIF fosters commercialization efforts at KSU, OSU, and OU through appointments to university's Accelerator Award Committees, sponsoring internship programs, career linkage among member schools’ students/alumni and OIF companies, speaking engagements, mentoring of faculty members, incubating faculty start-ups, and guest course, panel, and business plan competition participation. 

With more than twenty years of experience investing in Silicon Valley, and close ties with a significant network of key Silicon Valley leaders, Bill has spent his career investing in venture capital-backed emerging growth companies. Awarded Venture 100 status as one of the top 100 VC’s in the United States, with successful exits via multiple Initial Public Offerings and acquisitions by companies such as Medtronic, Dell, SAP, Intuit, and Stryker. Areas of focus include SaaS, Big Data, Cyber Security, Med Tech, and Advanced Manufacturing. Having served as a CEO, COO and CFO of successful public and private companies, he understands what it takes to build and scale a leading company in a high growth market. 

Learn More | Ohio Innovation Fund

Contact Us
 

Linda Hale - Marketing Manager of The Brinzo Center

Phone: 330-672-7890
Email: lhale9@kent.edu 
 

Shawn Rohlin Ph.D. - Director of The Brinzo Center, Professor of Economics

Phone: 330-672-1098
Email: srohlin@kent.edu
 

Nick Petrella - Entrepreneur in Residence

Phone: 330-672-5826
Email: npetrel3@kent.edu