Marquette Business

Igniting Innovation: Marquette Invitational Empowers Student Entrepreneurs

The first-ever Marquette Invitational brought student entrepreneurs representing six companies and three Milwaukee colleges together for a pitch competition. Marquette biomedical sciences senior Abigail Crocker received second place in the competition, winning $7500 in funding for her company, Tailored Remedy. Junior Riley Condon, who is studying entrepreneurship, information systems and French, took fourth place with her company, Breadboxd, and received $2500.

"As a founder, the highs are really high and the lows are really low; having this validation and being able to present in front of familiar faces really helps," Crocker said. "It gives you the confidence to know that you're going in the right direction."

The competition, held at Ward4 Co-Working Space, required each entrepreneur to deliver a five-minute pitch on the merits of their business to a panel of judges, then answer questions. The Coleman Foundation provided over $25,000 in prize money for the event, with the winner receiving $10,000. Additionally, one student team receives a spot in MKE Tech Hub's For-M incubator program.

Junior Riley Condon presents on behalf of her company, BreadBox.

"The purpose of this pitch competition is really to expand your network," said Ryan Kauth, the Coleman Chair of Entrepreneurship in the Marquette College of Business Administration. "The cash prizes and the in-kind contributions are incredibly appreciated and helpful too, but the ability to meet other collegiate entrepreneurs to see what they're working on is the longest-lasting impact."

Crocker also took second place in the Wisconsin Early Stage Symposium pitch competition this week. She competed against 16 other founders.

Tailored Remedy, Crocker's company, uses artificial intelligence to help patients manage their prescriptions and flag any potential negative interactions between medications. The company started as part of Flight School, a Marquette entrepreneurship class that challenged students to build a startup company over the course of one semester.

Since then, Crocker has used the university's entrepreneurship ecosystem to help her business grow. She received a fellowship at the 707 Hub, which supports on-campus innovation, to work on her business full-time over the summer. Crocker is also utilizing the law school's volunteer legal clinic to draft and review necessary contracts.

"Marquette's resources have helped me tremendously. If you don't know the answer, there is always someone who can help you find it," Crocker said.

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