Contest enters third successful year of fostering innovation in virtual learning spaces
LANSING, Mich. — Five Michiganders participated in the Michigan EdTech Innovation Pitch Contest. Each of the finalists advanced to a pitch presentation on July 18, where first, second and third place winners were chosen. Finalists will share $22,000 in business startup grants and receive additional legal and creative startup assistance to implement their ideas.
“As this contest has entered its third year, I’m heartened and inspired by the submission ideas we continue to see from Michiganders with a desire to say, ‘I wish there was an app for that’ in an educational setting,” said Jamey Fitzpatrick, President and CEO at Michigan Virtual. “This contest was another great opportunity for Michigan educators to directly impact classrooms by turning their dreams into reality. Our five finalists were great and extremely innovative.”
Michigan educators and innovators must have submitted a written pitch by July 7 to be selected for the July 18 contest. The Michigan EdTech Innovation Pitch Contest finalists are:
- 1st – Valerie Rackley from MindWired Labs in Lapeer, Michigan
MindWired Labs provides affordable hands-on STEM education kits that let learners build and program fun projects like alarm sensors and vending machines, developing knowledge of embedded systems and Iot technologies along the way.
- 2nd – Devon Riter from CommunityConnect in Ann Arbor, MI
CommunityConnect is an online platform that helps K-12 teachers find and connect with community partners to design more authentic and engaging class projects.
- 3rd – Jacob Marchywka from NoteClear in Taylor, MI
NoteClear is an AI-powered tool that helps students get more value from their classroom notes. By generating practice problems and summaries of past notes, students can easily review for quizzes and exams.
- 4th – Jasmine Woodruff from NexLevel Tech Solutions in Detroit, MI
NexLevel provides educational services on digital safety for children and parents and tools to help parents monitor their child’s online activity and safety.
- 5th – James (JC) Price from Paraillel in Southfield, MI
Paraillel is an AI-driven platform to help educators streamline curriculum development, student assessments and data analysis, automating time consuming tasks to allow educators more time for impactful teaching and instruction with students.
The Michigan EdTech Innovation Pitch Contest is the result of a partnership between Michigan Virtual, MSU Research Foundation, Michigan State’s Burgess Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation and Michigan SBDC. The first-place winner will receive $10,000 in business startup grant funding. The second-place winner will receive $6,000 in business startup grant funding. The third-place winner will receive $4,000 in business startup grant funding. The fourth and fifth place finalists will each receive $1,000.
Start-up legal and marketing consultations for the top three winners are being generously donated by Michigan Creative and Foster Swift. All monetary prizes will be made available in the form of grants from Michigan Virtual to the winners.
To learn more about the contest, visit www.michiganvirtual.org/pitch.
