MINNEAPOLIS, MN (WKZO AM/FM) — A couple WMU students are in Minneapolis this weekend pitching their “SnapDuct” invention in the Schulze Entrepreneurship Challenge.
Laura Dunham, Associate Dean at the Schulze School of Entrepreneurship at University of St. Thomas, says “E-Fest” is a 3 day celebration of undergraduate entrepreneurship that culminates with the Schulze Entrepreneurship Challenge on Saturday.
After narrowing down over 100 submissions, 25 teams were chosen as finalists and flown out to Minneapolis where they will get to attend workshops, pitch competitions, an innovation challenge, and compete for over $250,000 in cash prizes.
The Schulze Entrepreneurship Challenge is the largest undergraduate-only venture pitch competition in North America with a $75,000 prize, and Kalamazoo is being represented in it.
Brennan Vaughn is the Co-Founder of SnapDuct, a student at WMU, and one of the finalists in the competition.
Vaughn, his partner in finance and sales Danny Rogers, and his father Tom Vaughn came up with the idea of “SnapDuct” when he was a part-time summer helper in his father’s small heating and cooling business in Mattawan.
He realized how challenging and tedious hanging and sealing ductwork was, so he came up with a more modern way to install it using a connector system to reduce labor for the installers and cut air leakage for the ductwork.
The top 5 teams will be chosen around 1 p.m. Saturday and they will pitch their ideas, hoping to win the grand prize of $75,000 to better invest in their invention or company.
The full list of finalists and more on SnapDuct can be found at the E-Fest website.
