A trio of UCF College of Business\u00a0seniors \u2014\u00a0Connor Huseman,\u00a0Nicholas Martins,\u00a0Mazen Youness\u00a0\u2014 won the 2023 Joust New Venture Competition\u00a0on\u00a0Thursday at the Celeste Hotel. Their company, VIP Hard Seltzer, is a first-of-its kind competitor in the\u00a0hard seltzer marketplace that features collagen protein and appeals to health-conscious consumers.<\/p>\n
The unique combination of components has enabled VIP Hard Seltzer to outclass other products in the market, with a 7% alcohol content in a 12-ounce can, while retaining a more crisp and flavorful experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had nearly 50 applications at the start of this process and are incredibly proud of VIP Hard Seltzer and our other finalists for all the hard work they put into their startups and presentations for each step of the Joust,\u201d says Cameron Ford, director of the UCF Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership. \u201cAll four finalists were highly regarded amongst our judges and the competition was incredibly close. For that, the students should be very proud of themselves as our judge\u2019s panel was packed full of high-ranking professionals from some of the biggest names in their respective industries.\u201d<\/p>\n
Similar to NBC\u2019s\u00a0Shark Tank,\u00a0t<\/em>he four teams pitched to a panel of five judges, including\u00a0Jessica Blume \u201980<\/strong>\u00a0(retired vice chairman, Deloitte),\u00a0Sean Hayes \u201995<\/strong>\u00a0(chief arketing officer, Voloridge Investment Management),\u00a0Laurette Koellner \u201977<\/strong>\u00a0(retired president, Boeing),\u00a0Barry Miller \u201995<\/strong>\u00a0(president, Voloridge Investment Management) and\u00a0Kevin Miller\u00a0(president and CEO, Addition Financial).<\/p>\n The Joust is UCF\u2019s annual premier startup showcase event, hosted by the UCF College of Business\u2019 Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, and\u00a0is open to students\u00a0of all majors. Competitors present their models for a viable business venture and compete to win money and other resources to pursue their venture. This event celebrates student entrepreneurs, introduces them to community leaders and provides key resources to help launch their ventures.<\/p>\n VIP Hard Seltzer was one of four finalists that emerged from a semifinal pool of 16 companies and was awarded $12,000 as\u00a0champion. Joining the seltzer company in the finals was Certusa AI (Arash Raftari) in second place, Hire Match (Justin Press) in third place and PostFlight (Tyler Worrall) in fourth place.<\/p>\n PostFlight, a mobile app that connects pilots to share flight time and reduce training costs as well as their use of potential contaminants, earned $7,000 as runner-up.<\/p>\n Hire Match, which\u00a0helps companies incorporate applicant tracking\u00a0systems into\u00a0their hiring process to prevent the increasing percentage of under-qualified job applicants that make it through hiring\u00a0systems, earned\u00a0$4,000 for its third-place finish.<\/p>\n Certusa AI\u00a0finished\u00a0fourth and earned $2,000 for a state-of-the-art AI technology that evaluates\u00a0the value and risk of life insurance policies based on the policyholder and provider information.<\/p>\n The 2023 Joust New Venture Competition was made possible by in-kind sponsors SeacoastBank, Orlando Business Journal<\/em>, The Orlando Law Group PL, and Think Integrated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A team of three seniors won $12,000 to grow their company, which is a first-of-its kind competitor in the\u00a0hard seltzer marketplace and appeals to health-conscious consumers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":134790,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"lazy_load_responsive_images_disabled":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[4,27],"tags":[7309,14918],"tu_author":[],"class_list":["post-134789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-student-life","tag-college-of-business","tag-student-life"],"yoast_head":"\n