Big Bang! Business Competition Blog: Record $50,000-plus awarded to promising startups in annual UC Davis business competition

PlayPatch, maker of a wearable, natural alternative to birth control pills, took the $20,000 first prize and won the $2,500 People’s Choice award in the 16th annual UC Davis Big Bang! Business Competition on Thursday, May 26. The first prize includes $10,000 cash and $10,000 in in-kind services from Davis Roots, a local startup incubator with ties to both the university and the city of Davis.

Matt Flannery, co-founder, Kiva.org and founder, Branch International
"We can make a lot of progress for the world and in our personal lives through this vessel of social good.”

More than 100 aspiring and early-stage entrepreneurs—students, faculty, researchers and staff from the UC Davis campus and beyond—joined with Davis and Sacramento area business leaders, entrepreneurs and investors at the 15th annual UC Davis Big Bang! Business Competition Kickoff on October 27.

Scrumpt, a startup that delivers low-cost, healthy lunches and nutritious snacks via mail to elementary school children, took the $10,000 first prize in the 2015 Big Bang! Business Competition during the Final Presentations and Awards Ceremony at the UC Davis Conference Center this evening.

Five finalists—out of more than 50 teams in this year’s competition—pitched their ventures to the audience before prizes were announced.

Many of the ventures focus on innovations in food delivery—the how, what and when we eat for optimal nutrition and minimal waste.

The five finalist teams in the 2015 UC Davis Big Bang! Business Competition will pitch their ventures this Thursday, May 21, at an awards ceremony at the UC Davis Conference Center.

More than 50 teams representing over 150 aspiring entrepreneurs participated in the 15th annual competition. The contest provides workshops, mentorship, financing and networking to accelerate commercialization and advance the startup process, and is open to students, faculty, researchers and staff.

A team of our Business Development Fellows, UC Davis MBAs and their Zambian colleagues has built a company around simple technologies and practices that help farmers to avoid losses and grow more crops. Zasaka has taken off since winning both the People’s Choice award and the Ag and Food Innovation prize in last year’s Big Bang! Business Competition. Read the full article >

Story about the winners of the 2014 UC Davis Big Bang! Business Competition, including the top winner, Nevap Inc., a medical device startup founded by a UC Davis graduate. Read the article >