A former roommate inadvertently sparked an idea that has led to a promising startup company for Jordan Mather, a senior in the Lubar School of Business.
While receiving physical therapy after an accident, Mather’s roommate had trouble keeping track of his exercise instructions.
With his product, Health Snaps, Mather recently won top prize in the Lubar school’s Scheinfeld Entrepreneurial Awards Competition. Judges doled out $25,000 in seed funding to four teams of student entrepreneurs, and added an additional $1,000 “honorable mention.”
The competition is open to teams with at least one business student member. Each spring semester since 2013, three to five awards are given in amounts ranging from $5,000 to $15,000.
The Scheinfeld is one of two major competitions for student entrepreneurs hosted by the Lubar School of Business. The other one is the New Venture Business Plan Competition supported by La Macchia Enterprises. New Ventures is open to teams of students from any discipline.
Between the two competitions, the Lubar School awarded almost $45,000 in the last year to promising student business ventures.
“Early recognition, confidence and, most importantly, capital are critical ingredients for the success of any entrepreneur,” said Paul A. Stewart, an entrepreneur-in-residence at the Lubar school. “The Scheinfeld competition provides all three.
“With its commitment to educating entrepreneurs, the school provides outstanding candidates for this competition every year. One can only imagine the award winner a decade from now. Move over, Google!”
The Scheinfeld winners are:
$15,000: Health Connection’s platform, Health Snaps, gives health-care providers the ability to create and send HIPAA-compliant video messages and educational video content to patients.
Jordan Mather (BA, Marketing, 2018)
$5,000: Zizii Naturalli is an online, strictly natural and organic skincare store that specializes in makeup brand variety and sample beauty boxes.
Neziah Bowers (BA, Marketing, 2018)
$2,500: Indie Homes is a flat-fee listing real estate site that offers independent home sellers in Wisconsin the same access to listing services as a real-estate agent.
Alycia Doxon (BA, Finance, 2017)
$2,500: Itty Bitty Kiddos is an online boutique featuring high-end, custom-made, special occasion clothing for children of all ages and sizes.
Dalia Shawar (MSM, Accounting, 2017)
$1,000 honorable mention: Appbility is a mobile application that links supply and demand of services to individuals who can fulfill these demands.
Andres Esquetini (MS, Finance Analysis, 2017), Chase Letteney (MS, Computer Science 2018)
