Earlier EQ teams and ventures

Dec. 2, 2024

Mizzou students in business, data science, education, engineering, journalism, sports management, and textile and apparel management competed to win thousands of dollars from Entrepreneur Quest(EQ) for their businesses.

Learn about the winners:

• First place, $15,000: Fynch Interactive, founded by Lucas Crow, a student in business administration and computer science from Nixa, Missouri, and Noah Fouts, a computer science major from Jefferson City, Missouri.
• Second place, $10,000: Soundcheck, founded by Kiley Grimes, a business administration student from Springfield, Illinois.
• Third place, $5,000: The Melt Masters, founded by Kobe Messick, a secondary education major from Independence, Missouri, and Connor McHugh, a student in strategic communication and economics from Chicago, Illinois.

Meet the top-10 teams.

Nov. 28, 2023

A Mizzou student’s venture that involved repurposing Lego-style blocks for customizable building sets captured the top spot at this year’s Entrepreneur Quest (EQ) final pitch competition.

Learn about the winners:

• First place, $15,000: Parker’s Brick Builds, founded by Parker Owens, a third-year law student from Noel, Missouri.
• Second place, $10,000: The Breast Formula, founded by Lauren Compton, a nursing doctoral candidate from Kansas City, Missouri.
• Third place, $5,000: Hi, Period, founded Jia Wu, a textile and apparel management doctoral candidate from Qingdao, China.

Meet the top-10 teams.

April 6, 2023

Three student teams won a combined $30,000 in funding for their businesses through the Entrepreneur Quest (EQ) pitch competition. 

Learn about the winners:

• First place, $15,000: Solutoy, founded by Ako Hamaamin, a marketing major from Kansas City, Missouri, and Noah Strodtman, a business management student from Columbia, Missouri.
• Second place, $10,000: BTB Kicks, founded by Blake Brown, a marketing major from River Forest, Illinois
• Third place, $5,000: Aged Ivy, founded by Mason Schaedel, a finance major from Lake Zurich, Illinois, and Hallie Wilt, a graphic design student from Macon, Missouri

Meet the top-10 teams.

March 29, 2022

Entrepreneur Quest (EQ) was not offered during the 2020-21 academic year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A year later, funding was not available to support the program systemwide. Mizzou, however, continued offering it through the Griggs Innovators Nexus with support from corporate and alumni donors.

Learn about the winners:

• First place, $15,000: Murray Kennel Co., founded by Jack Murray, a veterinary student from Pittsburgh
• Second place, $10,000: Skypig, founded by Aaron Heienickle, a marketing and computer science major from Weldon Spring, Missouri
• Third place, $5,000: ALLTER, founded by Michelle Gershkovich, a student in textile and apparel management from Northbrook, Illinois

Meet the top-10 teams.

April 17, 2020

The 2019-20 academic year was the second and last year that the University of Missouri System offered Entrepreneur Quest (EQ). Although the program is no longer offered systemwide, it is still available through the Griggs Innovators Nexus for Mizzou students.

UM System finale:

• First place, $15,000: Pollinate, founded by computer science major Drew Patel from Springfield, Missouri
• Second place, $10,000: Bionic Bowel, founded by Missouri S&T biological sciences student Vanessa Mahan
• Third place, $5,000: Vest Heroes, founded by UMKC medical student Fahad Qureshi

Mizzou's campus-level competition:

• First place, $15,000: Norah Health, founded by MBA student Dan Hoffman from St. Louis, Missouri
• Second place, $10,000: Pollinate, founded by Drew Patel
• Third place, $5,000: Printerior, founded by Trent Esser, a business management major from Eureka, Missouri, and Hayden Seidel, a civil and environmental engineering student from Wildwood, Missouri

Learn more about Mizzou's teams.

April 5, 2019

The University of Missouri System launched a two-semester Entrepreneur Quest (EQ) program in fall 2018 to help students at Mizzou, University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC), Missouri University of Science and Technology (S&T) and University  of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL) translate their ideas into viable companies.

During EQ's first two years, the four universities held their own workshops and pitch competitions, and then each awarded a a total of $30,000 to their top three teams. Those 12 teams then competed against each other at the UM System finale for $30,000 in additional funding. 

Although EQ is no longer offered systemwide, it is still available for Mizzou students through the Griggs Innovators Nexus thanks to corporate and alumni donors.

UM System finale:

• First place, $15,000: Calving Technologies, founded by Libby Martin, a Mizzou veterinary student from California, Missouri
• Second place, $10,000: Air Traffic Awareness, founded by UMKC students Tonderai Kamabarami, Merwan Abdelmajeed and Cameron Knight
• Third place, $5,000: Sweet Tea Cosmetics, founded by Teanna Bass, a Mizzou textile and apparel management major from St. Louis, Missouri

Mizzou's campus-level competition:

• First place, $15,000: Calving Technologies
• Second place, $10,000: Sweet Tea Cosmetics
• Third place, $5,000: Infoproduct, founded by finance major Clayton Cary from St. Louis, Missouri

Learn more about the inaugural EQ competition.

Fall 2018

The University of Missouri System launched the two-semester Entrepreneur Quest (EQ) program in fall 2018 to help students at Mizzou, University of Missouri-Kansas City, Missouri University of Science and Technology and University of Missouri-St. Louis translate their ideas into viable companies.

University of Missouri President Mun Y. Choi provided funding for the first year of the program, which was modeled after similar initiatives at the University of Connecticut and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in California.

During EQ's first two years, each of the four universities held their own workshops and pitch competitions. The goal was to help students launch their companies while immersing them in the business world through networking opportunities and coaching from successful entrepreneurs. The most promising teams won funding for their ventures at the campus level and then competed against each other for additional funding from a $30,000 prize pool at the UM System level. EQ was not offered in 2020-21 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Although EQ is no longer offered systemwide, it is still available through the Griggs Innovators Nexus for Mizzou students thanks to corporate and alumni donors.