Startup Showdown

Artcorate Makes a Home Run at 2024 Cardinal Challenge

With two days of action-packed opportunities for student entrepreneurs to step up to bat, sharing information and answering questions about startup ventures ranging from mobile pet care services to in-home, on-demand personal chefs, the 2024 Cardinal Challenge brought together UofL College of Business MBA student teams Amicho, Artcorate, Chez, DoorOne, EAWO, FitSite, Nuks, Propel Optimization, and WonderPet Care. Finalists Artcorate hit a home run with their first-place win, earning $10,000, and DoorOne earned second place and a $5,000 prize. FitSite won the event’s fast pitch competition, sponsored by UofL’s Center for Free Enterprise, bringing home $2,000. Cardinal Challenge winners Guerino Ascoli, Marco Bambek, Pascal Grün, Leoni Köhler, and Anna-Lena Volkmann shared their reactions when learning that Artcorate took the coveted title. “Actually, it was a huge surprise; I don’t think any of us would have thought we would have gotten first place,” noted Volkmann, CEO.

A welcome reception on Thursday evening announced the teams and allowed Cardinal Challenge attendees to connect one-on-one with participating students via a team expo at the Speed Art Museum. Additionally, Cardinal Challenge founder, Co-Founder of the Entrepreneurship MBA program, and former Director of the Forcht Center for Entrepreneurship, Van G. H. Clouse, PhD., was honored with the Forcht Center for Entrepreneurship Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by the current Director of the Forcht Center for Entrepreneurship Sergey Anokhin, PhD. Clouse served as a faculty member for the College of Business for 33 years and left a legacy of entrepreneurship that continues today, providing entrepreneurial networking and potential funding opportunities through fast-pitch competitions and programmatic events.

Saturday’s events consisted of a first-round track competition with teams presenting in groups of three. Judges then selected one team from each group to participate in the final round. All teams participated in the fast-pitch competition. The day also featured keynote speaker Scott Koloms, CEO of Facilities Management Services (FMS), Founder of Canopy, and UofL graduate, who discussed his commitment to fostering employee well-being and leaving a positive community impact through exhibiting leadership that prioritizes mindfulness and meditation methods. Koloms also took a few moments to answer questions from event attendees.

Anokhin, who also serves as program director for the Innovation and Global MBA programs and associate professor of entrepreneurship, noted his appreciation for the growth of community support and involvement in this year’s event from the College’s Board of Advisors, from an increase in company and organization sponsorships to judges participating across a wider variety of industries. “Seeing our board members support us by judging and sponsoring some of the prizes is fantastic,” he explained. “It means we have community support and are doing something the community cares about. Our mission at the Forcht Center is to contribute to the entrepreneurial ecosystem, so to be able to work with the board and with local leaders – that is priceless.” Anokhin also recognized the Forcht Center and College staff who had worked together over the past several months to conceptualize and produce the event. “I feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude to the team that has helped me make all this possible,” he said. “Truly, the amount of work they have done is overwhelming. It’s not possible to do without people being on the same page and going above and beyond. I am humbled and wowed.”

Presenting sponsors for the Cardinal Challenge competition were Brown-Forman and the UofL Forcht Center for Entrepreneurship. Innovation partners include Advance Ready Mix Concrete, Axiom Financial Strategies Group, and the Center for Free Enterprise at The University of Louisville & Office of Research and Innovation. Additional support comes from our Cardinal Supporters Dale Boden & Chenault Boden, Kent Oyler, Net Tango,Amplify Startups, Render Capital, and Alani Nutrition.

Do you have an idea for a startup but don’t know how to get started? Are you an entrepreneur looking to grow your small business? UofL’s Innovation MBA program may be right for you. Learn more at https://business.louisville.edu/academics-programs/graduate-programs/imba/

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