Syracuse Sun

Winners of the Raymond von Dran (RvD) iPrize for Student Entrepreneurship competition and the Hunter Brooks Watson Spirit of Entrepreneurship Award have been announced by Traci Geisler, director of Blackstone LaunchPad at Syracuse University Libraries, and Bruce Kingma, professor of entrepreneurship in the School of Information Studies and Whitman School of Management. The competition took place on April 12 at Bird Library and showcased the innovative ideas of student startup teams.

Among the winners of the RvD funding are Brielle Young, founder of Aggregate, a platform for small-scale farmers; Olutosin “Tosin” Alabi, founder of DiabeTech focusing on diabetic foot ulcers; Mariah Brown and Fernanda Kligerman, founders of Dormbank for college students' dorm needs; Jonah Wassersug, Alexa Shoiock, and Tomoyoshi Takita, creators of GEN, an AI-powered personal stylist; Waqar Hussain, founder of Iconic.cloud for cloud server management; Motolani Oladitan, founder of Latita Wellness connecting African beauty brands; Elizabeth Paulin, founder of Paulin Ventures investing in diverse entrepreneurs; Xheneta Sopjani, founder of Revive skincare device; Natasha Brao, founder of Root & Seed Brands promoting cultural cuisines; and John Bol Ajak Deng, founder of The HumBol Fund supporting South Sudanese students.

The Hunter Brooks Watson Spirit of Entrepreneurship Award, honoring the memory of Hunter Brooks Watson, was presented to Adya Parida and Ryan Brouchoud of AdaptEd for adaptive learning software; Bintou Manneh, Maram Ahmed, Marangelis Uben, and Ashley Romero of BearBot for a reading tool; Mariah Brown and Fernanda Kligerman for Dormbank; Za’Tozia Duffie for MirrorZ60 innovative mirror; and Jordan Pierre for VOICE empowering marginalized students through storytelling.

The competition underscores the University’s commitment to entrepreneurship, with Raymond von Dran and Gisela von Dran, both advocates of student innovation, playing integral roles. The Spirit of Entrepreneurship Award, initiated in 2018 through the Hunter Brooks Watson Memorial Fund, continues to honor entrepreneurial spirit. John “Jack” Rose, this year’s Hunter Brooks Watson Remembrance Scholar, along with Hunter’s parents, Jerry Watson and Judith Fister, commemorated Hunter’s legacy.