An ocular therapeutics startup was awarded first place and $50,000 at the University of Iowa’s Innovation Challenge April 30.
S5G Therapeutics, comprised of experts in clinical and translational medicine, biomedical research, pharmaceutical sciences and business development, placed in the Graduate/Faculty/Staff/Incubator Startup division of the challenge, which is hosted by the UI John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center.
Representing S5G at the competition was Jessica Skeie and Aliasger Salem. According to a release, the startup is no stranger to the Innovation Challenge, having previously placed first and awarded $25,0000 in the 2022 spring competition.
Soma Banjerjee and Cellular Engineering Technologies, which develops research tools for stem cell applications that will lower the cost of developing next-generation cell therapies, placed second in the division and was awarded $25,000.
The Undergraduate division awarded a total of $27,500 to four individuals:
- $10,000 and first place went to Keegan Fogarty, from the College of Engineering, and his company General Robotics. The company provides solutions to simplify assembly line management, effectively acting as a bridge between small companies and industrial automation.
- $7,500 and second place went to Allen Wolf and Liam Stamper – also from the College of Engineering – with LAMP, an AI-powered GitHub application that automates pull request reviews for software development teams.
- $5,000 and third place was divided between two individuals: Craig Bantz with ZIA Defense Systems and Tyler Graham with Archaneon, both from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
For the Alumni division, Alisa Drapeaux of TRI Medical took first place and $15,000. Drapeaux “created a device that allows students to practice spine assessment and manual therapy techniques on a simulation device to get feedback before they put their hands on a patient,” the release stated. There were 13 online submissions for the alumni division.
A total of 14 undergraduates pitched in the Bedell Entrepreneurship Learning Laboratory on April 28, and seven pitched in the Graduate/Faculty/Staff/Incubator Startup division April 29 in the Pappajohn Business Building.
A total of $132,500 was awarded at the reception, which was held at MERGE in Iowa City.
