Four student teams will face off for $75,000 in cash and essential business services Friday, April 15 in the finals of the annual Joust New Venture Competition.  The finals, which will be free and open to the public, will begin at 1 p.m. on Friday, April 15, in the UCF Pegasus Ballroom in the Student Union on the UCF main campus.

The four teams remaining from the field of 16 semi-finalists in this year’s Joust competition are:

  • Capacitech Energy, LLC (Joe Sleppy): A cable based super capacitor that can simultaneously store and transport electricity.
  • IDem (David Nash): Provides law enforcement with a new presumptive drug testing system that is more accurate and safer than current methods.
  • Talking Stick (Ben Gauthier): An app that lets you watch or join live, real-time conversations around any topic.
  • Zuke Music (Arielle Cohen, Zachary Shea): A web and mobile platform enabling better music creation, collaboration and promotion.

    • “This event showcases some of the best and brightest students from across UCF battling it out in Shark Tank fashion for the chance to win startup money for their business,” said Dr. Cameron Ford, director of the Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership. “The judges were unanimous in their praise for this year’s teams, noting that our semi-finalists were the best collection of student ventures they’ve seen.”

    The Joust is one of the premier events of the UCF College of Business’s Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership.  Students present their models for a viable business venture and compete to win money and other resources to pursue their venture. The Joust is open to all UCF students and all types of venture proposals.

    The students’ business plans are assessed by a panel of expert professionals representing corporate partners, area businesses and alumni. This year’s presenting sponsors are Steven Felkowitz, ’79, DigiThinkIT, Inc., Jim Balaschak, ’86 and ’92, and Debbie Balaschak,’88. Additional sponsors include Anidea Engineering, Inc., BDO, Burr+Forman, LLP, CoLab, Hill Printing, Nperspective, LLC., ROI Design and William Hendrickson Consulting.