Thank you to everyone who made this year's Be Your Own Boss Bowl^® a huge success! We appreciate everyone who submitted an entry, attended the live event, reviewed submissions, served on our judging panel, mentored our finalists; and of course thank you to the finalists 
27th Annual BYOBB^® Prize Winners:

Grand Prize: AI-Aware Writing Environment (AAWE)
Megan Kane, College of Liberal Arts ‘24 and Stephen Malkowicz, College of Science and Technology ‘13  

First Place Undergraduate Track: BARRICADE
Liana DeMarco, Tyler School of Art + Architecture '25

Second Place Undergraduate Track: Plastopia
Alimatou Konate, College of Engineering '27

Third Place Undergraduate Track: LB Vision
Makayla Waleed, Klein College of Media & Communication '25

Fourth Place Undergraduate Track: NoTitle
Samantha Salomon, Fox School of Business '28

First Place Upper Track: AI-Aware Writing Environment (AAWE)
Megan Kane, College of Liberal Arts ‘24 and Stephen Malkowicz, College of Science & Technology ‘13

Second Place Upper Track: Mermead
Sophia Whitney, Klein College of Media and Communications '23

Third Place Upper Track: Potluck
Shannon Amspacher, Fox School of Business '12

Fourth Place Upper Track: Tiresia
Bojia Huang, Fox School of Business '26

People's Choice: Mermead
Sophia Whitney, Klein College of Media and Communications '23

Global Innovation Award: DeepFlow
Keze Lin, Fox School of Business '20

Digital Innovation Award: LB Vision
Makayla Waleed, Klein College of Media & Communication '25
Sponsored by IBIT

Access and Opportunity Award: The Daisy Bidet
Tom Edwards, College of Engineering Faculty
Sponsored by CEDWC

iCorps Award: Energyflow
Yuna Shu, Fox School of Business '19
Sponsored by Temple's Blackstone Launchpad

Submission Requirements

The Be Your Own Boss Bowl® (BYOBB®) Competition started in 1997 at Temple University as the “Business Plan Competition,” and has since evolved into one of the nation’s most lucrative pitch competitions for aspiring entrepreneurs, with a total prize package including cash prizes and in-kind services awards worth over $100,000.

The BYOBB® is open to all Temple University students, alumni, faculty, and staff from all 17 schools and colleges within the Temple University community. Participants compete in two tracks - Undergraduate and Upper Track (Graduate students, Alumni, Faculty, Staff).

The objective of the BYOBB® competition is to encourage the formation and launch of new small businesses and scalable entrepreneurial ventures by the Temple community. Along the journey, participants will learn about all aspects of entrepreneurship, participate in workshops, meet with mentors, and do a deep dive into all aspects of a strategic, comprehensive business plan.

Participants submit to the competition with an investor pitch deck, executive summary, and financial forecast.

Eligibility and Guidelines

• Participants can enter the competition as a solopreneur or with a co-founder(s), and are also encouraged to enter with a team of up to four members.
• A designated team leader should be identified for each submission, and will serve as the representative who submits the Investor Pitch Deck and Team Information into the submission portal, will serve as the main contact to the IEI, and is responsible for providing updates and important information to the IEI as well as their team members.
• The designated team leader must be a Temple University degree candidate (undergraduate or graduate), alumni, faculty, or staff.
  • Teams may include members without ties to Temple University (students from other universities, co-workers, etc.).
  • While participants may be on more than one team, they may only be the Team Leader on one team.
  • The designated team leader must be a founding member of the team!
  • Cross-discipline teams are encouraged.
  • You may enter more than one venture but if both are selected for the finals, you may only present one submission, and another team member will have to present the other.
• Each participant or team will compete in one of two competition tracks:
  • Undergraduate Track
  • Upper Track: Graduate Students, Alumni, Faculty, and/or Staff
  • PLEASE NOTE: Any team with a member who is not an undergraduate student must compete in the Upper Track.
• Submissions may include a new or an existing idea or venture.
  • Existing ventures must be less than five years old as of January 1, 2025.
  • Existing ventures should have raised less than $50,000 from institutional funding (includes any funding from accelerator or incubator programs, angel investors, venture groups, foundations, or grants).
  • Existing ventures should have received less than $20,000 in funding from competitions.
  • Existing ventures should have gross revenues of less than $100,000 as of January 1, 2025.
  • For-profit and social impact businesses are all eligible. Not for profit ventures are not eligible for submission into the Be Your Own Boss Bowl®.
  • Previous First or Grand Prize BYOBB® winners are not eligible to compete with the same venture or product. If you are a former First or Grand Prize BYOBB® winner and you have a new concept to enter, please contact the 1810 Accelerator Director, Neil Johnston, at [click-for-email] to discuss before submitting.
• All finalists in the annual Be Your Own Boss Bowl® will receive non-diluted seed funding and most teams are eligible for additional in-kind service awards.
  • Finalists are required to complete 5 meetings with an assigned mentor and complete all associated deliverables within 6 months of the competition in order to receive funding.
  • Finalists are required to legally incorporate their business before they receive funding.
  • All finalists are required to apply cash prizes and awards received toward your proposed business venture. All Finalists are required to provide an annual update on your venture to the Innovation & Entrepreneurship Institute for 5-years, as per the executed Terms of Agreement governing the BYOBB®.

Sponsors

Diamond Sponsor

Broad Street Sponsor

Angel Investor Sponsor

Crowd Funding Capital Sponsor

Pre-Seed Funder Sponsor