Embry-Riddle university startup competition highlights innovations in sustainability, drones and automation
Innovation coming straight out of American universities just became reality once again. 🎓
The 10th edition of Launch Your Venture brought together students from four Florida universities to compete in one of the most anticipated entrepreneurship competitions on the American academic calendar. A total of 50 applicants vied for a spot, but only 6 finalists made it all the way to present their ideas before a panel of judges at MicaPlex, inside the Research Park at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach. Each team had 10 minutes to deliver their pitch plus 7 minutes to answer questions from the judges. What showed up at this competition went well beyond expectations.
From a startup looking to solve the waste problem created by pickleball to a drone capable of carrying up to 275 pounds in emergency situations, the projects proved that university startups are far from just class assignments. These are real businesses with working prototypes and their eyes firmly on the market. 🚀
University entrepreneurship that goes beyond the classroom
What makes Launch Your Venture different from so many other academic competitions is the level of maturity projects need to demonstrate just to reach the finals. Having a nice idea on paper is not enough. Finalists show up with structured business models, completed market research and, in many cases, prototypes already tested in the real world. That kind of requirement completely changes the dynamic of the competition and forces students to treat entrepreneurship as something serious, with real risks, decisions and responsibilities from the very start.
As Stephanie Miller, executive director of Embry-Riddle Research Park, pointed out, many winners from previous editions have gone on to secure significant investments, join incubation and acceleration programs, expand their companies and launch products on the market. In her words, the competition is enabling students to make the transition from student to CEO.
This year edition was especially noteworthy because it featured projects that speak directly to major global market trends. Sustainability, drone technology, automation and social impact dominated the presentations, showing that this generation of entrepreneurs is already born connected to the problems the world needs to solve. It is no accident that investors and mentors have been paying more and more attention to these events as sources for discovering new talent and promising businesses.
The event also serves as a barometer for what is coming next. When undergraduate and graduate students present solutions with this level of technical and strategic sophistication, it becomes clear that the American startup ecosystem continues to renew itself in a consistent way. And the most interesting part is that many of these projects do not get shelved after the competition. They move forward, seeking investment, partnerships and a place in the market.
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Grand winner: BounceBack Pickle and pickleball ball recycling
First place and the $15,000 prize went to Dillon Rosenthal, a senior entrepreneurship student at Florida Gulf Coast University and founder of BounceBack Pickle. His idea is as simple as it is brilliant: recycling broken pickleball balls, a problem nobody had addressed until now in a sport that has exploded in popularity across the United States in recent years.
Pickleball balls are made of plastic, break frequently and go straight into the trash with no efficient disposal or recycling alternative. Rosenthal identified that gap and created a process to grind down broken balls and turn the plastic material into raw material for manufacturing new ones. He already has a working prototype and, fun detail, roughly 600 pounds of broken pickleball balls stockpiled in his garage waiting to be processed. 😅
The prize money will be used to purchase the molds needed to start manufacturing at scale. According to Rosenthal, this funding will truly unlock product production. He also expressed gratitude to Embry-Riddle for hosting the event, acknowledging that the prize will help take the company to the next level.
This is the kind of innovation that only shows up when someone stops and observes an everyday problem through an entrepreneurial lens. Sustainability here is not empty talk. It is a business model built on top of real waste, turning something seemingly insignificant into a value chain with considerable growth potential.
Second place: Mayott Aerospace and the heavy-lift drone
The silver medal and the $10,000 prize went to Mayott Aerospace, founded by Andrew Mayott, an Aerospace Engineering student at Embry-Riddle. The project grabbed attention by tackling one of the biggest unsolved challenges in the drone world: heavy cargo transport.
The startup developed an unmanned aircraft system capable of carrying up to 275 pounds. That kind of payload capacity opens doors for applications in natural disaster response, infrastructure repair and defense operations. Imagine an area hit by floods, landslides or other disasters where traditional vehicles simply cannot get through. This drone fills exactly that gap, transporting essential supplies, medical equipment or repair materials in critical situations.
As Mayott, who serves as CEO of the company, explained, heavy cargo transport remains one of the biggest unsolved challenges in drone technology. Mayott Aerospace is focused on solving this problem by developing a platform capable of carrying significant payloads while maintaining stability, range and operational reliability.
The team plans to enter the drone in the DARPA Heavy Lift Challenge, a competition hosted by the U.S. Department of Defense advanced research agency, scheduled for August. The Launch Your Venture prize will fund the construction of the final prototype, keeping the team on schedule for this next milestone. The pitch at the competition was delivered by Tommy Porter, also an Embry-Riddle student and member of the team.
Third place: Tracker and automated tool management
Third place and the $5,000 prize went to Tracker, created by Arjun Menon, a Mechanical Engineering student at Embry-Riddle, and Jadyn Fulcher, a recent graduate from the same institution. The project started as a senior capstone project in mechanical engineering and evolved into a startup with a real, validated product.
Tracker is a toolbox with an automated inventory management system. The goal is to track and prevent the loss of tools and other expensive equipment, a problem that affects industries, laboratories and workshops worldwide. It sounds simple, but tool loss and misplacement cost companies across multiple sectors millions of dollars every year.
The coolest part is that Tracker has already been tested in practice. Over the past five months, the system was deployed in Embry-Riddle own mechanical engineering labs, and according to Menon, the professors loved the results. That kind of real-world validation gives the project enormous credibility and shows it is not just a theoretical concept.
Even before Launch Your Venture, the team had already earned second place and a $5,000 prize at the Volusia Innovation Challenge, held in March at the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach. In other words, the project has already racked up recognition and awards across different competitions, reinforcing its market potential.
The other finalists worth watching
Beyond the three winners, three other projects reached the finals and also presented compelling ideas:
- BeachLens, founded by Ja’Rell Felix, a student at the University of Florida
- Comet Procedures, founded by Trevor Clevenger, a doctoral student at Embry-Riddle
- SubQ Six, founded by a group of Rollins College students including Matheus Westphalen, Ava Ager, McKenzie Steuerer, Xandria Bramble and Oliver Alcorn
These projects represent the diversity of fields and approaches that Florida university innovation ecosystem has been producing. Making the finals out of 50 applicants is already a significant achievement in itself and puts these entrepreneurs on the radar of investors and acceleration programs.
What these projects reveal about the future of startups
Looking at the six finalists as a whole, a pretty significant mindset shift among young entrepreneurs in this generation becomes evident. They are not just trying to create the next viral app or a quick consumer product. The projects presented at Launch Your Venture show a clear concern with real-world impact, whether in the environment, safety, defense or the efficiency of processes that still rely on outdated solutions.
This is a very positive sign for anyone following the innovation ecosystem, because businesses built on top of real problems tend to have much more traction and longevity than those based solely on passing trends. Plastic recycling in sports, heavy-lift drones for emergencies and inventory automation are all examples of practical solutions for concrete market pain points.
The role of universities in shaping new entrepreneurs
Another point that deserves attention is the role universities play in this process. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, known worldwide for its excellence in aviation and aerospace engineering, offers an environment naturally suited for the development of technologies like drones and autonomous systems. When an institution of this caliber creates structures like the Research Park and supports competitions like Launch Your Venture, it is essentially building a bridge between academic knowledge and the market.
That bridge is essential for making sure good ideas do not die inside labs and instead get out into the world with structure and support. The fact that the competition is already in its 10th edition shows a long-term commitment to fostering student entrepreneurship, and the results accumulated over the years prove the strategy works.
The combination of entrepreneurship, drone technology, sustainability and automation that showed up in this edition of the competition is no coincidence. It reflects a moment when the market is increasingly receptive to solutions that blend technological advancement with environmental and social responsibility. Startups that are born with this DNA already have an enormous competitive advantage, especially in a landscape where regulators, consumers and investors increasingly demand that companies have a clear purpose beyond profit.
This generation of founders seems to have gotten that message well before holding any diploma. And competitions like Launch Your Venture are exactly the kind of platform that turns that understanding into concrete action, with funding, visibility and real growth opportunities. 🎯
