{"id":67787,"date":"2025-04-25T09:50:25","date_gmt":"2025-04-25T13:50:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/?p=67787"},"modified":"2025-04-25T13:56:09","modified_gmt":"2025-04-25T17:56:09","slug":"fly-pitch-competition-awards-10k-to-utc-student-entrepreneurs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/2025\/04\/fly-pitch-competition-awards-10k-to-utc-student-entrepreneurs\/","title":{"rendered":"Fly! Pitch competition awards $10K to UTC student entrepreneurs\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Fly!

Fly! Mocs Business Pitch Competition winners received checks for their business ideas. Photo by Flint Chaney.<\/p><\/div>\n

Rizwaan Abdulkadir still remembers his first attempt at pitching a business idea.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It was during an entrepreneurship competition in high school. His presentation was packed with data and a carefully thought concept, but he didn\u2019t place. The judges didn\u2019t really \u201cget it,\u201d he said.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey didn\u2019t think of it as real,\u201d said Abdulkadir, a Chattanooga native. \u201cMy friend asked, \u2018What do we need to change?\u2019 They\u2019re like, \u2018If we actually had to put money down, we\u2019d choose yours.\u2019 That showed me that we had a really thought-out thing\u2014but we weren\u2019t entertaining.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Years later, he got the chance to try again\u2014this time at the Fly! Mocs Business Pitch Competition on Thursday, April 17, hosted by the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga\u2019s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE).<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The competition gave students a chance to pitch startup ideas to a panel of industry judges and, for the first time, received sponsorship from the Spencer Patton Foundation\u2014which contributed $10,000 in prize money and helped raise the event\u2019s profile.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey brought structure, they brought money and they brought people,\u201d CIE Director Mike Bradshaw said. \u201cWhat more could you ask for?\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at UTC stood out to us and we have a deep respect for the foundation they\u2019ve laid to support entrepreneurs in the region,\u201d said Kylie Larson, chief brand director for the <\/span>Spencer Patton Foundation<\/span>. \u201cTheir team isn\u2019t just talking about innovation\u2014they\u2019re building the systems, offering the resources and doing the hard work of helping people turn ideas into real businesses.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Spencer Patton, a Tennessee native and founder of multiple successful companies, served as a judge for the competition.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEntrepreneurship is one of the most powerful economic forces of change in the universe,\u201d Patton said in his opening remarks. \u201cIt is incredible what one successful entrepreneur can do for their community.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

************<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Fly! Pitch judges included:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n