Boyd Venture Challenge concludes | Four students, $30K in prize money
The Boyd Venture Challenge is a seed-fund grant competition conducted in the spring semester each year. Companies are awarded up to $30,000 in startup capital. Funds may be awarded to one company or split among several companies.
On April 25, companies pitched to a panel of judges for the 2025 Boyd Venture Challenge. It was a competitive group of finalists, and four groups walked away with non-dilutive funding totaling $30,000. It is the most competitive pitch contest offered by the Anderson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (ACEI) at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK), where founders have 10 minutes to impress the judges with an in-depth pitch.
The Boyd Venture Challenge is made possible by the generosity of Randy Boyd, founder and executive chairman of Radio Systems Corporation, the makers of PetSafe, Invisible Fence, and SportDog brands.
Breanna Hale, the Executive Director of ACEI welcomed an audience of about 30 to the annual awards ceremony. She also welcomed the President of UTK, Boyd who came to support the student start-ups.
Boyd shared some advice with the student-founders in attendance.
“I have never met a successful person over the long term who has not had some failures,” Boyd said. “Starting a business as a student is a good time to get those failures out of the way. If you lose everything you have at 23, then you didn’t have much to lose anyway.”
He shared that the program started back in 2010. They have seen 68 start-ups participate, taking home more than half a million in prize money.
For the 2025 competition, four student took home prize money.
- Tavern, the table top role play social media platform, Co-founded by Semilore (Semmy) Abiodun-Adeniyi and Laython Holder took home $2,500.
- AlchemII, co-founded by UTK Ph.D. candidate Mirka Mandich and Saurabh Pethe took home $2,500.
- Henry BnB, an affordable rental farm promoting experiences with East TN farm culture, Founded by Katy Daniels secured $10,000.
- Salubrium Aegis, a hybrid, bendable body armor manufacturer, founded by UTK online master’s student Andrew Kuntz secured a grand prize of $15,000.
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