Meet the winners of the Fall 2026 Graves Business Plan Competition
Big Al’s Hot Mustard and VetVision took home the top awards in their respective categories.
Each fall semester, the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK) hosts the Graves Business Plan Competition, giving current students the opportunity to pitch their original business ideas in a 10-minute, in-person presentation for a chance at startup funding.
The event is facilitated by the Anderson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (ACEI), and features two categories. The Growth category focuses on startups seeking significant investment and large-scale scalability, while the Lifestyle category is for local or smaller-scale ventures.
Prizes are awarded to the top three teams in each category:
- $10,000 for first place.
- $7,500 for second place.
- $5,000 for third place.
On Nov. 6, select student entrepreneurs presented their business plans to a panel of judges. In total, ACEI awarded $45,000 in seed funding.
Lifestyle category
First place
Big Al’s Hot Mustard took first place in the Lifestyle Category and a $10,000 prize. Founded by Alex Del Vecchio, Big Al’s is known for its bold, sweet-and-spicy mustards that are low in calories and have easy-to-read ingredients. Del Vecchio plans to use the funding to expand production.
Winning Graves will be a huge help in providing validation in our plan of scale. With the money, I plan to export production so I can produce the product in volume capable of working with wholesale and retail accounts here in Knoxville and beyond.
Back in September, Del Vecchio also took home the 865 Fest Emerging Entrepreneur Pitch Competition win. It’s a brand loved around town, and these back-to-back funding wins mean even more people will be getting a taste soon.
Second place
Rosebud, founded by Kayla Harris took home $7,500. Rosebud is a handbag brand that looks expensive, feels intentional and actually makes your life easier. Harris came up with the idea after transferring to UT, when she couldn’t find a bag that felt more elevated than a backpack but could still carry everything she needed for class and work.
Winning the Graves Business Plan Competition is the push that takes Rosebud from a sample on my desk to a bag in customers’ hands.
Third place
Third place and $5,000 went to WarmWave, founded by Kendra Mueller. WarmWave is a thin, reusable, cordless wearable that delivers soothing heat for menstrual cramps. It adheres discreetly to the lower abdomen beneath clothing, allowing users to manage pain while attending class, working, traveling or exercising.
Mueller learned she would be pitching just an hour before taking the stage and still walked away with recognition.
Being able to share WarmWave on that kind of notice and come away with a win showed me how strongly the idea stands on its own and gave me even more confidence in how far it can go.
Growth category
First place
VetVision came in first place, taking home a $10,000 prize. The company was founded by Grady Giffey to be an AI-powered, camera-based veterinary surgical monitoring system that tracks instruments in the operating room, automates procedure documentation and supports surgeon training. The VetVision team brings over 14 years of combined experience in the veterinary industry.
It feels great to get the support of professionals outside our industry and to build a product that we not only are passionate about but helps us develop as professionals and create a better industry that we work in every day.
Second place
FieldVision IQ, founded by Daniel Perkins, placed second. Football coaches spend 10 to 15 hours a week annotating film, and FieldVision IQ uses AI and computer vision to automate that process down to minutes.
As a Tennessee fan and PhD student, I spent my Saturdays obsessing over football strategy and my weekdays diving into the math behind artificial intelligence. FieldVision IQ was born when I realized I could merge those two worlds, using computer vision to automate how we analyze football film.
Third place
Caspair.tv came in third place, receiving a $5,000 award. The company was founded by Charlie Sarafian as a free, advertising-funded live-streaming platform that helps sports organizations and event hosts monetize their broadcasts by connecting them with local advertisers and sponsors.
In March 2025, I founded the Tennessee Club Sports Network (TSCN), initially just trying to give club sports at the University of Tennessee a platform to showcase their games. What I didn’t realize at the time was that TCSN would become an unexpected test run for Caspair, allowing us to experience firsthand a much bigger problem in the industry.
Honorable mentions
Beyond the prizes in the Growth and Lifestyle categories, two additional awards were granted at the Fall 2026 Graves Business Plan Competition.
The Entrepreneurs Club at UT Prize awards $1,000 to the top pitch delivered by a club member. This year’s prize went to ONDA, founded by Jack Olson. ONDA makes an impact vest for wakeboarding, wakesurfing and waterskiing with built-in Bluetooth speakers and a waterproof phone pocket. Olson started the company after repeatedly losing his music once he got away from the boat and worrying about bringing his phone along.
The $500 Spark Innovation Award, sponsored by the Spark Innovation Center, goes to the pitch that most closely aligns with Spark’s focus on commercializing regional technology-based startups. This year’s award went to WarmWave, which also placed third in the Lifestyle category.
Interested in more UT student startup news? Follow the Anderson Center on LinkedIn.
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