Innovation Ignites: UMass Amherst Students Earn $37,000 for Ventures During Entrepreneurship Week

Creativity met opportunity at the University of Massachusetts Amherst this November as student innovators earned more than $37,000 in equity-free funding during Innovation & Entrepreneurship (I&E) Week, hosted by the Isenberg School of Management’s Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship.

Over three days, students across disciplines—from engineering and business to food science and sustainability—pitched their ventures before alumni founders, investors, and industry leaders. The result was a showcase of innovation, collaboration, and UMass Amherst pride.

“This week captures what makes UMass Amherst so dynamic,” said Gregory Thomas, executive director of the Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship. “Our students combine curiosity with courage. They see problems as opportunities to create change.”

“I&E Week is more than a competition—it’s a celebration of student innovation and resilience,” said Amy McLain, associate director of external relations. “Every team that steps up to pitch represents the spirit of entrepreneurship that’s growing stronger across campus.”

Competition Highlights

Tech Challenge
(Co-sponsored by the College of Engineering)

Winning Teams: 

• $5000: Re-FRESH – A novel bioprinter that combines the FRESH method with a recoating system to expand print volumes and increase print speeds without compromising print fidelity.
• $5000: RESQOS – Meet ResQOS — built for the bold. An off-grid SOS system turning silence into connection, wherever you roam. 
• $3000: Sentient Screenshots – Everyone has 1000+ screenshots of forgotten knowledge. First AI to automatically organize them into a carousel of 3D knowledge graphs (Recipes→Italian→Pasta; Travel→Paris→Hotels). Smart search, proactive reminders. On-device AI = breakthrough privacy.
• $2000: Vault – Lock Your Location, Unlock Your Focus. Preventing smartphone overuse through geofencing.

Judges' Honorable Mentions:

• Popped Up! – Popped Up! is an app that gives you life updates on pop-up events, basically the Google Maps of pop-ups
• GameClass – Turning the world’s favorite games into educational lessons.

Food Science & Technology: Innovate for Tomorrow Challenge
(Co-sponsored by UMass Dining & the College of Natural Sciences)

Ideation Stage Winners:

• $1500: ThermaLeaf – Smart biodegradable food safety label.
• $1000: Commonwealth Greens – Commonwealth Greens transforms UMass into a living lab for sustainable nutrition, cultivating microalgae and crafting clean-label bars powered by research and student innovation.

Advanced Stage Winners: 

• $3000: TruFood Systems – Delivering food quality insights in a flash.
• $2000: Lil’ Aliens – Real nutrients, real fun, and easy to go!

Speciality Awards Winners: 

• Paradis-Nawar, Closest to Commercialization Award
  • $2,000: TruFood Systems – Delivering food quality insights in a flash.
• UMass Dining Innovation Award
  • $2,000: FruxFoam – We'd love to interface with you! Together, we'll use foam to safely use nutrients from food waste!

Hult Prize @ UMass Amherst Qualifier

UMass Winners:

• $5000: Air-Gen – Air-Gen is pioneering a new way to generate electricity from humidity. Clean, continuous, and available anywhere on earth.
• $3000: Ghaia – We are Ghaia Snacks, a venture creating the first nutritious health bar specifically designed to support women’s needs, with functional ingredients that promote hormonal balance, ease PMS, and improve period comfort.
• $2000: FoundU – A mobile app that helps college students quickly return lost UCards, a common problem without an existing solution. Using AI-powered OCR, it identifies the card owner and sends instant email notifications.

Innovation & Entrepreneurship Week serves as the Berthiaume Center’s signature end-of-semester celebration, spotlighting students who are not only envisioning the future but also creating it.

For more information about the Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship and its programs, click here.