Isenberg Student Teams Win Big at Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship’s 2025 Innovation Challenge

On April 24, 2025, Isenberg’s Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship hosted the final round of its annual Innovation Challenge, featuring several student teams competing for up to $65,000 in equity-free funding. Isenberg students were well-represented among the winning teams, with three of the five teams that won funding having at least one member from Isenberg.

OffCampusSpaces Looks to Simplify the Complex Student Housing Market

One of the biggest winners of the evening was the team behind OffCampusSpaces, which took home $11,000. Samyak Choudhary ’25, a finance major, was one of the driving forces behind the innovative platform that allows students and landlords to quickly and easily list their rooms, apartments, and houses for rent or sublet. Initially only available at UMass, the venture has utilized student ambassadors to rapidly expand to more than 5,600 colleges and universities across the country. Read more about Choudhary and OffCampusSpaces here.

Democratizing Access to Sustainable Fashion with X-Change

The creators of X-Change—all of whom are Isenberg students—also did well at the Innovation Challenge, winning $1,000. X-Change is a vintage and consignment fashion business started by Jack Mandy ’25, a finance major, Grant Cooney ’25, a management major, and Manny Baczewski ’27, a management and HTM double major. They also employ Matthew Cunningham ’25, a marketing major. Last October, they opened a physical storefront in downtown Amherst—an exciting achievement for anyone, let alone a group of college students. X-Change is unique among other vintage stores for its focus on sustainability and circular fashion. The team sources many pieces from estate sales, house cleanouts, and junk removal jobs, diverting items that would likely otherwise end up in a landfill. Read more about X-Change and its creators here.

Supreme Microgreens Redefines the Local Agriculture Space

Another success story of the evening was Supreme Microgreens, a vertically-integrated hydroponic farming operation, which also won $1,000. Supreme Microgreens was represented in the Innovation Challenge by Alexander Ayanian ’25, a double major in marketing and horticulture via the Stockbridge School of Agriculture. Microgreens are young, nutrient-rich shoots of edible vegetables and herbs that take much less time to grow than conventional herbs and vegetables. The hydroponic growing methods they use make it possible to grow microgreens just about anywhere, increasing flexibility and scalability for the business. Learn more about Ayanian and Supreme Microgreens here.