ESU Student-Owned Companies Compete in tecBRIDGE Business Plan Competition

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Posted by: Elizabeth Richardson on April 20, 2020, No Comments

ParkingShark and Mite Fight, two East Stroudsburg University student-owned companies, competed in the 18th Annual tecBRIDGE Business Plan Competition finals on April 6. The winners of the tecBRIDGE Collegiate and Non-Collegiate divisions will be announced during a Virtual Awards Ceremony on April 29. Winners can receive up to $100,000 in cash and in-kind services to help launch or grow their business.

ParkingShark, founded by ESU students Amirah El, Sean Crowley and Hunter Barabas, is a subscription-based service to make parking easier on college campuses. The founders plan to pilot the service to tecBRIDGE affiliated universities and colleges. The app allows students to see what parking spaces are available on campus so they wouldn’t have to drive around in search of a spot. ParkingShark competed in the collegiate division of the tecBRDIGE finals.

An ESU alumnus-owned company, Mite Fight, also competed in the collegiate division. Mite Fight was started by Erik Diemer in his last semester at ESU in 2019. Mite Fight is an affordable subscription service that provides beekeepers with the supplements and medicines they need in order to keep their bees healthy. While helping backyard beekeepers, Mite Fight will also collect data on the health of those honeybees and the spread of disease. Mite Fight will use the data to create Honeybee Health Forecasts, a system that will allow commercial beekeepers to better mitigate disease and risks for their hives. The Honeybee Health Forecasts will be sold as a service to commercial beekeepers.

Additionally, Mash Motor Company, based in Stroudsburg, also competed in the competition. Mash Motor manufactures unique auto-cycles, combining the look and feel of a classic American hot rod with the thrill of a motorcycle to create an affordable and eye-catching vehicle. Founder and CEO Ben George competed in the non-collegiate division of the tecBRIDGE finals.

The tecBRIDGE Business Plan Competition is an event that showcases entrepreneurship and innovation in the northeast Pennsylvania region. Student teams from local universities and colleges compete in the collegiate division and early stage entrepreneurs compete in the non-collegiate division.

For more information on the tecBRIDGE Business Plan Competition visit http://tecBRIDGE pa.org/bpc/. For information on the East Stroudsburg University Business Accelerator Program, contact Keith Modzelewski, ESU Director of Entrepreneurship, kmodzelewski@esu.edu.