Submission Requirements

The Be Your Own Boss Bowl® (BYOBB®) Competition started in 1997 at Temple University as the “Business Plan Competition,” and has since evolved into one of the nation’s most lucrative pitch competitions for aspiring entrepreneurs, with a total prize package including cash prizes and in-kind services awards worth over $100,000.

The BYOBB® is open to all Temple University students, alumni, faculty, and staff from all 17 schools and colleges within the Temple University community. Participants compete in two tracks - Undergraduate and Upper Track (Graduate students, Alumni, Faculty, Staff).

The objective of the BYOBB® competition is to encourage the formation and launch of new small businesses and scalable entrepreneurial ventures by the Temple community. Along the journey, participants will learn about all aspects of entrepreneurship, participate in workshops, meet with mentors, and do a deep dive into all aspects of a strategic, comprehensive business plan.

Participants submit to the competition with an investor pitch deck, executive summary, and financial forecast.

Eligibility and Guidelines

  • Participants can enter the competition as a solopreneur or with a co-founder(s), and are also encouraged to enter with a team of up to four members.
  • A designated team leader should be identified for each submission, and will serve as the representative who submits the Investor Pitch Deck and Team Information into the submission portal, will serve as the main contact to the IEI, and is responsible for providing updates and important information to the IEI as well as their team members.
  • The designated team leader must be a Temple University degree candidate (undergraduate or graduate), alumni, faculty, or staff.
    • Teams may include members without ties to Temple University (students from other universities, co-workers, etc.).
    • While participants may be on more than one team, they may only be the Team Leader on one team.
    • The designated team leader must be a founding member of the team!
    • Cross-discipline teams are encouraged.
    • You may enter more than one venture but if both are selected for the finals, you may only present one submission, and another team member will have to present the other.
  • Each participant or team will compete in one of two competition tracks:
    • Undergraduate Track
    • Upper Track: Graduate Students, Alumni, Faculty, and/or Staff
    • PLEASE NOTE: Any team with a member who is not an undergraduate student must compete in the Upper Track.
  • Submissions may include a new or an existing idea or venture.
    • Existing ventures must be less than five years old as of January 1, 2024.
    • Existing ventures should have raised less than $50,000 from institutional funding (includes any funding from accelerator or incubator programs, angel investors, venture groups, foundations, or grants).
    • Existing ventures should have received less than $20,000 in funding from competitions.
    • Existing ventures should have gross revenues of less than $100,000 as of January 1, 2024.
    • For-profit and social impact businesses are all eligible. Not for profit ventures are not eligible for submission into the Be Your Own Boss Bowl®.
    • Previous First or Grand Prize BYOBB® winners are not eligible to compete with the same venture or product. If you are a former First or Grand Prize BYOBB® winner and you have a new concept to enter, please contact the 1810 Accelerator Director, Neil Johnston, at to discuss before submitting.
  • All finalists in the annual Be Your Own Boss Bowl® will receive non-diluted seed funding and most teams are eligible for additional in-kind service awards.
    • Finalists are required to complete 5 meetings with an assigned mentor and complete all associated deliverables within 6 months of the competition in order to receive funding.
    • Finalists are required to legally incorporate their business before they receive funding.
    • All finalists are required to apply cash prizes and awards received toward your proposed business venture. All Finalists are required to provide an annual update on your venture to the Innovation & Entrepreneurship Institute for 5-years, as per the executed Terms of Agreement governing the BYOBB®.

Sponsors

Diamond Sponsor


Broad Street Sponsor


Angel Investor Sponsor


Crowd Funding Capital Sponsor


Pre-Seed Funder Sponsor

Previous Winners

2024
AWARDWINNER
Grand PrizeThe Light Providers, LLC
Ishmael Kamara, ENG ‘11
1st Place – Undergraduate TrackExemplify
Abhimaneu Pandey, CST ‘24
1st Place - Upper TrackThe Light Providers, LLC
Ishmael Kamara, ENG ‘11
2nd Place – Undergraduate TrackFraction Print
Yazeed Altayeb, ENG ‘24
2nd Place – Upper Trackbitebrave Inc.
Linda Alunkal, FOX ‘14
3rd Place – Undergraduate TrackHairRun
Teannia Brunson, FOX ‘24
Andrew Ankamah, Jr., CLA ‘22
Alexis Carter-Steward, CLA ‘24
3rd Place – Upper TrackPrototype Kings
James Calcagni, ENG ‘22
4th Place – Undergraduate TrackFanalli
Rhea Mohite, FOX ‘25
Cole Roberts, CST ‘26
Ayush Gupta, CST ‘27
4th Place – Upper TrackHerClub
Stephanie D’Angelo, FOX ‘11
People’s Choice AwardFraction Print
Yazeed Altayeb, ENG ‘24
Digital Innovation Award — Sponsored by The Institute for Business and Information TechnologyUfarmX
Alexander Zanders, FOX ‘10
Global Innovation Award Fanalli
Rhea Mohite, FOX ‘25
Cole Roberts, CST ‘26
Ayush Gupta, CST ‘27
DEI Award — Sponsored by The Center for Ethics, Diversity and Workplace CultureThe Light Providers, LLC
Ishmael Kamara, ENG ‘11
Innovation Nest I-Corps Award — Sponsored by Blackstone LaunchPadbitebrave Inc.
Linda Alunkal, FOX ‘14
2023
AWARDWINNER
Grand PrizeAccessum LLC
Dr. Aroonsiri Howell, FOX ’25
1st Place – Upper TrackAccessum LLC
Dr. Aroonsiri Howell, FOX ’25
2nd Place – Upper TrackPreventGen
Bernardo Castro, ENG ’11
Guilherme Castro
Murilo Castro
Carly Whittamore
3rd Place – Upper TrackNeftwerk Inc.
Francesca Augustine, TYL ’14
4th Place – Upper TrackPure Eden Foods, Inc.
Sierra M. Bretz, FOX ’96
Christophe Cortes
1st Place – Undergraduate TrackNIRVA Device
Hetavi Patel, ENG ’23
Joshua Pletcher, ENG ’23
Sydney Reid, ENG ’23
Eesha Thakur, ENG ’23
Zoe Wevodau, ENG ’23
2nd Place – Undergraduate TrackLight Life
Allison Chu, STHM ’24
Jun Ho Hong, FOX ’24
Kyuri Park, ENG ’24
3rd Place – Undergraduate TrackMermead
Sofia Whitney
Sophia Whitney, KLN ’23
4th Place – Undergraduate TrackVanity de Claudè
Claudine Attoh-Okine, FOX ’24
Stephany Reyes
Julia Wynn
Joe Smith
Digital Innovation Award — Sponsored by The Institute for Business and Information TechnologyHouseCall VR
Betsy Greenleaf, FOX ’24
Linda Ciavarelli
A.G Ciavarelli
DEI Award — Sponsored by The Center for Ethics, Diversity and Workplace CultureCredit Visible
Morgan Pastner-Jaffe, FOX ’22
Global Innovation AwardPreventGen
Bernardo Castro, ENG ’11
Guilherme Castro
Murilo Castro
Carly Whittamore
People’s Choice AwardNIRVA Device
Hetavi Patel, ENG ’23
Joshua Pletcher, ENG ’23
Sydney Reid, ENG ’23
Eesha Thakur, ENG ’23
Zoe Wevodau, ENG ’23
2022
AWARD WINNER 

Grand Prize 

Agora World 
Ethan Berg 
Fox School of Business ‘20 

1st Place – Undergraduate Track 

C.H.A.T Brace 
Rachel Gouveia, Grace Buckwalter, Lucy Eppert, Elena Poali 
College of Engineering ‘22, ‘23 

2nd Place – Undergraduate Track 

Liquid Limbs 
James Calcagni 
College of Engineering ‘22 

3rd Place – Undergraduate Track  

Agra Watt 
Noah Montierth  
College of Engineering ‘22 

4th Place – Undergraduate Track 

Laminar Media Productions 
Michael Mangraviti  
Fox School of Business ‘25 

1st Place – Upper Track 

Agora World 
Ethan Berg 
Fox School of Business ‘20 

2nd Place – Upper Track 

Abstract Soundz 
Kenneth Carter  
College of Engineering ‘11 

3rd Place – Upper Track 

Sun & Star Collective  
Emily Madara, Caroline O’Keefe 
Fox School of Business ‘22, ‘21 

4th Place – Upper Track 

Lokal Food Hub Philly  
Charisse McGil 
School of Sport, Tourism, and Hospitality Management ‘03 

DEI Award — Sponsored by The Center for Ethics, Diversity and Workplace Culture

Lokal Food Hub Philly 
Charisse McGil  
School of Sport, Tourism, and Hospitality Management ‘03 

Crowd Favorite 

Laminar Media Productions 
Michael Mangraviti 
Fox School of Business ‘25 

2021

Award

Winner

Grand Prize

Kiese Technologies

 

Enoque Panzo, College of Engineering ‘11

1st Place - Undergraduate Track

Jojo

 

Bryan Huang, Fox School of Business ‘22

 

Francis Duong, College of Engineering ‘21

2nd Place - Undergraduate Track

The Sun & Stars Collective

 

Emily Madara, Fox School of Business ‘22

 

Caroline O’Keefe, Fox School of Business ‘21

3rd Place - Undergraduate Track

Koi Charging LLC

 

Daniel Contando, Fox School of Business ‘22

 

Eric Yu, Fox School of Business ‘21

4th Place - Undergraduate Track

Bobby

 

Glendon Crawford, Fox School of Business ‘21

1st Place - Upper Track

Kiese Technologies

 

Enoque Panzo, College of Engineering ‘11

2nd Place - Upper Track

Quarbon

 

Justin Slusarski, Fox School of Business ‘13

 

Syd del Cid, Fox School of Business ‘17

3rd Place - Upper Track

Simply Flows

 

Nelly Tacheva, Fox School of Business ‘20

4th Place - Upper Track

Brain Games

 

Kavun Nuggihalli, College of Science and Technology ‘19

 

Stephen Jeffers, School of Sport, Tourism and Hospitality Management ‘18

2020

GRAND PRIZE 

Healthy RFP 
Eric Friedman – College of Science and Technology 
Jon Vogel – Drexel University 
Garrett Gillin – Drexel University 
Colin Sholes – Beloit College  

 

Upper Track 

FIRST PLACE

ArtFlip 
Jona Shreeves-Taylor – Fox School of Business 

 

SECOND PLACE

My Relief Wear, LLC 
Mary McElya – School of Theater, Film, and Media Arts  

 

Undergraduate Track 

FIRST PLACE

Indicative Absorbing Bandaid (IAB) 
Angeli Sen – College of Engineering 
Vendant Patel – College of Engineering 
Marko Stankovic – College of Engineering 
Michael Kyae Appiagyei – College of Engineering   

 

SECOND PLACE

Koi Charging LLC 
Daniel Cantando – Fox School of Business 
Eric Yu – Fox School of Business   

 

CROWN FAVORITE AWARD

Sanitime 
Chloe Gehret – College of Science and Technology 
Allyson Yu – College of Science and Technology, Tyler School of Art + Architecture 

 

GLOBAL INNOVATION PRIZE

My Relief Wear, LLC 
Mary McElya – School of Theater, Film, and Media Arts