Eloqua, a skincare product customized to the consumer, won first place and $1,000 at Startup Games final pitches Oct. 15 inside the Pappajohn Business Building in Iowa City, Iowa.
The fall edition of Startup Games kicked off Oct. 13 with 35 participants and nine projects moving forward. Seven teams delivered four-minute pitches in the finals Oct. 15 in front of three judges. The students started planning for their business Friday evening, then spent all day Saturday assigning roles, doing research, customer discovery, and meeting with business coaches.
SOAP took second place and $750. The product is similar to a water bottle refill station for laundry detergent, dish soap, and hand soap that will eliminate container waste.
Placing third and winning $500 was Back Home Box, packages tailored for homesick students who want a taste of home.
Startup Games is sponsored by the John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center, the hub for entrepreneurial education and outreach at the University of Iowa.
| PLACE | BUSINESS NAME | AMOUNT |
| 1st | Eloqua | $1,000 |
| Trisha Das (undecided business), Katherine Steahly (creative writing and graphic design with a publishing minor), Abby Wedeking (business analytics), Sophia Claus (entrepreneurial management with a pre-architecture minor) | ||
| 2nd | SOAP | $750 |
| Skylar Halley (mechanical engineering), Kate Meyer (industrial engineering), Karli Hogle (pre-business), Alex Bainter (enterprise leadership), Zeno Ditrinco (journalism and mass communication) | ||
| 3rd | Back Home Box | $500 |
| Will Kamentz (finance and economics), Krissia Uribe (undecided business), Alexander Kilburg (biomedical engineering) |
