Editor's Note: As finals conclude on May 15, we’re taking a moment to reflect on an incredible year at Iowa JPEC, one filled with competitions, startup support, seed funding, and inspiring founder stories. Enjoy this flashback to one of our standout success stories from 2025–26.

Every smoker knows the downside of smoker’s breath. Jeremiah Daniels decided to chew his way to a solution.

Daniels, a University of Iowa senior from Muscatine, Iowa, is finishing a feasibility study for his product, Break Gum, which blends charcoal and bromelain to neutralize smoke odors and remove chemical buildup from the mouth.

That effort recently received a boost through IdeaStorm, where Daniels earned a total of $1,050 in prize money to support his venture. The funding will help refine Break Gum as he moves his business closer to reality. IdeaStorm is an entry-level pitch competition that is held twice a year and hosted by the University of Iowa John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center. 

“IdeaStorm let me know we have the backing of the people,” Daniels said. “They care about what’s going on and they want to make a difference. It gave me that extra boost of energy to know I’m heading on the right path.”

The entrepreneurial journey began for Daniels as a sophomore at Kirkwood Community College when he experimented with smoking. It was then that his girlfriend wondered if there was a product on the market to eliminate “smoker’s breath.”

Daniels certainly didn’t want the kisses to end, but he wasn’t ready to kick his smoking habit, either.

“I’m going to create that product,” he said. 

Daniels and his girlfriend researched what causes smoker’s breath and other oral issues specific to smokers. The couple spoke with smoke shop owners and surveyed smokers in several states, finding that many care about oral hygiene and aren’t satisfied with the products currently on the market. After exploring outside labs, the Break Gum team connected with researchers at the University of Iowa who said the gum could potentially be developed on campus.

But the feasibility study was costly, so Daniels began entering pitch competitions to help support the project and build awareness for Break Gum. IdeaStorm marked his first competition. He won $300 for the People’s Choice Award and $750 for first place in the Creative/Consumer Products category. 

“After IdeaStorm, I spoke to some of the people there, including last year’s winner, to see if I could keep in contact with them as I grow my business and organization,” Daniels said. “They were more than delighted to be part of the journey with us.”

Daniels, who will graduate in May with a degree in finance, first enrolled at Kirkwood as an engineering major before earning a business transfer degree. That’s when he realized he enjoyed the people side of problem solving. 

That shift ultimately helped shape Break Gum. Daniels now has a working formula for a mango guava mint–flavored gum designed to stimulate saliva while charcoal and bromelain target smoke-related odors and buildup in the mouth. Fruit flavors naturally increase saliva flow, which helps the gum do its job.

Before bringing the gum to market, however, Daniels must complete the formal feasibility study to validate the product scientifically. The cost of that research is what pushed him into pitch competitions like IdeaStorm.

Daniels’ IdeaStorm success comes with a meaningful personal update. Through it all, his girlfriend has remained by his side.

“She believes in the product,” Daniels said with a smile.