2025 Summit Builds Momentum for Entrepreneurship and Innovation
This spring, USF hosted the Innovation Summit 2025. Six teams were chosen from over 50 initial submissions to pitch their project ideas to a live panel of judges made up of industry experts and USF community members. $25,000 in total funding was awarded to contestants, thanks to generous sponsorship from USF trustees Arthur Tay ’81 and Chris Seiwald.
Innovation Summit 2025 provided a platform for students to pitch to — and speak with — career entrepreneurs like keynote speaker Patrick McGovern, technology leader and board chair of the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, Pete Slosberg, who recently gave $1 million to support entrepreneurship for all at USF, Chris Ehrlich, CEO and adjunct USF professor, USF Trustee emeritus Alfred Chuang ’82, and USF Trustee Maximillian Diez ’04.
Six student-entrepreneur project teams pitched their ideas to the panel live on the big stage, with an impressive 46 additional student contestants presenting posters for 25 more projects. The teams, made up of undergraduate and graduate students, represented every school and college within the university.
Both the audience and panelists voted on the live presentations. FinePrint, a browser extension by Victoria Blante ’25, Emma Juan Salazar ’25, Chelyah Miller ’25, Promise Yigezu ’25, and Aditi Puttur ’25 that simplifies legal terms and flags data risks in real time, finished first in the audience vote. Logan Wroolie ’25 won the panelist judges’ vote for TalkShop, a peer-to-peer knowledge sharing marketplace enabling high school students to learn about their target schools by booking informational calls with current college students. Student Anijah McLaurin ’26 took top honors in the poster competition with a design that critiqued the advancement of AI and technology — and the resulting impact on people’s ability to think critically.
Every student, alumni mentor, and USF community member who participated brought incredible project ideas, creativity, and insights to the table. The event stirred excitement and momentum, promoting the idea that entrepreneurship and innovation should be accessible for all.
Learn more about the Entrepreneurship & Innovation Initiative at USF and how you can support or get involved.
