Student Entrepreneurs Bring Home the Bacon

By Grace Collins ’22, December 3, 2021

IC Startup Idea Demo Day rewards innovation and business-savvy.

Brendan Lebitsch ’23 came up with an idea for gum ball popsicles featuring the faces of famous musical artists,

On November 10, seven student entrepreneurs logged onto Zoom to pitch their business concepts at the 11th annual Ithaca College Startup Idea Demo Day. Founded in 2010 as an opportunity for students to get real-world experience in the process of launching a startup, the event allows participants the opportunity to pitch an idea to a panel of successful entrepreneurs. They’re rewarded for their innovative ideas with the chance to win a portion of $5,000 in funding to take their startup to the next level.

The founders each presented a slide deck that featured their business concept, mockups and prototypes, future plans, as well as the amount of seed funding they were seeking and what they would use it for. The judges then had five minutes to ask questions and gain further insight into each concept.

The judges — John Sanna ‘82, CEO of ScoreCommunications, Steven Gonick ‘85, co-owner of The Palette Cafe and co-founder of Passport for Good, and Pima Mbwana ‘15, CEO of Pima Mbwana Brands, LLC — then met to discuss each idea.

“Judges are treating these students as real entrepreneurs — they're asking them the tough questions and have very high standards. That piece of the puzzle is fantastic and adds a nice element to it all.”

Ed Catto, instructor of management

Beyond the monetary prizes, the judges also offered advice and networking connections to help the student startups succeed. This year’s Demo Day prizes also included a Sustainability Award, to recognize a startup that makes a positive environmental impact, and an Audience Choice Award that gets voted on by Demo Day attendees.

“We love to get judges who are out in the real world,” said Ed Catto, instructor of management and one of the organizers of the event. “They don’t look at things in an academic way, and they're treating these students as real entrepreneurs — they're asking them the tough questions and have very high standards. That piece of the puzzle is fantastic and adds a nice element to it all.”

Meet the seven student entrepreneurs who were selected as Demo Day winners

Brendan Lebitsch ’23, Business Administration

Lebitsch is the founder of Pop-Popsicles, a line of gumball popsicles that feature the faces of famous musical artists, which can then be sold at music festivals, concerts and events. He sees this startup as a chance for artists to expand into the food industry. He’ll be using the $1,000 he received to create the first Pop-Popsicles for an artist he manages and to test the idea with consumers.

This isn’t Lebistch’s first venture into entrepreneurship — in 2019, he founded High Life Tech, a company that works with streetwear brands and artists to create customizable accessories and has worked with over 500 brands through the company.

“The ability for entrepreneurial students such as myself to be able to present our business ideas and receive funding is an amazing privilege. Some of the best companies in the world were started by individuals in college,” said Lebistch. “The generosity of Ithaca alumni to fund the competition each year is a testament to their commitment to bettering the college for the foreseeable future.”

Emmanuelle (Emmy) Bataille ’22, Business Administration

As a mother, Emmy Bataille is no stranger to the challenges that women face postpartum. That’s why she developed her product, La Reprise, which is an undergarment designed to hold a hot or cold pack to make recovery after childbirth easier and more comfortable. She also received $1,000 from the judges to patent the product — which she designed in instructor of management and event co-founder Brad Treat’s entrepreneurial innovation course — and to connect with manufacturers.

Screenshot of Emmy Batallie's presentation

A mother herself, Emmanuelle (Emmy) Bataille ’22 wanted to make a product that made things more comfortable for women postpartum.

She credits much of her success at Demo Day to Ithaca College, the School of Business and Treat.

“It was an incredible experience being able to present my idea, hear feedback and have the judges reach out to begin the process of getting this idea off the ground. Ithaca College has wonderful opportunities and resources for students who want to create something but do not know how to get the ball rolling,” she said.

Bataille was also the recipient of the Audience Choice Award, earning her an additional $250 in funding.

“I could not be more thankful for everyone who came to support the students,” she said. “This award affirmed my idea, because not only did the audition judges, the panel judges and my professor believe in La Reprise, so did the audience.”

Kristen McBride ’21, Business Administration

When an injury temporarily took away 70% of her function in her right hand, McBride began occupational therapy treatments focused on extension and flexion movements. While this helped her regain strength, there was an obstacle to her continuing her therapy at home — there was no affordable or portable hand therapy tool on the market. This led her to the invention of her device: The SqueegyGrip, a low-cost, travel-sized tool that allows people with hand injuries to continue to rehabilitate on their own.

Kristen McBride ’21 came up with the SqueegyGrip after suffering a hand injury.

(Photo submitted)

With the $750 she was awarded in startup money, McBride plans to file a provisional patent for The SqueegyGrip and travel to a convention for occupational and physical therapists, where she can present her idea and get additional feedback. She’s also open to partnering with a health care company.

“It was exciting to have other people see my product and its potential,” she said. “For a while, this was just an idea. When I was able to create a prototype of it, that’s when things became real. I actually thought ‘wait, this is doable?’ and it took the appreciation and support from others who have invented things themselves for me to believe it.”

Joseph Pescatore ’22, Business Administration

Inspired by the concerns his classmates had over the amount of caffeine in energy drinks, Joe Pescatore came up with the idea for Cognition — an energy drink with an adjustable and customizable concentration of caffeine in each serving. The drink is also sustainable and vitamin-rich, created with all natural ingredients.

Joe Pescatore. (Photo submitted)

Pescatore won $650 to bring his Cognition to the next phase of development, where he hopes to solidify the formula, confirm a bottle design and work with food and safety officials to ensure the product can be made and stored safely.

“I hope allowing the consumer to control the amount of caffeine they intake while also being selective and transparent regarding the ingredients will remove some of the fear that the public may have surrounding energy drinks,” he said. “It was a really enriching opportunity to not only present my ideas, but also to hear the innovative ideas of the other participants. I also appreciated the feedback from the entrepreneurs who judged and will definitely be considering their suggestions and inquiries as I move forward.”

Shevori Gene ’22, Television-Radio and Absa Beye ’22, Integrated Marketing Communications

In what the duo calls “true startup fashion,” Gene and Beye admit that the concept they pitched was not the first idea they came up with in Treat’s class. After frustration from several rounds of ideas without commercial viability, the pair took advice from Treat to tap into their international backgrounds and bring a new product solution to the U.S. market. This led to the development of Raw Butta, a line of easy-to-use, well-packaged, fragrant shea butter solutions.

“We were very hesitant about presenting our idea because our original ideas didn’t go so well in terms of our feedback. However, after receiving positive feedback from our practice presentation, we became more excited, confident, and less stressed about presenting Raw Butta,” Beve said. “Demo Day was an excellent opportunity to present our idea because it showed us how far we could take our startup and allowed us to connect with the panelists. This opportunity made us more motivated and excited to launch our product.”

After winning $850 at Demo Day, the pair are excited to further their business development by purchasing the raw materials needed, designing their packaging and branding, and marketing their product to an already-growing list of customers.

Christian Varlack ’22, Business Administration

Varlack, who has been a self-described “sneakerhead” his whole life, is bringing new life to old shoes with his business concept, LikeNew. LikeNew is an innovative service that details, cleans and restores old sneakers, regardless of material or condition with a quick turnaround time. Using a multi-phase cleaning process, the company has already had over 20 satisfied customers who have had their sneakers restored to a better condition than store-bought products can offer.

Varlack received his full ask of $400, which will be used to increase turnaround time, acquire more materials and invest in business marketing. Varlack also won the Sustainability Award, adding an additional $100 to his seed funding.

“We’re teaching [students] all the rules of pitching and rules of launching a startup, but we’re also teaching them to ignore all the rules and to figure out a new idea, do research and come up with something new and different. That push-pull of organization their pitch has and then the celebration of innovation and their personal charisma is one of the really cool things about the event.”

Ed Catto

With all teams receiving the seed funding they requested to get their startups off the ground, one thing is clear: the quality of the work being done by student entrepreneurs at IC is top-notch, and the guidance they receive from professors, mentors and the IC alumni network provides a great deal of support along the way. The wide breadth of innovative ideas presented, from hand injury rehabilitation tools to customizable energy drinks, represents the diverse range of interests and passions driving IC students and the dedication they’ll have in turning their ideas to reality.

Organized by Treat and Catto, Demo Day is open to any IC student with a business idea and passion for entrepreneurship. Additionally, the event serves as a complement to IC’s recently-launched minor in Entrepreneurship & Innovation, which the pair also spearhead.

“The thing I like about Demo Day is that it gives students both perspectives,” said Catto. “We’re teaching them all the rules of pitching and rules of launching a startup, but we’re also teaching them to ignore all the rules and to figure out a new idea, do research and come up with something new and different. That push-pull of organization their pitch has and then the celebration of innovation and their personal charisma is one of the really cool things about the event.”