Young Innovators Shine at TiE Boston’s TYE Final Pitch Competition

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Pictured: TelePark, the winners of the TYE 2024 Boston Finals
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TelePark Wins Top Honors with Revolutionary Parking Solution, Heads to Silicon Valley for Global Finals

BOSTON – TiE Boston is thrilled to announce the winners of the Final Pitch Competition for their TiE Young Entrepreneurs (TYE) Academy. The highly anticipated event, hosted at Suffolk University’s Law School, saw an impressive turnout with over 150 industry insiders, mentors, judges, participants, and family members in attendance.

TelePark, powered by team members Sai Bezawada, Maruthi Birudavolu, Sarada Koppana, Vani Mittal, Saachi Badgi, and Deepika Bhardwaj, emerged victorious with their innovative mobile app solution to urban parking challenges. The app, TelePark, promises to revolutionize the parking experience by offering a seamless and efficient solution to a common urban problem. Special recognition goes to their mentor, Girish Juneja, who has remarkably mentored TiE Boston’s winning team for the second consecutive year. The team has been awarded a trip to Silicon Valley in June, where they will represent TiE Boston at the TYE Global Finals. There, winning teams from over 25

Yash Shah

worldwide chapters will compete for top honors and cash prizes.

“We are immensely proud of all our participants,” said Yash Shah, President of TiE Boston. “The creativity, innovation, and dedication these young entrepreneurs have shown are truly inspiring. TelePark’s solution addresses a critical urban issue, and we are excited to see them represent Boston on the global stage.”

Speaking on behalf of her team, TelePark CEO Vani Mittal said, “We are super excited to represent Boston in the TYE Global Finals. It took a lot of teamwork and perseverance to get this far but we’ve learned so much, not only in how to

Vani Mittal

start a successful business, but how to work together as a team. We’re appreciative of the TYE team for helping us through our journey, and teaching us each step of the process of building a start-up; we not only were able to expand our entrepreneurship knowledge, but more importantly, we were able to meet new people and create new & lasting friends.”

Girish Juneja, mentor of the winning team, added, “It has been a privilege to work with such bright and motivated young minds. Their passion and hard work have paid off, and I am confident they will make a significant impact at the TYE Global Finals.”

Girish Juneja

The first runner-up in the competition was SleepInform, who came up with a smart pillow that provides users with sound therapy and sleep tracking capabilities. The team members were Sahej Singh, Pranav Nandyalam, and Arush Shangari.

MyPath, a web platform designed to guide students seeking non-traditional career paths, secured the second runner-up position. Team members were Parker Ferguson, Isha Shah, Kyan Sangani, Hannah Spratt, and Ashneel Ejenkar.

Additionally, UVShield was recognized for their Lean Canvas Business Model. UVShield’s product is the world’s first biodegradable UV light tracker, developed to help prevent skin cancer. Team members included Neal Mahidhar, Siddharth Deshmukh, Neil Dutta, Ritvik Shetty, and Aaron Kunnikuru.

IncluPlay, a toy company dedicated to empowering kids on the Autism Spectrum with customized toys for inclusive play, was also Prototype. Team members were Aneesha Aryan, Pranav Srinivasan, Aiden Suh, Kira Levin, and Ben Fox.

The winning teams received cash prizes to encourage them on their entrepreneurship journey. The 2023-24 TYE Cohort created solutions for issues ranging from reducing food waste, skin cancer prevention, music therapy and language learning.

Nilanjana Bhowmik

Nilanjana Bhowmik, Past President TiE Boston and TiE Boston Foundation noted, “As a VC, I judge many pitch competitions. The TYE pitches are on par with any at the college and incubator level; the passion and idealism of the students stands out particularly. The TYE program does an outstanding job preparing students for the business world with practical know-how, critical thinking, team-work and effective communication. Congratulations to the class of 2024!”.

Over seven months leading up to this exciting day, fourteen teams of high school students worked alongside experienced TYE mentors to learn how to start and run a successful business. They developed business plans and presentations based on their original ideas, which they presented to panels of industry-leading judges.

During this event aimed at fostering and promoting youth entrepreneurship, students had the opportunity to connect with peers and receive valuable guidance from judges. The competition concluded with all participants emerging as winners, taking home valuable experience, important feedback, and lasting connections with other teams, judges, and organizers. TiE Boston extends its heartfelt congratulations to all the teams and looks forward to seeing their future successes.

Founded in Boston in 2005, the TYE Young Entrepreneurs Academy has since been replicated in over 30 TiE chapters worldwide. Generous support for TYE comes from BNY Mellon, Babson College, Suffolk University, and Cambridge Innovation Center (CIC).

TYE Boston’s Entrepreneurship Academy is dedicated to fostering the next generation of leaders through the transformative experience of building a startup. Over seven months, exceptional high school students are taught a rigorous curriculum by startup founders and industry experts, collaborating with peers to create solutions to pressing problems they identify.

Applications for the 2024-25 TYE Entrepreneurship Academy and the Summer Bootcamp are now open. Learn more by visiting www.tye-boston.org.

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