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📸 Credit: D303 E-News
Nine student teams went head-to-head at St. Charles North High School last week during District 303's 9th Annual INCubator Pitch Night, and three walked away with real seed money to build their startups.
The event brought together student entrepreneurs, judges, and local business leaders for a competition that's become one of the district's signature showcases.
Here's what to know:
How it worked: Teams pitched original business concepts to a panel of judges and community leaders. After preliminary rounds, the top two teams from each D303 high school advanced to the finals, where they competed for seed funding.
Third place — TrackSimpli ($2,000): Waiz Ahmed, Sreehita Macha, and Lucas Reed took third and earned $2,000 to continue developing their concept.
Second place — Drive Well ($3,000): Jaeden Mais, Sophie Mollsen, Michael Hill, and Colin Hassman claimed the runner-up spot and $3,000 in funding for their business idea.
First place — True Grip Golf ($5,000): Anton Dimitrov, Cooper Forsell, and Nikolai Vahmistrovs topped the field with a golf-focused concept aimed at improving grip and player performance, earning the top prize of $5,000.
Combined, student teams walked away with $10,000 in seed funding — money they can now put toward actually building the businesses they pitched.
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