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Over $25,000 was awarded to students and Spartan Incubator entrepreneurs at the New Venture Expo held Friday in the Lowth Entrepreneurship Center on campus.

The New Venture Expo is an annual event that showcases ventures at various stages of development. This year, 73 businesses participated, and more than 700 people from the campus and community stopped in to learn about them. Businesses were judged in four categories (growth, prototype, validation and launch), and winners received cash prizes to be used toward their ventures. Students and Spartan Incubator companies, those run by recent grads and early-stage community founders, were evaluated together. 

Lone Daffodil, led by Incubator founder Sarah Hinkle ’24, won in the “growth” category and was awarded $6,000. Lone Daffodil specializes in handmade clothing created from secondhand and natural materials. 

“I’m honestly a little shocked because there are some incredible businesses and entrepreneurs in here that it was a very competitive space,” Hinkle said. “I also feel very blessed, because everybody in this center is energizing and supportive, and it’s the most amazing environment to be a part of if you’re building something of your own.”

Hinkle described the moment as “full circle” because when she was an undergraduate, she interned at a company in the Spartan Incubator. Now she’s back, showcasing her own company.

With the prize money, she plans to purchase a van, so she can bring her product to other cities.

In the “prototype” category, Cold9, a line of baseball pants, won first place and $3,000. Cold9 is run by Spencer Walden ’29, Sam Levine ’29 and Joshua Greenspon ’28.

Andrew Brown ’27 won first place and $1,000 in the “validation” category for his company, One Tap, a digital résumé card. 

In the “launch” category, Maximus Mattuchio ’26 won, securing $4,500 for his company, Dirty Bastard, a line of cologne-infused laundry detergent sheets.

“I knew going into it that I wanted to win, Mattuchio said. “Like, even second place I would have been disappointed, just because I put so much work into this, and I really have gone the extra mile to separate myself from my competition,” he said.

Volunteer coaches and mentors in the Lowth Entrepreneurship Center were the event judges, and prize money was donated through the center’s Sustainer Board.