For fans of entrepreneurial challenges, the MVP Challenge is a must-attend.

As winter break ends and the spring semester begins, start getting excited for the MVP Challenge. The challenge comes back to the Toaster this Spring and Founders Day, May 13 will serve as a showcase for this years participants. 

For those who did hear about the earlier entrepreneurial competition, Biz Pitch, the MVP Challenge takes it to the next level. 

In October, hundreds of UMN students, faculty and staff submitted their innovative idea for a business in hopes of approval to present it. Why is presenting it so important? The few chosen get to showcase their idea for professional feedback and the chance to earn money to progress their project. 

In the end, 25 grants are awarded. They range from $100 to $3,000 in three different divisions, social, physical and digital.

This year the physical division carries the most competition, with 13 teams. Last year, the overall winner Omni Agrobot was a physical project. The physical division consists of all “look-and-feel” prototypes. 

Across the nation A.I. has been implemented to try and simplify a wide variety of tasks. The UMN officially partnered with Google’s A.I. Gemini, on the first floor of the library the new A.I. makerspace is up and running and everyone is addressing the flood of A.I. in all aspects of life. That is reflected in the current trend for the upcoming challenge, six use A.I. coding as the basis for their project. 

SkinDL, which will be presented in May, is a company creating an A.I. powered skin cancer detector to advance the field of telemedicine. If successful, the project can cut down on expensive and time consuming doctors visits. 

All companies have a profit-motive, another tendency of challenge participants are companies that hope for the betterment of society. Whether it be health or environmental, competitors look for solutions. 

AgFurnishing wants to diminish waste in high-turnover commercial real estate by being a source for budget, reusable and eco-friendly furniture. While another business wants to help patients with hormone related disorders, with the technology to monitor how their hormone levels change throughout the day to give their doctors and them more clarity about their situation.

Each participant is paired with a mentor for around six months to help the development of their project. Since the presentation is still five months away, it is still a work in progress for these teams. They will continue to develop throughout the semester and be able to have a gratifying finish.

The few brief examples are just a small portion of what will be presented in May. On Founder’s Day, any visitor will have the opportunity to view each project and ask the team questions about what they accomplished. 

Even if one has no background in business or entrepreneurship, the competition is a great place to get acquainted with what is happening on the UMN campus. It is possible that one may even leave with ideas of their own and try to compete next year. The application is open to anyone at UMN!