Judson University’s ninth Shark Tank event was held on Thursday, November 17, in Herrick Chapel. Congratulations to Senior Ethan Kohl of Harrisonville, Mo., for winning the $1,000 first-place prize for the idea of “Castle: Your Home’s Central Nervous System,” a nervous system for your home, which lets you know about potential issues before they become massive problems.
Other winners of the night included Freshman Riley Yinger of Boiling Springs, Pa., who received the second-place prize of $500 for “R.I.B.S. Radial Instantaneous Bullet-proof Shield.” Senior Alex Toth of Batavia, Ill., took home the third-place honor of $250 with his idea, “Education Reality.” Fan Favorite prize went to Senior PG Nkalang’ango of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, with his idea of “Drip Rental.” The night’s contestants included Senior Maximillian Fortun of Stuttgart, Germany, with his idea of a “Student Marketplace.”
The two-hour event, which was sponsored by Thrivent Financial, included five student business leaders pitching their ideas in front of discerning judges representing various facets of business. Judges for the event were Jennifer Kendzior, Manager of Talent Acquisition for Thrivent Financial; Ethan Adams ’15, the Chief Marketing Officer at Anguleris, a global construction technology company; and Dave Hunter ’02, owner of GreenRoom Video and founder of GreenRoom Improv. Judson’s students from the Event Planning Class helped to promote and organize the event, while Eliana Sarver ’22, a two-time Shark Tank Finalist, served as the Emcee.
Leading up to the competition Judson’s students were mentored by the following business leaders about the economics of starting a new business and how to bring their concepts into reality. Mentors included: Ben Glunz ’10, ’12 from Anguleris Technologies, Angel Szalonek owner of SportsFaith, Michael Storey owner of Beckatt Solutions, Riley Rowan ’19 marketing coordinator at WR Meadows, and Tim Schofield ’14, a World Leaders Forum Board member and Youtube content creator.
