The CSUF Business Plan Competition Finals are coming next week! [Register now!] It promises to be an interesting look into what our student-entrepreneurs are capable of.

Starting at noon on Thursday, 4/7 in Pavilion A of the Titan Student Union we open up registration and host an Innovation Fair where we will showcase the projects that CSUF students are working on as well as Residents from the CSUF Startup Incubator and other partner organizations we routinely work with.

From 1pm to 3pm will be the competition. This year’s Finalists have an exciting mixture of concepts they will be presenting. Each presentation will last approximately fifteen minutes with up to another fifteen minutes for questions from our entrepreneurial panel.

The winner of this competition will receive a $2,500 scholarship along with a valuable mixture of in-kind services from professionals. Second place will receive a $1,000 scholarship with in-kind services and third place will receive $500 and in-kind services.

And who are the Finalists? They are (in no particular order):

Chopit Drones

Leveraging the abilities of drone technology, Chopit Drones aims to revolutionize the bridge inspection industry. Currently, there are many problems with America’s infrastructure, including its bridges, that lead to increased maintenance costs, lost productivity, and even loss of life. Chopit Drones is creating a service that will dramatically reduce the cost and time needed to visually inspect bridges.

Little Nexus

Fundraising is a critical activity for any student club or nonprofit but most of these organizations don’t understand how to do fundraisers effectively. Little Nexus solves this problem by creating a simple to use platform that matches nonprofits with businesses that are willing to host fundraisers. Through the creation of this platform Little Nexus will create a community of restaurants and other businesses who actively pursue philanthropic goals to help nonprofits better serve their communities.

Trail Tracker

Americans are increasingly embracing an outdoor lifestyle. More people than ever are going on camping trips, backpacking, and mountain climbing. This trend will continue as will the number of people who tragically get lost or injured on the trail. This is a terrifying scenario that no outdoors person ever wants to face but must be prepared for. Trail Tracker is developing a device that will alert authorities when someone needs saving.

I can honestly tell you that we are all looking forward to this event. The Innovation Fair will be a great opportunity to see some of the innovative things that our community is working on and to network with cool people. And the competition promises to be a great showcase of the best ideas that came out of this competition this year!

We hope to see you there!

http://www.meetup.com/CSUF-Startup-Incubator/events/229117547/