2023 Raymond vonDran iPrize and Spirit of Entrepreneurship Award winners - Blackstone LaunchPad

Associate Dean of Syracuse University Libraries, Scott Warren and Bruce Kingma, Professor of Entrepreneurship, Syracuse University School of Information welcoming attendees

Twenty-nine Syracuse student startup teams captured $30,000 in combined funding from this year’s RvD iPrize Competition and Spirit of Excellence Awards sponsored by the iSchool and hosted by the Blackstone LaunchPad. Associate Dean of Syracuse University Libraries, Scott Warren and Bruce Kingma, Professor of Entrepreneurship, Syracuse University School of Information Studies joined in making the awards. The event support innovation and student entrepreneurship which is an excellent reflection of both iSchool dean Von Dran and Hunter Brooks Watson legacies.

iSchool dean Raymond Von Dran, who served from 1995 until his passing in 2007, was a longtime academic entrepreneur and staunch supporter of student innovation.

The Hunter Brooks Watson Memorial Fund, also known as Hunter’s Fund, was founded in honor of Hunter, a young man whose life was tragically cut short in a car accident. The Spirit of Excellence Awards recognize young people working on innovative ideas that can make our lives better.

This year’s iPrize winners included nine student startup teams who won $2,000 each:

**Ben Ford** ’23 (Martin J. Whitman School of Management), founder of Fundwurx (left), **Oliver Raycroft** ’25 (College of Engineering and Computer Science) and Adya Parida ’25, co-Founders of Scale Sense, **Motolani Oladitan** ’24 (College of Arts and Sciences), founder of Ta, **Jeremy Shinder** ’24 (College of Visual and Performing Arts), founder of Jere Bear Films, LLC, **Travis Ghirdharie** G’22 (Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs), founder of Many Hands, **Sai Krishna Bolla** G’23 (School of Information Studies), founder of Cognition X, **Aidan Mickleburgh** ’23 G’23 (College of Engineering and Computer Science and Martin J. Whitman School of Management), founder of Intervea, **Kai Patricio** G’23 (College of Visual and Performing Arts), founder of Farm Loop , **Rob Goldblatt** ’23 (Martin J. Whitman School of Management), Paul Sausville and Nicole Byrnes (SUNY-ESF), co-founders of Tree-Spun (right)

This year’s Spirit of Excellence Awardees were four student entrepreneurs who won $2,500 each:

**Rabia Razzaq** G’23 (College of Visual and Performing Arts) (left), Kai Patricio G’23 (College of Visual and Performing Arts), Priscilla Cruz ’24 (School of Information Studies), and Peyton Sefick, members of Re-mend team, **Motolani Oladitan** ’24 (College of Arts and Sciences), founder of Ta, **Jeremy Shinder** ’24 (VPA), Founder of Jere Bear Films, LLC, **Ethan Tyo** ’17 G’22 (David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamic), **AlterNative Project** and cookbook author (right)

We’re so incredibly thankful to Jack Rose, our Hunter Brooks Watson Scholar, volunteers Jack Ramza, Claire Howard, and Ciana Steller, and a stellar group of judges for their contributions to this event.