HUBweek Presents: Next Generation of Ideas, Featuring MIT Enterprise Forum of Cambridge's Fourth Annual Beantown Throwdown

CAMBRIDGE, MA--(Marketwired - Sep 16, 2016) - Student entrepreneurs from 12 of Massachusetts' top public and private colleges and universities will go head-to-head on Wednesday, September 28^th at Hatch Fenway for the fourth annual Beantown Throwdown pitch competition. Sponsored by SevOne, the competition is a signature event of HUBweek, a weeklong, city-wide festival celebrating innovation and creativity in the Boston area hosted by MIT, Harvard University, The Boston Globe and Mass General Hospital.

A marquee event for the MIT Enterprise Forum (MITEF) of Cambridge, the Beantown Throwdown features teams from Babson College, Berklee College of Music, Boston College, Boston University, Harvard University, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (MCPHS), MIT, Northeastern University, Tufts University, UMass Boston, UMass Lowell and Wentworth Institute of Technology. Expecting another standing room only crowd, this year's startups are:

• DropZone For Veterans/Babson College: Connecting vets to the resources they need.
• bistara/Berklee College of Music: Empowering students to be their own bosses.
• EchoMe/Boston College: Turning every smart device into a personal DJ booth.
• Chuzu/Boston University: Peer-to-peer platform that allows users within the BU community to rent or buy and sell designer clothing and accessories.
• Aday/Harvard University: Using machine learning to take the pain out of hourly work scheduling.
• AskMolly/MCPHS: Providing medical professionals and first responders with a real time resource to detect illicit drugs in emergency situations.
• Rendever/MIT: Helping aging populations by way of virtual reality.
• Cookin/Northeastern University: Offering "buy-it-yourself" alternatives to expensive meal plan services.
• Hujambo Group/Tufts University: Bringing connectivity to millions across the globe.
• CircularBlu/UMass Boston: Redefining the value of waste.
• VeteransQRF/UMass Lowell: Helping military veterans transition to civilian life.
• Dragonfly/Wentworth Institute of Technology: Making bike commutes safer.
  
  

The evening will open with remarks from Jim Melvin, Chief Marketing Officer, SevOne. Next, Scott Kirsner, Boston Globe Innovation Economy columnist and Innovation Leader co-founder and editor, will moderate a fireside chat about startups and innovation. Panelists include:

• Elsa Sze, Founder and CEO of Agora, an online platform that aims to facilitate civic engagement. Agora was named one of BostInno's 50 on Fire and was recently recognized by the White House for its role in civic engagement.
• Frederick Townes, Co-Founder and COO, Placester, which fuses technology and design to improve the home buying process for consumers, brokers and agents. Prior to Placester, Fred was a member of the founding team at Mashable.
• Rebecca Liebman, Co-Founder, LearnLux, a financial education company for Millennials. Rebecca was included on the 2016 Forbes 30 Under 30 list for education and founded two startups by the age of 20.
• Maia Heymann, General Partner, Converge Venture Partners, a widely respected investment firm works with entrepreneurs building software and data-enabling tech companies. Maia has been investing in tech companies since 1993, on the east and west coasts.

"In four short years we've seen the Beantown Throwdown grow from a two school rivalry to an energetic regional competition that draws the best talent from Massachusetts' world renowned colleges and universities," said Katja Wald, executive director, MIT Enterprise Forum of Cambridge. "Our region is fortunate to have thousands of creative, smart students -- the next generation of big-thinking entrepreneurs -- and this event provides the opportunity to showcase their ideas to executives, investors and other luminaries from the Bay State's technology and innovation community."

Following the team pitches, the audience of public and private company executives, angel and venture investors, members of the media, top service providers, students and others will determine the winners by serving as "VCs for the Evening" -- each investing $1 million of MITEF Money in the startups they believe best positioned for success.

First Prize: $12.5K of legal services from Morse Barnes-Brown & Pendleton (MBBP); 2-hour lunch/PR brainstorming session with CHEN PR; VC Perspective Lunch with MITEF Cambridge board members Graham Brooks (.406 Ventures), Reed Sturtevant (Project 11) and Wan Li Zhu (Fairhaven Capital); a two-hour digital marketing workshop with getfused; HUBweek Change-Maker profile; and a guaranteed place at the MITEF Cambridge Startup Spotlight event in June 2017.

Second Prize: $7.5K of legal services from MBBP; 2-hour lunch/PR brainstorming session with CHEN PR; VC Perspective Lunch with MITEF Cambridge board members Graham Brooks (.406 Ventures), Reed Sturtevant (Project 11) and Wan Li Zhu (Fairhaven Capital); a two-hour digital marketing workshop with getfused; a guaranteed place at the MITEF Cambridge Startup Spotlight event in June 2017; and a feature in a HUBweek winners blog post.

Third Prize: $5K of legal services from MBBP; a guaranteed place at the MITEF Cambridge Startup Spotlight event in June 2017; and a feature in a HUBweek winners blog post.

Additionally, all teams receive a one-year membership to the MIT Enterprise Forum of Cambridge.

Beantown Throwdown registration and networking reception begins at 5:30 p.m., followed by the opening panel at 6 p.m. This event will sell out, so preregistration is strongly encouraged.

HUB Presents: Next Generation of Ideas, Featuring MITEF Cambridge Beantown Throwdown
Wednesday, September 28
5:30pm - 9:00pm
Hatch Fenway, 401 Park Drive, Boston, MA 02215
Registration and Information

About The MIT Enterprise Forum of Cambridge
The MIT Enterprise Forum of Cambridge is the founding chapter and one of 25 worldwide chapters comprising the MIT Enterprise Forum, Inc. Offering more than 40 programs and events annually that inspire innovation, MIT Enterprise Forum of Cambridge initiatives facilitate critical one-on-one mentoring while providing team services that increase the skills and expertise necessary for entrepreneurs to succeed.

About HUBweek
HUBweek is a festival for the future. A first-of-its-kind civic collaboration between The Boston Globe, Harvard University, MIT, and Mass. General Hospital, HUBweek engages the Greater Boston community to celebrate innovation and creativity at the intersections of art, science, and technology. In 2016, over 130 organizations have come together to celebrate the future in Boston and will explore three themes at HUBweek: inclusive innovation, ideas to impact, and intersections. From hands-on workshops, full-day summits, and a massive Demo Day to open studios, film festivals, and even beer brewed from the Charles, HUBweek will showcase the most creative and inventive people making an impact in Boston and around the world.