9 UVU student businesses competed last night at Opportunity Quest. Opportunity Quest is a precursor to the Utah Entrepreneur Challenge, held by the University of Utah. The Utah Entrepreneur Challenge offers a chance to win $100,000 in cash and prizes. The grand prize is $40,000. In addition to the grand prize, there are also additional prizes granted for the best business model, presentation, and technology.

Last year, UVU student Ben Perkins won the Best Speed Pitch Award, $1,000 (Zions Bank), a Top 20 Finalist Award, $500, and the Sustainable Business 2 award, $5,000 for his business Blue and White Collar (now &Collar) at the Utah Entrepreneur Challenge. This year, Ben served as one of the six judges for Opportunity Quest alongside Brian Murphy, founder and the Managing Member of Portfolio Advisors, LLC.; Amy Caldwell, Co-Founder and Executive Director of RevRoad; Tyler Allgaier, Founder & CEO of Pitted Labs; John Merrill, UVU entrepreneurship and statistics instructor; and Peter Jay, Economic Development Director at the Business Resource Center.

Three teams were awarded first, second, and third place at Opportunity Quest this year. First place went to Alessandra and Nicolas Camargo, a sister and brother team who founded Bid My Crib, a platform to help students sell their partial lease contracts. Second place was awarded to Bradley Bertola and Kamel Greene for their company Mesh, an app to help connect students to campus events to combat loneliness. Matthew Perry, Brock Henson, and Taylor Means won third place for their company Lobo Gear, which is developing an outdoor Bluetooth light that can be mounted anywhere. The teams were awarded $4000, $2000, and $1000 respectively for their businesses, and Bid My Crib automatically qualifies for the Top 20 in the Utah Entrepreneur Challenge.

The other student businesses included Kason Miller's Virtual Farms, James Reber's Masie and Elle, Jameson Tanner's The Goddess Pass, Josh Peterson and Dennis Christensen's Ignite Fitness, Anton Piddubnyi and Ben Rickers' GreenFare, and Taylor Camp and Brek Hall's Tree Treats.

Opportunity Quest competitors are all eligible to compete in the Utah Entrepreneur Challenge. The deadline is February 12, 2020, at midnight.

Do you have a business idea you can write a business model for in under six pages? Get details on eligibility and apply here.