The University of St. Thomas welcomes 25 of the country’s top student startup teams to campus each spring for a three-day e-Fest, the nation’s largest cash-prize competition for undergraduates. In this year’s Innovation Challenge, students worked on a real business challenge from a company founded by a University of St. Thomas alum.
“For the 10th anniversary, we wanted to try something different," said Jennifer Gessner, the program manager of e-Fest. It was the first time we partnered with an organization to bring us a real challenge they're facing.”
Students were placed into teams with peers from other universities and given just three hours to develop a solution for Find Love Safely. The matchmaking and relationship support service for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities was founded by Katherine Gyolai ’98.
When Gyolai’s adult son, who has Down syndrome, asked to download Tinder, she was filled with what she described as “panic and heartbreak.” He had previously been a victim of online scamming, and she knew a traditional dating app wasn’t a safe option. After searching for an alternative and finding none, she decided to build one herself.
“Our mission is to change the narrative around relationships and what that can look like for this beautiful community,” Gyolai said at the Innovation Challenge. “Find Love Safely is not a dating app. These are human-led connections led by human beings, not an algorithm.”
Currently, there is a 2:1 ratio of male to female members. Gyolai challenged students on how they could attract more women to create a more balanced and rewarding experience for everyone.
Students heard directly from a panel of clients and their caregivers, who shared personal, heartfelt experiences.
“We wanted to put students into a situation that feels closer to what they’ll face outside the classroom,” said Bryan Kujawski, director of the Schulze Institute for Corporate Innovation at the Opus College of Business. “You take it on as a group, get creative, bring your own perspective, and think through how you'd address a real need for an actual client.”
The student teams put together their creative brainpower and pitched their ideas in a rapid, round-robin style format.
“The Innovation Challenge was definitely my favorite part of e-Fest,” said Sam Mahannah ’26, a biology and financial management double-major at St. Thomas. “It was really cool to pitch 15 times in a row without time to adjust or rethink.”
The winning team’s pitch drew from the company’s user personas, which showed women looking to build friendships and expand their social circles. They suggested leading with human connection, rather than finding love, to make it feel more approachable, and reach more women through therapists who already connect people to outside resources.
“All the students knocked it out of the park,” Gyolai said about the ideas presented. “There’s so much that we’re going to be able to take and implement into our business.”
The Innovation Challenge was one of four competitions at e-Fest, ranging from rapid-fire pitches to full business presentations. Over the years, e-Fest has awarded more than $2 million to student startups, including a $250,000 prize pool this year across the four competitions.
CognitionIQ, representing St. Thomas, was selected as one of the 25 finalists nationwide to compete at e-Fest this year. The team took first place in Pitch Slam!, where students deliver 90-second pitches.
“e-Fest has always been about more than competition," said Danielle Campeau, associate dean of the Schulze School of Entrepreneurship and Best Buy Chair. "It’s about bringing together some of the nation’s most innovative student entrepreneurs and creating experiences that challenge them to think bigger, collaborate differently, and solve meaningful problems in real time.”
e-Fest 2026 winners
For more information about the top 25 teams that participated in the finals, visit the official e-fest website.
Schulze Entrepreneurship Challenge
Grand Champion | $50,000
BioMex | Michigan State University: Madhav Aggarwal and Tanvi Gadamsetti
Runner Up | $30,000
Bobica Bars | Rowan University: Justin Iannelli, and Harrison Nastasi
Third Place | $20,000
GG Entertainment | Florida Gulf Coast University: Carl Cearc and Bella Logsdon
Fourth Place | $15,000
Crystal-XG | Clemson University: David Floyd and Lukas Garcia
Fifth Place | $10,000
GuLP | California State University, Sacramento: Ben Duong, Brayan Mejia Nunez, and Umang Vadhar
Special Recognition Awards
Social Impact Award | $10,000
LowCostomy | Duke University: Jessica Alvarez and John Claude Shaffer
Ready for Market Award | $10,000
Fuller Radiance | Buena Vista University: Cody Fuller, Puritie Smith, and Alyssa Jordan
Brand Builder Award | $7,500
First Place | $5,000
TOZ Hair Care | Drexel University: Isabella Passero and Ireoluwa Otegbade
Second Place| $2,500
SYP | University of South Florida: Ethan Baker, Marco Tamburini, Fedor Vuksanovic, and Mathis Haugen
Pitch Slam!
First Place | $10,000
Cognition IQ | University of St. Thomas: Olivia Keller, Sam Mahannah, Ilham Mohamud, and Breanna Ranglall
Second Place | $5,000
BounceBack Pickle | Florida Gulf Coast University: Dillon Rosenthal and William Zhao
Third Place | $2,500
Crack'd Up | University of Wisconsin, Madison: Nik Gandhi and Aiden Silverstein
