Akshara Abbadi Wins $10,000 for LUMIVO After 8-Week Student Accelerator
Updated
Updated · St Pete Catalyst · Jul 30
Akshara Abbadi Wins $10,000 for LUMIVO After 8-Week Student Accelerator
1 articles · Updated · St Pete Catalyst · Jul 30
Summary
$10,000 went to St. Petersburg student Akshara Abbadi after judges picked her LUMIVO platform over five other finalists in a Shark Tank-style pitch competition at spARK Labs.
LUMIVO helps students find scholarships, internships and fellowships through a personalized survey while tracking application deadlines, a concept Abbadi built after entering the program without a business idea.
Eight weeks of coaching pushed 22 students to test ideas in the market, interview customers and build products; by the end, they had completed more than 260 business actions, created 15 prototypes, built five websites and launched two apps.
The Harrington Foundation and Lemonade Standers ran the accelerator, pairing students with mentors and ending with a business fair and final pitches judged by investor Kevin Harrington and other business leaders.