This University of Maryland entrepreneur won DC Startup Week’s student pitch competition

In the DMV, the future of the local startup ecosystem is in the (pretty dang capable) hands of the area’s collegiate founders.

Seven local students competed Friday in the first annual DC University Startup Showdown at DC Startup Week (DCSW). Two founders were named finalists and competed for a $1,500 grand prize, sponsored by DC’s Office of the Chief Technology Officer (OCTO).

The seven finalists were:

• Marie Brodsky, University of Maryland, WISE Cities
• Rory Brogan, Georgetown University, Torev Motors
• Lingchen Kong, George Washington University, Ellexco
• Andrew LaBerge, American University, REAL Action
• AriAnna Redmond, Bowie State University, Tony’s Kitchen and Bakery
• Arielle Rodgers Manley, Morgan State University, Bee and Buttafly
• Janae Walker, Howard University, Daatly

WISE Cities was named the winner, and Tony’s Kitchen was named runner-up.

WISE Cities works to connect older adults with resources to combat loneliness and isolation among seniors. On the portal, founder and CEO Brodsky said, seniors could find a nearby nature hike, track down public transportation to get there, and get connected to a voucher that could pay for admission to the park.

So far, WISE Cities has raised $60,000 through various awards, including an investment from the City of Fairfax, Virginia, which paid the team for the portal’s development, according to the founder.

“It’s very hard for older adults to find local opportunities through existing tools,” Brodsky said. “From the perspective of local organizations, this costs a lot of money. Each year, billions of dollars are lost because of this gap.”

Kevin Morgan, founding member of DC Tech and Venture Coalition and board member of DCSW, said he wanted to create this event to reach the next generation of founders. This, he hopes, will help continue the growth of the local ecosystem and keep talent in the area.

“When you get somebody with motivation to get things done, what happens in the DC general ecosystem is we forget that we have to prepare for the future,” Morgan told Technical.ly. “We’ve got to have this succession of who’s next in line to take over the leadership of the economy.”

The student pitch competition’s judges were Hailey Fleming Patel; Stephen Miller, deputy CTO of OCTO; Jarron Smith of Zeal Capital; and Steven Simoni of DoorDash.