From a next-gen auto garage to a device that helps restaurants fold napkins, ideas were on display at the TU Incubator Business Plan Competition. In all, nine startups pitched a panel of judges.
This year’s finale was held in the incubator’s recently opened flexible workspace. Two startups will be able to show up there for the next 90 days, as the winners of the competition get a three-month membership to the incubator.
Here’s who won.
In the student category:
SureShunt

The team of Johns Hopkins undergrads is building a device to address shunt failures in patients with hydrocephalus. It’s a disease that results from too much fluid in the brain. The company’s ventricular catheter is designed to improve on what is currently used.
In the professional category:
Communication APPtitude

The edtech startup’s app, called Infercabulary, helps students learn language using reasoning. Cofounders Beth Lawrence and Deena Seifert developed the tool using their expertise as speech pathologists.