Summer Camp, Super Search Engine and Power Shoes: Smith Hosts Annual Draper Contest

This year’s Draper Undergraduate Women Entrepreneurs’ Competition drew more students, professors, businesspeople and community members than ever before.

Last week’s competition in the Indoor Track and Tennis facility drew students from 19 colleges and universities organized into 49 teams—18 of which were from Smith.

Business ideas pitched to the judges ranged from a high-powered computer search engine to a streamlined health care app. Trade show booths that lined the ITT were adorned with television screens, info graphics, business cards and apps showcasing the teams’ many innovative ideas.

Smith alumna Melissa Parker Draper ’77 and her husband, venture capitalist Tim Draper, founded the contest in 2012. The couple teamed up with the Center for Women and Financial Independence to host a competition for students from all disciplines who want to leverage their creativity and build sustainable business models.

Melissa Draper was a judge for this year’s event—her third time judging since the competition was founded. President Kathleen McCartney and Mahnaz Mahdavi, director of the Center for Women and Financial Independence, also attended.

Winners of the annual competition receive $25,000 in prize money and coveted scholarships to Draper University’s seven-week business start-up boot camp in San Mateo, Calif. This year, teams from Wellesley and Mount Holyoke colleges took home the top awards.

While students were busy presenting their business plans to the judges, hundreds of spectators watched a professional juggler meander through the crowd, took pictures in a photo booth and sampled ice cream, cake pops and candy.

Twelve teams were selected to move on from the trade show round to present an “elevator pitch,” with 90 seconds to sell their idea in front of a crowd and three minutes to answer questions from the judges.

Three teams from Smith were selected as finalists: Julia Edwards ’15 and Melissa Chenok ’15, creators of “Sandbox,” a high-powered Internet search engine; Flora Weil ’17, Christine Hamilton ’17 and Grace Lee ’17 for “Dynamize,” a shoe that harnesses the energy created by walking to charge electronics; and Cecilia Lee ’15, Jenny Wang ’15 and Dara Chen ’15 for “Electronics 101,” a summer camp that teaches programming.

Smith team “Candid World” received the Audience Favorite Award for their idea for an online curation of videos and media aimed at promoting better understanding of world cultures and traditions.

Brea Dutt ’15—who led “Candid World” along with Eunice Park ’18—said the experience of competing “was unbelievable and exhilarating.”

“I’m glad our hard work over the past few months paid off,” Dutt added, noting that attending information sessions and meetings with business advisers in the lead-up to the competition was similar to a part-time job.

Many Smithies who competed last week said they plan to continue working on their business ideas.

“We’re going to spend this summer conducting market research on our own while balancing summer internships,” said Dutt. “We definitely don’t have the capital to start the work we want, but we will gather information, talk to people and prepare ourselves for the future.”

Gloria Lee (center) ’15 and Paige Christie ’16 (right) at the trade show round during the April 10 Draper contest. Photo by Carmen Pullella ’16