Aaron, thank you for showing me one of Georgia Tech's A.I.

Labs.

This is so cool.

Oh my God, are we in the matrix?

No, I'm just offering you some candy.

Oh, I love candy.

I'm glad you're excited about the A.I.

Makerspace because it's really unique in that it provides students with access to enterprise grade A.I.

Technologies.

Amazing.

But can this place unbend my spoon?

Faith?

It's not the matrix that's just a movie.

Yeah, I knew that.

What we are talking about is the opportunity for students to explore and develop their own A.I.

Applications and models.

So that way when they graduate from Georgia Tech, they are the experts.

Oh, and here.

Faith, that was just your access badge.

Oh, I may have overreacted.

There.

Hey, do you have any more of that candy?

Oh, thanks.

Aaron.

Aaron, where are you going?

I thought you were gonna make her some space for a tour.

Aaron.

Aaron.

Oh, God, I love this color.

Live from the campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology.

It's the 2026 Georgia Tech InVenture Prize.

Georgia Tech students are transforming tomorrow as they compete for $35,000 in prizes and patents.

Now, please welcome your host from CBS Sunday Morning and NPR Emmy Award winner Faith Salie.

Thank you, buzz.

Thank you.

Thank you, and welcome to the 2026 InVenture Prize.

And I would really love.

This is the beauty of live TV.

I have a teleprompter.

It's not telling me what to say, but I know, I know that Mercury is in retrograde and that the teleprompter is starting to work.

Look, it's like magic, okay, this is Georgia Tech.

Nothing ever goes wrong because you are all so smart, right?

Yes.

Now, if you were here last year, you might remember that I sang a song to open the show.

But I'm just saying this now, okay?

I'm not going to sing this year.

Okay?

Oh, I know, I know, it's very disappointing.

Oh, Cheryl.

Cheryl, what are you doing here?

You told me to come.

Did I?

Oh, okay.

Well, anyways, I like I said, I'm just.

I'm absolutely not singing tonight, even though.

Even though it seems like you must remember that last year I sang a very popular song from wicked.

And now wicked for good has come out.

But.

But nope, I'm not doing it.

I've heard it said.

Oh no, Cheryl, Cheryl, don't tempt me.

That Georgia Tech transforms lives.

For its students.

I can't, I can't, you guys don't want me to sing, do you?

Oh, well, if you really want me to hit it, Cheryl, we've got six teams waiting backstage, ready to go on.

It's the InVenture Prize finale.

That's why I sing this song.

And.

Tonight you'll see.

They have changed lives for the better.

And because they made it.

Because they made.

It.

The world has been changed.

For good.

Thank you, thank you.

Cheryl.

We have a thrilling show for you tonight.

But first, let's say hello to my lovely co-host, Ashley Mengwasser.

Oh, Faith.

Thank you.

That song has changed my life for good.

And now let's take one clock tick to talk about the Splendiferous prizes for the winners tonight.

This year's first place team will be awarded $20,000 and will receive automatic acceptance into Georgia Tech's prestigious CREATE-X startup launch program.

Tonight's second place team will win ten G's.

That's 10,000 for the kids at home, both first and second place.

Prizes also include up to $20,000 each to assist with their own patent filing.

Those two prizes will be decided by our panel of expert judges.

However, our competitors will also be vying tonight to win People's Choice Award.

And that's where we need you.

This is a $5,000 prize that you decide, and it will be announced live at the end of our program.

Voting opened last week and will remain open until right before tonight's winners are announced.

You can vote by texting your team's key word to 415-965-7445, but only one vote per phone number will count.

And don't worry, we'll keep reminding you of those key words and the phone number throughout our show.

Now let's check back with Faith so we can meet our judges.

Faith.

Thank you Ashley.

We are thrilled to be joined by a panel of three esteemed judges.

We are so happy to welcome back our first judge.

She is a partner at Atlanta Ventures, where she empowers entrepreneurs to learn, build and grow.

She has worked in tech for more than ten years and is also a seven time Ironman Triathlon finisher.

Please welcome Catherine O'Dea.

Welcome back, Catherine.

Our next judge is a first time judge but very familiar with the InVenture Prize stage.

He is the CEO and co-founder of Solar Insurance, which exists to redefine what affordable and reliable insurance looks like.

Solar was also the 2022 InVenture Prize winner.

We're honored to be joined by Wesley Pergament.

Welcome Wesley.

And our third judge is also returning after a one year hiatus.

She is an innovative health care and life sciences executive.

She is a seven time winner of the Georgia Bio Award, which recognizes individuals who have had incredible impact on Georgia's life science industry.

In 2023, she was named to Atlanta Business Chronicles Power ten top healthcare leaders, and she's a proud mom of two Yellow Jackets.

Let's welcome Sherry Farrugia.

Thank you all for joining us tonight.

And now that we've met our judges, our first team is ready to take the stage and they're making sure we all have seats for the show.

Hi, we're DoorTix and we've found a way for you guys to get cheap tickets to the next event on your bucket list.

Through our research, we found that people are not happy with the ticket buying process today.

Going to see your favorite artist shouldn't take jumping through 1 million hoops.

I literally break the bank.

After missing many events.

And hours of constant refreshing and spending too much money.

We knew something had to change.

And that's where DOT comes.

In.

DoorTix will win InVenture Prize because you all deserve experiences that are accessible and affordable.

Our development process came with a lot of trials and tribulations.

But we've learned from those hurdles and they have only made us stronger.

We want you to let loose and have fun.

Whether it's singing along at your favorite concert.

Or cheering on your favorite players.

We'll be there.

Will you?

Okay.

Ready to show the judges why they deserve the winning ticket?

It's team DoorTix Nix.

Take it away.

You know what would be a buzzkill?

Knowing that you paid three times more than the person sitting next to you for the same seat?

That is the reality for most fans today.

Here I have two Lady Gaga tickets.

You'd be shocked to know that for the same seat, one cost $250 and the other cost just 40.

That's how the ticketing marketplace works today.

Depending on the time of day or the website you use, the prices can vary drastically.

Where three Georgia Tech students majoring in mechanical engineering, computer science and industrial engineering and we came together to build a smarter way for fans to buy tickets.

With door tix, you set the key you want at the maximum price you're willing to pay.

That's it.

Our proprietary algorithm does all the hard work watching six different ticketing sites 24/7.

Once the price hits your budget, we strike DoorTix tix, purchases the ticket and sends it straight to your inbox.

Let's take a real example.

Bruno Mars is coming to Atlanta in just over a month, and right now tickets are $300.

We can get you the same ticket at half that price or less.

Don't believe us?

Well, our customers do, because 100% of them have said that they will come back, and already 40% have bought from us again in just the span of two months.

We're extremely happy to share that we have helped over 100 fans escape buyer's remorse and go to concerts and games at the exact price they wanted.

We've generated $11,000 in ticket purchases and $3,000 in profit.

I'm pretty sure everyone here has a concert or game they want to go to.

Maybe it's your favorite artist.

Maybe it's your favorite sports team, and now we have made it possible for you to make unforgettable memories without breaking the bank.

Instead of just watching through someone's Instagram story, you can now actually be in the crowd.

Still not convinced?

Try it yourself.

We're live right now at Tech.com.

Just the seat you want at the price.

You said that.

Store takes.

Great job.

Great job kicking off the night team DoorTix Nix.

Now let's open the doors to the judges and see what questions they have.

Wesley, you want to start?

Yeah.

First off, great presentation.

So you built integrations with Ticketmaster, SeatGeek.

Is that how the platform works?

Okay.

And then how does the how do you guys make money?

Where is the pricing model there?

So our price model is centered around the small service fee that we charge at the end.

So this depends basically on how high demand the event is.

For example, for Ariana Grande, which happens to be a very popular artist, it is more competitive for us to get the ticket in a cheaper price, so we would charge a slightly higher fee for those kind of artists as compared to smaller artists.

And then that's how we make our money as well.

But the thing to keep in mind is that your price is still going to be significantly lower than it would be on any other website.

Sherry.

Yeah.

So where were you when Taylor Swift was in town?

That's the first one.

You don't have to answer that.

So I'm very curious, is that with the cap service fee settlement with Ticketmaster, I'm curious as to how that's going to impact your revenue, if it will impact your margins at all.

Sorry.

If you don't mind, could you repeat the last part?

So there was a there was a settlement with Ticketmaster and there has been now a cap put on the fees that can be charged.

So I was wondering if you have looked at that and considered that in your revenue model and your gross margin, overall gross margins?

Yes, we've definitely considered that.

And another reason that we are expanding to incorporate additional ticketing platforms.

And we also currently are working with six platforms is because we don't want to be depending on just one platform that we're integrating with.

So if there is anything that happens with Ticketmaster or in the future as well, which would be a rare scenario since we help boost their sales as well.

Indirectly, we are not completely dependent on them.

We have five other platforms.

There are more platforms we're working to integrate as well.

Thank you.

So you guys gave an awesome sales pitch to get people to your site live on TV.

I love it.

How are you guys thinking of your overall go to market strategy once you saturate the Georgia Tech market, where do you guys go from there?

So we're targeting a very event driven marketing strategy.

We've noticed that around high demand event clusters, that is where our densest customer base lies.

That is when the price volatility is the highest.

Our value is the most obvious, and we have so many customers that are frustrated with the price uncertainty.

So we are going to be marketing more around high demand events because we would directly get a lot of users through that.

We're working on campus ambassador programs.

We know that these also not work certain times, so we're working hard to monitor them as well.

We've set up a QR code that kind of tracks how many sales the ambassadors are making, and we're making sure that we just reach out to most people.

We've had age groups of 18-35 use our platform the most.

So we're really targeting them right now.

And then through InVenture and just further marketing as well, we're hoping to expand to greater customer ages as well.

And why don't the Ticketmaster step up platforms do this themselves?

Like what's stopping them from building out the functionality?

So the reason that they don't do this themselves is because they're designed for the seller and not for the buyer.

So our goal is to get the buyer the lowest price.

Ticketmaster makes money when they can take a higher fee and charge more for the tickets.

They would have a direct financial incentive not to.

And the reason is that they get a greater revenue because they charge higher transaction fees that would increase the fees that they get as well.

So if they build a tool that's going to help users get it for cheaper, it's going to cannibalize their business model.

We work with the buyer's side.

So that offers us a sort of structural protection as well against these platforms, because we're not going for what they are going for, which is targeted sellers and resellers basically.

Are there other players in the space doing something similar, or.

One other player that is doing something similar is Event Spy, but what they do is they simply notify the user of when the ticket hits their price.

The issue in this market is that the price is hit, and you have to be very quick to buy that ticket because somebody else will.

So what we do is we buy the ticket for you.

We have about 30s left for another question.

I'm curious where what's the thing that keeps you up at night?

What's the biggest risk you see to the business?

We're just hoping to scale to as many users as we can get to.

So I would say that our marketing strategies are definitely something that is our priority right now.

Another thing that we're targeting is formalizing our partnerships with these ticketing platforms, because that would remove a very big scaling constraint that we have with just data access or the rate limits that we face.

And that's your time.

Sorry, I have to close the door on this to be fair.

And now Ashley is with someone who is standing in the front row for team DoorTix Nix.

Faith GT business student and concert goer McKenzie Blackledge says DoorTix Nix is one hot ticket.

McKenzie.

You're about to see Bruno Mars in concert thanks to Doris Dix.

How did this platform leave the door open for you?

In the words of Bruno Mars.

Yes, absolutely.

I'm so excited to be seeing Bruno Mars.

For people like me who love concerts and hate the ticket buying process, DoorTix tix has been an amazing platform to make it a stress free process for me.

Getting me the best tickets for the best bang for my buck and I will definitely be using them again in the future.

This summer I would like to go see Don Toliver.

I'm really excited about that.

She's got a plan to vote for team DoorTix for the People's Choice Award.

Text keyword tix.

That's t I x to 415-965-7445.

But remember, there are five more teams still to come and you only get one vote back to you.

Faith.

Thank you Ashley.

Our second team is here and ready to present.

Let's hear it for our next team.

Hi.

We're a team hero.

And we found a better way to examine ear infections from home.

By the age of three, 80% of kids have already experienced an ear infection.

In the U.S.

Alone, ear infections lead to 30 million pediatric visits a year.

And what parents told us is that not only ear infections come at the worst time, but they often come back.

The last place that sick kids and busy parents want to be is inside of an urgent care waiting room.

Winning InVenture prize will allow us to get here in the hands of more parents and perfect our design to be comfortable for kids everywhere.

Even though we all have different skills and come from a wide variety of backgrounds.

We all came together because we wanted to make a big change in healthcare.

It's 2:00 A.M.

Your kid is crying and holding his ear.

You're a parent.

What do you do now?

Thankfully, you have a hero.

Here is gonna change the way that parents navigate your health and help parents become ear infection fighting superheroes.

Ready to be heard loud and clear.

Team hero.

We are hero.

And we're here to turn parents into ear infection fighting superheroes.

Ear infections are painful, but here's what doctors told us.

Just a clear image of the eardrum they can prescribe treatment right away.

Okay, with hero, you can take a picture of the ear, send it to your doctor, and you could get a prescription in less than 10 minutes.

The best part?

All without leaving your home.

No more running to urgent care and waiting for hours.

This right here is hero.

It's a little dock that you slide into your finger and look.

It has a camera inside.

It's soft, big.

Here's.

You just plug it into your phone and place it into your child's ear.

And now we're going to see how it works.

Please play the video.

In the video you can see Matias doing his first ever ear exam on his son.

First he puts hero into the child's ear and this is what hero sees those green guiding rings help him navigate through this curvy ear canal.

Once he's close enough and the image is clear, just wait for it.

Voila!

Our A.I.

Model recognizes the eardrum and will automatically snap an image.

We showed this image to four physicians and they have confirmed it is diagnosable.

Not too bad for a first ever ear exam, right?

All you have to do now is send this to a doctor and you're done.

Heroes live guidance and auto capture help parents get doctor trusted images from home and with no experience needed.

We showed hero to over 50 parents and they saw how simple it is.

A full ear exam in under 50s.

We have also been working with doctors from day one.

In fact, we showed hero to 31 physicians and half of them said they could see better using our device than with their own tools, and they would confidently recommend this to their patients.

For more information about our device, please visit us at medcom.

With a recent growth in A.I.

And virtual doctor visits, the time for hero is now.

Every year, 30 million ear infection visits start in the waiting room, but with hero they will start in your living room.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Great job, team hero.

That was an infectious presentation.

Now let's see what our judges think.

Sherry, you want to take it away?

Yes.

Great presentation.

Thank you for that.

My question is there are actually three products on the market that are very similar to what you all are doing.

There's the Remy three quarter, there's the Moby Connect and there's the Smartcheck by children's Tylenol.

Help me understand how you're differentiating yourself in a market that is, it's not saturated, but there's a lot of competition.

Right?

Hello, my name is Augustine.

There are three different features that makes Hearo unique in the market.

The first one is our guidance that allows parents to navigate the ear canal without any problem.

The second one is our arrow capture that allows parents to not know what the eardrums look like and just get a picture that is diagnosable for doctors.

And the third one is our stability.

Is that hero could be placed on your finger for better stability and allowing doctors to have full control over their child.

I'm a mom of small children, so I would like to just.

Can I take that home with me, please?

I also, I love your brand.

My question is around pricing.

How are you guys thinking about pricing?

And then how does that overall look for revenue model for your business?

The one of our competitors is this one.

This is the.

Model that is not a nice looking bird.

Exactly.

This thing costs in the market right now $40.

And the Remy four costs around $150, which means that there's a wide range.

Our product costs us to make $15.

Currently, we're working on manufacturing to bring that price down and make it more affordable.

But with that, we are aiming to sell this device at 90:09 dollars to have a good gross margin.

How many parents have you tested this with?

Over than 50 parents.

Okay.

And what's generally been the feedback?

What were some of the great aspects of it?

What were some of the negative aspects of it?

So yeah, we are able right now with parents to have an average ear exam time of around 50s.

But more than anything, the feedback that we've gotten from the parents is that they're looking, well, they don't know what they're looking for.

And even without knowing what they're looking for, they're getting these images that they're confident to use.

They also really love our duck design.

They love the fact that the tip is really squishy and it feels like when you put it in, it feels like an earbud.

What's been the negative or things that you've had to improve from the user feedback?

Yeah, I think our next step as we keep going on with testing, we want to make sure there's no risk of any kid getting hurt by it.

The squishy tip already helps with some of that, but we just want to make sure there's no risk of a parent putting it in too deep or somehow scratching the ear canal.

But we're working on any features we can add to make sure that doesn't happen.

So have you all had any discussions with the FDA about your regulatory pathway?

I realize you're not diagnosing, but there's still there's still things that you're going to need to overcome from the FDA perspective.

I can.

Augustin, for the win.

Okay, we're class one device.

We're an otoscope.

We're not diagnosing anything, which means that we can get into the market right away if we get registered with it.

We had to pay a fee of $11,000 to get registered, and that fee goes every year.

Still, we need to pass some ISO standards as well.

But our path to our regulatory path is pretty straightforward since we are a class one device.

Good answer.

Just wanted to make sure you guys knew that.

We've got about 30s for another question.

I have another question.

Then.

So the sale of this is very, I think, a little more complex and nuanced.

I'm a mom.

I can buy it.

I take a picture of the inner ear canal and then who am I sending it to?

My doctor's like sorry, not available.

You got 10 seconds.

So not only can you send it to a doctor that's in your network, there's also virtual urgent care available where you can get an appointment in less than an hour, 24/7.

So those are the partnerships you're going to look to form.

Definitely.

Okay.

Thank you.

Team hero.

And thank you judges.

And now we head back to Ashley who is with someone who thinks Team Hero is totally tubular.

Faith.

Here's someone with an ear to the ground in this sector.

You've met the duck in a blue cape.

This is the doc in a white coat.

Eric Fellner is a pediatric endocrinologist and professor of pediatrics at Emory University School of Medicine.

Eric, thanks for being here.

As diagnostic tools go, how does hero save the day?

It's a fabulous device.

It has you take a common problem that is stressful for parents.

The ear infection which is diagnosed solely by the picture of the ear.

And they use a speculum that is the same speculum that's used by clinicians.

So as far as danger to the ear, I know they mentioned it before.

It's not very common, but you get a better picture with their A.I.

Driven device than a clinician can get in the comfort of your home.

With no travel and no worry.

Which is great for caregivers.

We could wax poetic all day, but we've got voting to do to be a part of this team's inner ear circle.

Text keyword, ear to the number on your screen only once for people's choice vote.

Did you hear all of that?

Faith repeats necessary?

Nope.

I sure did.

Ashley.

Thank you.

We all know it is quite the achievement to make it to the InVenture Prize finals.

But what you may not know is how long the journey to this stage was.

So we've put together a video to show you everything that led them to this moment, going all the way back to last September.

Let's check out their journey now with the road to the InVenture Prize.

From 72 teams.

We are team site team, track team, gotta go.

And we're the storks.

To the final six.

The journey to tonight's stage brought the most competitive year yet.

You're in luck.

With a record number of students competing for a chance to win the 2026 Georgia Tech InVenture Prize.

It all started at the annual kickoff event in September.

Welcome to the 2026 InVenture Prize.

Woo hoo!

Team's network brainstormed and picked up pointers from previous winners who offered valuable insights.

You really can come here and do whatever you want.

Build a great product that caters to your customers and you'll win!

InVenture Prize.

In December, the Capstone Design Expo gave other potential participants an early chance to impress InVenture Prize organizers.

Golden ticket.

Time, and a few standout teams were awarded the coveted Golden Ticket.

Here you go.

Sending them straight to the semifinals.

Other teams entered the preliminary round.

So now we're here at InVenture Prize.

And while the night's judges received their instructions, teams pushed each other to ever higher levels of creativity.

We're here working on origami robotics.

We're not just transporting babies.

We're protecting the first chapter of their lives.

Pretty cool.

Right?

After a workshop where teams were offered a chance to polish their pitches.

The story was good.

You need a better segue.

Consider retooling some of your pitch.

Thank you very much for your advice.

29 teams were ultimately invited to the semifinals, the most ever.

And that's where the judges really put them to the test.

Let's get technical here.

What is your invention?

Why are you guys trying to solve this problem right now?

There are some pieces that.

You guys are missing.

Do you have medical expertise on your team already?

Define medical expertise.

Sorry.

From 72 teams to the final six, the journey ends here tonight as finalists compete on television, working to impress the judges as they determine once and for all who will win the 2026 Georgia Tech InVenture Prize.

Our next team isn't playing around as they work to ensure that gaming is for everyone.

Hi, I'm team AdaptaPlay and I'm making gaming more accessible.

Every day, millions of friends and families gather around gaming to unwind and have fun.

Gaming is a virtually unavoidable part of social life, and growing up, the second most prominent hobby in the world.

But imagine not being able to join in due to limitations in motor control and dexterity.

Up until now, countless people with disabilities could only participate in gaming through observation.

AdaptaPlay is going to change that.

My journey of making gaming more accessible started a long time ago, but it was after seeing countless other solutions, including my own previous designs fail, that AdaptaPlay was born.

Imagine going from just watching your friend play video games to beating them for the first time.

I am determined to change gaming forever with AdaptaPlay and winning the InVenture Prize will be the golden ticket.

There.

And now let's press start for team AdaptaPlay.

For the first test of AdaptaPlay.

Levy playing video games with friends has always meant watching his friends play video games like over 5.5 million people in the United States alone.

He has a hand function disability in his case cerebral palsy.

The excludes him from everyday social activities, including gaming.

This is why I invented AdaptaPlay.

It's a shell that goes onto the standard gaming controller and mechanically links its functions together to make it usable with a single spastic hand, without fingers or with one's chin, mouth or head pointer.

Let's see it in action.

Let's see it in action.

As you can see, all three testers, despite having spastic, difficult to control hands with which not controlled the gaming controller.

With AdaptaPlay, they're able to play car racing games without limitations.

He's actually Levi, and as an avid car fan, he's tried steering wheels, game consoles, keyboards, but none let him play video games.

He now uses AdaptaPlay and he actually beat me in the last car race.

This is possible because AdaptaPlay strategically connects the functions of the controller into a single pedal, plus peripherals, making everything controllable with simplified, stable movements.

Most current gaming accessibility solutions work by creating controllers with large extended buttons.

However, AdaptaPlay approaches the problem differently and creates an innovative tool that actually allows the multi-button control that makes gaming worthwhile.

The add on requires as much setup as you just saw, and can be customized to fit a wide range of disabilities, including cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, and others, and it's not just for fun.

Gamifying fine motor movement can notably benefit upper body rehabilitation, making it worthwhile for not just those that want to play video games with their friends, but parents, therapists and rehabilitation centers.

What I'm holding in my hand is a production grade part that's meant to last a lifetime.

In the past month, I've sold 22 controllers and just yesterday confirmed an early stage trial with a Shepherd center.

However, the add on has also been tested already at Westmead Children's Hospital and through the P2 Institute, and there are also currently discussions ongoing with Children's Healthcare of Atlanta.

If you want to buy one yourself, though, it's available right now on AdaptaPlay.

AdaptaPlay is currently seeking funding to scale production and expand availability of the add on through extracurricular gaming events and incorporating gaming into rehabilitation programs.

AdaptaPlay will reach many more and have a notable impact.

Tonight at the InVenture Prize.

I would like to ask for your support in making the world socialization, of hobbies and gamified rehabilitation accessible to more people.

Currently, 22 people are able to play video games because of AdaptaPlay.

Let's make that 22 million.

Great job team AdaptaPlay.

You clearly have controller of the situation, but let's see what our judges think.

Catherine.

Sure.

That was fantastic.

Can we see the.

Can we touch it?

I would love to.

Yes.

Is this going to make me actually good at video games?

Maybe.

I probably won't help.

So there's the rear pedal that's currently optimized for use with the head pointer, and you can move that down.

If you push it down, it presses down the accelerating trigger.

Let me show you.

Okay.

Yeah, yeah.

If you press this down, it presses down the acceleration trigger is currently locked with this.

If you turn it left and right, it steers the controller with the variable strength springs.

And if you pull it towards yourself, it presses down the reversing trigger, reversing the car.

Everything usable with even the head pointer.

Okay, so how how are you thinking about pricing and revenue pricing?

Currently, this is not your average 3-D print.

It's a proudly printed industrial grade part, which is currently very expensive to manufacture, and currently it is priced because of this at $400.

There is actually a FDM 3-D print for the demo, but all proper parts are MJF printed.

Would you sell this to hospitals or directly to consumer?

Is it more partnership or.

The business model is two pronged.

So on one hand, I want to work with rehabilitation centers.

Given the larger networks and aim of modernizing programs, it's also simply a great way to give many people the opportunity to play video games.

But in the meantime, I also want to make it accessible to everybody that just wants to play video games at home, which is why it's also available through AdaptaPlay, B2C.

Yeah.

So your person of one.

Okay, so what skills are you missing on your team in order for you to be successful.

For the short term, it's mainly marketing and outreach.

Currently, I've been doing all the web design, design and outreach myself.

And in the future, actually in the near future, I would like to expand that to marketing professionals.

And in the long term, I would like to also expand to engineers who can help make this an injection moldable part.

So what do you.

So knowing that it seems like you have a good idea of what you need on your team, what do you see are the biggest risks ahead of you for success?

Biggest risk is currently supply chain because these are outsourced.

These parts are outsourced abroad to lower the price, which I also hope to lower, by the way, in the future with injection molding.

But currently they have to be outsourced.

And if the supply chain is damaged, then that also damages the product.

So Catherine go ahead.

Oh, I was going to say once, once everyone in the world who needs one has one.

Where do you go next?

Where do I go next?

So this version right here is optimized for car racing games.

As you saw in the video, it actually started because I wanted to make it possible for Levi to play his favorite games, and I'm currently working on another version for soccer style games.

And then the next step will be platformers and basically any game you can imagine just usable with one hand.

How many people are out there that would use something like this?

I so far saw 22 and there have been five testers so far.

Not all of the 22 are shipped yet, but either way it's up to 22 with the testers who are currently using it.

Like total market, like how many total market in the world that could use.

It.

According to NIH data, approximately 1.7% of American adults find it very difficult to or cannot grasp or handle small objects.

If we extrapolate to all ages in the U.S., there's approximately 5.5 million people.

If we consider that two thirds of Americans play video games, that's approximately 44 million people in the United States alone and globally, that's approximately 140 million.

We have about 45 seconds.

Okay.

So very quickly, can you tell us a little bit about how you're working with Shepherd clinic?

Shepherd has just confirmed the trial so far.

I went to the Shepherd center yesterday and discussed with one of the assistive technology engineers how next week I'll actually bring them a trial unit and they'll be able to test it with their patients and also other rehabilitation specialists with Westmead Children's Hospital.

I actually gave, I think, three units to the hospital that they were able to use every day with their patients.

And you're collecting all that data?

Yes.

Not not as in mainly through feedback from researchers.

Yes.

Not as a study, but as feedback.

Thank you.

15 seconds.

Got a quick one.

Yeah.

You said that there were other things like this out there.

What makes this one so much better than the others?

In short, most focus on extending buttons, like, for example, the Xbox Adaptive Controller, but none exist where this specific linkage is done to actually allow the Multi-button control.

Because for people like Levi, no matter how much you extend the buttons, like for example, what the Xbox adaptive controller does, it'll never let you use multiple buttons at once.

I have to, and now I have to power you down.

I'm so sorry.

Thank you so much, team AdaptaPlay.

And thank you, judges.

And now Ashley is with someone ready to tell us even more about how Team AdaptaPlay is leveling up gaming.

I may be a noob at gaming Faith, but I'm a pro controller.

Let's talk tech with AdaptaPlay collaborator Leanne West Georgia Tech, chief engineer of Pediatric Technology.

Leon, tell us how you gave this team the assist.

So I used to work in assistive technology and I really liked AdaptaPlay because I think it's different than a lot of the things that are out there.

They're more custom units, whereas this one works across different platforms.

And I recently introduced them to a team in Mexico City that I work with, who works with kids with cerebral palsy, as well as adults, and they were really excited to play with the device and work with the AdaptaPlay team to give them feedback on it so they might collaborate in Mexico City.

That's right.

Well played.

Leanne.

Audience.

This is not the time to be AFK away from keyboard.

All eyes on the target please.

People's choice to vote for team AdaptaPlay text key word play to 415-965-7445.

You can only vote once.

Once per team.

One team.

You get it?

Okay, Leanne.

All right, your turn.

It's your turn.

Thank you.

Ashley.

Up next, we have a team who shows us the value and power of female voices in health care.

Hi.

We're my serve, and we found a better way to tackle cervical cancer screening.

The pap smear is one of the most important screenings in women's health today.

It is.

The most accurate way to test for cervical cancer.

From our research, we found time and time again that there is so much fear and discomfort associated with taking these tests in clinical settings.

As we start turning 21 ourselves, we felt passionate to create a less invasive way for a pap smear exam.

We're addressing a problem that hasn't changed in over 100 years that lots of women have to go through yearly with our product.

Earlier detection of this very treatable cancer should save more lives.

While our competitors have already created an at home screening test, my serve is the only product that would test for cervical cancer directly.

It's time to take your health into your own hands.

And here to share the importance of making the cervical the cervical observable team.

My serve.

When cervical cancer is caught early, the survival rate is nine out of ten.

When it's caught late, that survival rate drops to two out of ten.

A pap smear collects for cervical screening.

Doctors collect cells and sends them to a lab for testing.

So if the test is so effective, why are 60% of women still canceling their screening?

The problem isn't in the lab.

It's how we collect samples.

For over 100 years, the primary tool used for pap smear, the speculum has remained the same.

It was designed for visibility, not for patient's comfort.

During our customer discovery, we consistently heard the same thing over and over.

I wish there was a better way.

I never looked forward for my exam.

Or why hasn't someone fixed this?

When a healthcare creates fear and discomfort, patients delay care.

That delay for cervical cancer means the difference between early stage and late stage disease.

So we're left with screening exists.

Early detection saves lives, but the way we're collecting samples isn't built around patients.

That's where my serve comes in.

My serve is a self-sampling cervical health kit designed to give women comfort, confidence and control while taking their own samples, whether that be at home or in a clinical setting.

To be clear, we're not changing the way that the cells are tested.

We're changing the way that the samples are collected by redesigning the sample collection process to be more flexible and patient centered, we can increase screening rates, which would lead to earlier detection of cervical cancer.

My serve is building our product alongside gynecologists, physicians, and clinical advisors to ensure that accuracy and comfort remain at the center of our design.

Our innovation uses a familiar design similar to a tampon, with the swab built directly into the applicator.

Because of this familiar design, women who use this design on a monthly basis would have a minimal learning curve to our product.

And for those who don't use this on a monthly basis, we would provide detailed instructions in each one of our kits.

My serve in just 18 months has been able to file a provisional patent.

We've worked closely with physicians.

We've started cervical testing on cervical models, and we've been able to join Georgia Tech startup incubator.

The next steps for my serve are to receive FDA approval and to continue with cervical testing on our cervical models.

My serve is creating a future where we're screening is built to serve women first.

Thank you.

Great job team.

You have clearly taken a lot of care in your presentation.

And let's see what our judges think.

Sherry.

As a woman, thank you.

A great presentation by the way.

So in 2005 excuse me, 2025, FDA actually did approve another device to at home for cervical cancer screening.

It's called the teal health wand.

I'm sure you're familiar with it.

So I'd like to understand how your product differentiates from that one.

Telehealth is focused on HPV testing and all of HPV testing doesn't direct to cervical cancer.

So cervical cancer also, you have to test cervical cells to screen for cervical cells.

And our product is focusing on collecting cervical cells directly from the cervix area to test for cervical cancer.

So essentially what she's saying is that although HPV most likely leads to cervical cancer, not all cervical cancers coming from HPV.

So we have to account for that gap.

I understand, and my lab box is the one that they they do a really good job of, of screening for HPV.

Okay.

The teal one actually tests for cervical cancer.

It was just approved the end of 2025.

By the FDA.

I think your product is great.

I would just encourage you to look into that.

Catherine.

Yeah, I'm curious about pricing.

How are you guys going to market with this?

I know there's some approvals, but how do you guys how do you make money?

Yes.

So for the pricing, that's also something we're exploring.

We're looking into the adaptability of clinics and hospitals and how it works.

So from our research, what we've noticed is private clinics are more likely to adopt new innovations.

So we would like to start with private clinics and move on to bigger hospitals.

But to market for bigger hospitals.

We're going to work with Gpos, which is group purchasing organizations.

And since they already have stabilized relationships with hospitals, we will be able to build a relationship and directly work with them.

Wesley.

Yeah, I'm curious, you said you spoke with some doctors.

How many doctors have you worked with so far?

So far, we consistently are in contact with three doctors and we were part of Female Founders, which is another incubator program at Georgia Tech.

When we did a female, when we did a customer discovery and part of our customer discovery was discussing our design with the doctors.

So is this actually been tested?

Yes.

So currently we're testing for usability.

We're using a cervical model to we're putting paint inside of the cervical model.

And depending on the color of paint, it depends on the area that the product is supposed to reach.

And by doing this, we're seeing if our product is able to reach the cervix.

And our next step in our testing would be if we're able to collect the correct amount of cells.

Thank you.

Obviously, your ideal customer is a woman.

Is there any certain age or other demographics that you think are going to be primary users?

Yes, that's also a great question.

We one thing we were looking into was the first initial test takers and also us.

How we initially started this idea was because we were scared to take the exam or the testing, and we went to market it for first time takers.

Since they were scared and have fear to go to the exam, and also for sexual abuse, trauma women's as well, who have fear going to a hospital and exposing themselves, this would be a great product to use it from home.

We have about 45 seconds.

Okay, so you mentioned in your presentation, monthly users, can you help me understand that a little more?

Is that for individuals who are at risk?

Yes.

So what I meant by that is that because our design is similar to a tampon and women get their menstrual cycle on a monthly basis, they're using a design that's similar to this one.

I got it, okay.

Thank you for that clarification.

Let's say everything goes well with the FDA approval.

What would be what would commercial production look like?

What would be involved in that process?

Our commercial product process would be after the FDA approval.

We're going to focus on, like I said first, initially, private clinics and private hospitals.

And from then we're going to advertise it to group purchasing organizations.

And that is your time.

Thank you so much, team Meiser.

Thank you, judges.

And now let's head over to Ashley who is serving up an interview with someone who's a big fan.

Faith, this interview is for every woman who's ever been told to relax at the Obgyn's office.

Sofia Bereket is a KSU student and co-creator of my Cerb.

Sofia, tell us the story of how my serve was born.

All right, so the three of us first designed this innovation back in 2025.

And just as a way to avoid getting the pap smear, and we were all Georgia State students at the time.

So a professor had approached us about taking our innovation to a competition in Washington, D.C., and that's where we presented in a poster presentation at the U.S.

Senate.

And we did.

And we resonated with so many women that we even won first place.

And later, Senator Raphael Warnock sent us a letter of congratulations.

Did he?

Yeah.

Oh my gosh, I love that Senator Warnock supports comfortable pap smears.

That's amazing.

And you have the device right there.

Yes I do.

This is a close up of our device.

Very cool.

Thank you.

Sofia, no need to speculate.

Who?

Your audience, your team is instrumental to this team's people's choice.

Win Tech's keyword care to 415-965-7445 to vote for my serve.

There are three teams to go.

Faith.

No more stirrups.

Huzzah!

All right, as you know, you get to see six teams present tonight.

But what you don't get to see are the rest of the fun and impressive inventions throughout this journey.

And even though they aren't here tonight, a lot of these teams came really close to making it to the finals, so that doesn't mean we will never get to see them.

In fact, maybe next year.

Plasmids.

Do we feel like a superhero while holding this?

Heck yeah.

Plasmids.

The next time you find yourself on Mars, you're going to think of us.

The small piece of DNA material that can make something glow.

Edible board game pieces that are sold in vending machines.

We created.

A stretcher scale for EMTs.

Have I said plasmids?

They have this.

Oh.

Crap moment.

Oh, no.

Just that one feature.

Does anybody else do that?

One feature?

They said they loved it.

Being able to detect.

Do you know how many inventors here would kill for that reaction?

Patterned plasmids.

Is going to win.

Because we have a very unique idea.

Because we're headstrong.

Because we're the best.

No.

We don't want to be just another statistic.

Because we combine our personal connection with science and engineering.

Because.

Well, you know, plasmids.

Thank you guys.

Plasmids.

Yes, man.

I hope to see that guy here next year.

Right now let's keep things going with our next team who are showing us that saving time and money is more than just a good idea.

It's a work of art.

We've created a better way for artists to plan their projects.

We are Matareal.

Artists like myself are.

Passionate about creating not so much about logistics or calculating materials.

We tend to under buy or over buy.

That's money that we can't afford to lose.

That takes away from the creative process and their wallets.

We interviewed over 100 artists, and we found that this was a recurring problem.

We decided to take action, and we spent months building a computer vision algorithm to solve this problem.

Starting from a blank canvas, to try to build up to a full fledged software product is a really arduous process, and it took a lot of planning and dedication to get to where we are right now.

Thankfully, we all have the mind of an artist and we understand it's problem at its core, material makes art more sustainable and accessible, giving artists the power to create a more beautiful world.

Material for.

Artists by artists.

And here, with a very colorful presentation, it's team material.

Murals are everywhere, decorating storefronts, stadiums, university campuses to most, they're ornamental, but to the artists behind them, that's how they make a living.

A few months ago, I was commissioned to design and paint a large mural for McDonald's.

Planning the paint using the only current method took me three days.

I had to break the design down into a grid of tiny squares.

Count how many squares each color took up and scale this to the size of the wall.

Even when correctly using this method, I still had to make three separate trips to buy more paint.

That's time and money.

I didn't have to lose.

Unfortunately, my experience isn't rare.

After talking to 80 other muralists in the Atlanta area with the same problem, we decided to build material.

The paint planning platform that muralists deserve.

The paint used to make this mural was calculated entirely using our software material.

We simply had to upload our design, enter our wall dimensions, and we're given an exact breakdown of the quantities and colors we needed to make this.

No more time wasted, no more miscalculation.

Days of planning to seconds in the United States, over $260 million are spent on murals every single year.

And now, with projects being increasingly funded as government contracts, the need for better planning tools like material is greater than ever before.

And that's why we're moving fast and testing now.

We're currently working with five well-established muralists here in the Atlanta area.

As early pilot partners for testing and accuracy.

This includes Nikk Turbo, whose art you see here looks sick right?

Over the course of the next few months, we plan to continue onboarding individual muralists as well as increasing our paint planning accuracy to reducing waste by 70%.

We're going to put material in every artist's toolbox and become the standard for planning paint.

So the artists, like Lily can focus on what really matters.

Creating.

If you're a muralist and you're looking to plan your projects faster than ever before, sign up at matareal.com.

Join us in helping artists make the world a more beautiful place.

Thank you.

Great job.

You have painted quite the picture for us.

Now let's see what our judges think.

Wesley.

How many muralists are in the world?

There are currently 4,000 full time muralists in the United States.

Meaning that there are roughly 54,000 murals painted every single year.

And then how do you think about market size?

Is that really the target market you're going after, or does it expand to hobby artists as well?

Yeah, so great question.

So right now that is just the documented full time muralist.

This does not account for part time muralists or smaller artists doing smaller scale work.

We've also thought about the fact that our engine works perfectly with all kinds of DIY household applications construction, but we really want to keep it at the core of what we know we can do right now, which is helping muralists, because Lily's a mirrorless herself, and this really does.

You know, this is our thing.

This means a lot to us.

So.

Cheery.

Yeah.

So there is another product that I was looking at.

It's called procreate.

And I was curious if you all had seen that and how you differentiate what you're doing from what they're doing.

Yeah.

Great question.

So procreate is a software that I'm very familiar with as an artist.

So artists will use this to draw anything digitally.

Our software is not a digital art software as in you're making the art on the software.

Our software is where someone would make a design in procreate for a mural, and then they upload it to material, and then with material would tell them how much material they need to how much paint materials they need to buy.

For an actual in real life project, not just digital.

May I have a follow up?

So do you see procreate as a potential strategic partner for you?

Yeah, absolutely.

Yeah.

Okay.

Okay.

Catherine.

Thank you.

Yeah.

So first of all, your mural is beautiful.

I love it so much.

And the French fries so I'm curious around pricing and how much does somebody get paid to make a mural?

When do they get paid and when do they pay you for your service?

And how does that scale?

What does revenue look like five years from now?

Yes.

Thank you for the question.

So our current pricing model is it has two components.

So the first one is a fixed flat fee of around $16.

Because our monthly operating costs would be around $30.

And so we would be able to make back all of our sales with two sales would cover that entire operating cost.

And on top of that, we also charge a percentage of the artist's commission on top of that.

So yes.

To finish answering the question, revenue in five years.

Right.

So this is sort of like a very long term goal for us, but we would like for artists to not only be able to plan paint in the platform, but purchase it, right?

One click.

Now it's planned, another click, it's all sent right to your house.

And so what that looks like, we're not entirely sure as it's really far out for us.

Right?

And so right now we're focused on the core of, let's get this tool to really work.

Let's make a difference in these muralist lives.

And then, hey, let's sell some paint.

You know.

I love it.

We've got about a minute left.

How many customers do you have using it?

Currently we have about five users who are demoing with us actively, but we have more people who are interested who have seen what we're doing and would like to help, because currently we're in testing.

So we don't have people who are fully using this.

We have people who are doing retroactive demos with us.

Okay.

So if you talk to any paint producers to, to, to get their feedback on how you might integrate with their existing software, I mean, to your point.

So at the current moment, the multibillion dollar paint companies won't speak with us, however.

No.

Their tools.

So let me give you an example.

So Sherwin-Williams and Home Depot, they both have rudimentary tools that allow you to calculate how much you paint, how much paint you need for one color on a simple surface, like drywall, right?

With our tool, we're able to handle much more complex situations with all kinds of crazy situations, right?

So in our eyes, we see the possibility to be able to potentially partner with companies that do sell billions of dollars of paint and give them a tool that allows their customers to plan their paint much more effectively than they currently are.

And that was a work of art.

Thank you.

And now let's head to Ashley, who is standing by with someone who believes we are living in a material world.

Good one faith, behold a paint by numbers artist.

Unfortunately, juxtaposed with a professional muralist, introducing a sage with a spray can.

Nicole Merizalde.

Nicole.

Can you give a broad strokes explanation of why material is picture perfect for muralists out there?

Yeah they definitely know what it's like to be an artist because they are artists.

And as a muralist, I know that a lot of us feel really overlooked and undervalued.

So this is the first time that I've ever seen somebody working to make our job easier.

And it does, it affects our income, which is it can be very difficult for us.

So at the end, I didn't go to school for math.

Like it's hard for me.

So it's really exciting that they're making something that's making my job easier and they're not looking to replace me, but they're looking to support us.

One less thing to worry about.

Yeah, definitely.

Thank you.

Nicole, I like you.

After this, let's paint the town red.

What do you say?

Okay.

To vote for team material, use keyword art.

Very simple.

And if you've been a blank canvas up to this point in the show, you have one team left to consider.

Faith.

Let's get artists mocks.

No.

Yes.

Sounds great.

Ash smocks for all.

All right, we have made it to our final team of the night, so let's just keep rocking.

Hi, we're PedalSwap.

And we found an easy and accessible way for guitarists of any skill level to unlock an entire world of tones.

The issue that a lot of amateur guitarists face is that in order to get a high level of customization with your tone, you need to spend a lot of money, experiment with different pedals, which does not come at a cheap cost.

We realized that there needs to be a better way for amateur musicians who aren't looking to spend a whole lot of money to be able to explore and customize their tone however they feel.

Whether you're making music or just listening to it, a guitar pedal makes a world of difference.

And maybe you don't notice it if it's there, but if it's not there, you're definitely going to hear it.

We're all musicians.

We drew on our collective technical experience to create the product that we have.

Winning the InVenture Prize would allow us to go into active production and put this into the hands of musicians worldwide.

PedalSwap is going to change the way.

You rock.

All right.

Here to put the pedal to the metal team pedal swap.

I had zero guitar effects pedals, despite them being the main thing that helps you change your tone.

Why?

Because the guitar pedal community was extremely intimidating.

And when I googled it, I saw pedals for 200, 300 and $500 and I didn't even know what I personally needed.

Right now, Toni's got that exact problem.

He's got a heavy metal riff that he's trying to play, but he has no effects.

See, he's got the notes down, but it just doesn't sound right.

And so using Pedal swap, let's give us a little bit of distortion.

Now that's a lot better, but that's more of a rock tone.

We want a heavy metal tone.

And so with PedalSwap, all we have to do is take out a single knob, swap it for one with a larger value.

And just like that.

Now, you might not always want to have a heavy metal tone, and sometimes you don't even want distortion.

Sometimes you want to play with something like delay, but that's completely different than distortion.

But with PedalSwap, all you have to do is swap out the effects cartridge swap in our delay, change just a single knob.

And just like that, you're going to hear a completely different tone.

Now, William and Tony are not the only people who have had this problem.

Just this weekend we started our social media campaign and on our first video, we amassed over 150,000 views, thousands of likes and a full inbox.

We had immature guitarists that were telling us that they want this as their first pedal.

We had professional guitarists telling us that they want this in their rig, and while we were setting up preorders, we didn't even have to make a post.

We had enough people reaching out directly to us to fill out our first five pedals.

So that's why we decided that tonight on our Instagram PedalSwap, we're going to drop five more pedals.

Just to get more people in their hands.

So judges help us get every guitarist perfect control over their tone.

Thank you, thank you.

There were actually people in the audience banging their heads.

Well done.

That presentation was music to my ears.

But let's see what our judges think.

Catherine.

I love it, and I'm really hopeful that I'm going to be able to play like you once I get a PedalSwap.

And I'm wondering, tell me about the pricing.

How much do you guys charge and how does that compare to something on the market?

And then also, what if I go on Facebook and try to buy something used?

Yeah, that's a great question.

Right now for our pricing because we want to start slow because that's how the best pedal company started out.

We're selling our 3-D printed model for a way lower price than a lot of the competitors right now.

The starter kit, which comes with five knobs, the distortion cartridge and the chassis itself is only $100.

Now for a single effect that can only do one thing, it ranges from 100.

Like I said previously, all the way up to $500 for a single effect.

And each new cartridge will only be 25-50 dollars.

Rather than having to spend that 100, 200, $500 every single time you want a new effect.

Brad.

Wesley Does this make you want to grow your hair out.

Maybe a little bit.

Yeah, exactly.

I'm almost there.

Have you collected revenue from the preorders yet or.

Yeah, yeah.

So the initial preorder batch that we did through just our DMs, we collected $50 from each of the people who were interested and put them on a waiting list.

And so that $50 got them a PedalSwap shirt, which is a great incentive.

And now as we finish pedals, we will ask them to collect the second $50 and then we'll ship it out.

And if they decide to back out, we're able to just go down the list.

Which is why tonight we're opening up more preorders.

So we have a list of people who are ready to buy one.

The second they're able to finish their preorder, we can get it in their hands.

Have you considered like a Kickstarter campaign to bring in lots of hopefully Pre-revenue or preorders?

Yeah.

So especially with the success of our Instagram, we definitely want to do something maybe on Kickstarter or something very similar because since we're getting such good public reception, we think that that would be definitely a great funding opportunity.

Okay, so love the hair.

All three of you.

Okay, so my question is around manufacturing and, you know, have you talked to manufacturing partners?

Because it sounds like to me that you're going to need to scale pretty quickly.

And that's going to be an important aspect of that scaling.

Yeah, I think one of the biggest things is a lot of pedals are made in metal chassis.

And that's a really hard thing to scale, especially early on when you don't have a ton of capital right now.

That is why we're selling our 3-D printed version, because it's so easy for us to, just as a small team, as we ramp up, able to make them by hand and get feedback because we don't want to rush into production and make something that might not be finalized, because we still have ideas on how to iterate.

And so we want to slowly ramp up because I think fast pace could actually hurt our product.

So have you patented this?

We're currently working on our provisional patent and we're hoping from getting either first or second place in the InVenture Prize to get our potentiometer system especially patented, as that is something that no other pedal has ever done.

Interesting.

So why would an expert guitarist not want this?

It seems like it's much easier and smaller and more compact.

Yeah.

So originally we actually were targeting beginner guitarists, but as we've done our social media campaign, like Zephyr mentioned, we've had professional guitarists reaching out saying, this would help me on stage.

I can lock in the tone that I want.

And so we've actually got a lot of good reception.

And Tony himself has even used it in his pedal setup, added it in even with other pedals that we've previously mentioned, and it gave him way more control over his entire signal chain.

I love it.

Can you tell me about your Instagram?

How'd you get 150,000 views on a video?

People, people like the product.

Yeah, we had a lot of a lot of good support in the comments, a lot of you know, a lot of discourse, people were talking to each other saying, I wouldn't use this, I would use this.

It was, you know, just a lot of engagement.

Yeah.

When was the, how long ago was the first prototype built?

I think that was end of.

So December last year we made the first one, which was just the swappable potentiometers.

And then we really ramped up the spring semester and we got two more prototypes out.

And this is our current version.

And how could you accelerate production even further?

Yeah, I think the first thing that we've all talked about is minimizing.

This is still a very large build because we haven't done like final printed circuit cards for the internals, only for the cartridges themselves.

And we can also use smaller components to just reduce size overall, which will save on manufacturing costs and help people actually want to integrate it.

The smaller a pedal, the easier it is to travel.

And that's your time.

Rock on, team PedalSwap.

Thank you.

All right, judges, we have now heard from all of our competitors.

So it's time for you to head backstage and talk and make your final decisions.

Godspeed.

And while our judges leave the stage, let's check in with Ashley, who's standing by with someone ready to amp up.

Team PedalSwap ash.

Oh, Faith.

He's a cowboy on the steel horse he rides to invoke Bon Jovi, a guitar player here to make sure this interview shreds, let's riff with Aaron Lanterman, the team's mentor, an electrical and computer engineering professor here at tech.

Aaron, how could PedalSwap really revolutionize the guitar world for musicians?

There's a lot of guitar players who either have or would love to have a wall full of effects pedals, but most of the cost is in just the boxes housing the electronics, so it makes sense to swap that around because you can't use them all at once.

And by being able to swap the knobs around like Legos, a musician could customize their sound without having to burn themselves on a soldering iron.

It's like Legos.

And you told me the little knobs are called pots, which is short for a word.

I can't say Erin.

Potentiometers.

What he said.

Okay.

Thank you.

Erin.

On that note, we vote.

Okay.

Don't string this team along.

Text swap to C PedalSwap win the People's Choice Award.

Voting will only be open for a few more minutes.

Now you've seen all of our team's present, and if you haven't already, it's time to pick out your favorite vote by texting your favorite team's key word to 415-965-7445.

Don't forget only one vote per phone number will count, and watch out for autocorrect runs.

Everything.

You must spell the team's keyword correctly for that vote to count.

Let's go over the key words one more time, shall we?

If team DoorTix Nix is on your winning ticket, use tix if you're hearing it for Team Hero, use ear.

If you're gaming for team AdaptaPlay to win, use the key word play.

If your serve is for Team My serve, text the word care.

If team material paints a winning picture in your mind, the key word is art.

And finally, if you're jamming with team PedalSwap, use swap.

Again.

That number to text is 415-965-7445.

You'll receive a confirmation text after you vote.

And like I said, only one vote will count per phone number, so people's choice voting will only be open a few more minutes.

Get your votes in.

We'll announce the winners shortly.

And with that, I hand the show back to you.

Faith.

As our judges deliberate, we want to take a moment to talk about an incredible sister program of Georgia Tech's InVenture Prize, the K12 InVenture Prize.

This program has worked with more than 70,000 students and has sent several of them to the national stage to tell you more about this wonderful world of student innovation.

I'm going to hand things back to Ashley, who is with one of Georgia's leading teachers of this program.

, that I am Faith gifted education specialist Julia Varnado from Sope Creek Elementary, is a longtime teacher of the K. Through 12 InVenture Prize known.

Known to develop thoughtful engineers, giving them a pathway.

I guess we could say to nationals for her students.

And poof, here is the proof.

These two students, Laura and Kabir, won first place for fifth grade at the 2025 Invention Convention.

U.S.

Nationals.

Julia, how do you do it?

What is your secret sauce for really?

Engineering and developing these elementary aged students?

Now, middle schoolers into nationally honored inventors?

Well, I think it's all about finding a really good problem to solve.

And for that, we really want to look at what are they interested in?

What is their passion and how does that lead them into that problem finding?

And for these wonderful students, they were interested in birds.

Kabir has been interested in birds for as long as I've known him.

And Laura had a pet bird, so it was natural that they would study birds and develop a product for bird lovers.

Bird is the word.

I want to hear from you, Kabir and Laura.

Laura, what is the name of your invention?

Our invention is the nomadic bird bath.

Excellent.

And Kabir, could you tell me how the nomadic bird bath actually works?

Yeah.

So basically, the bird bath has three parts.

The basin, the tube and the base.

The basin holds the water.

The tube lets the water out and the base holds the bird bath to keep it stable.

Voila!

Bird bath.

Incredible.

Give it up for him.

Audience.

Amazing.

I. I am enthralled and I wish we could see your invention in action.

Where is a rogue bird when you need one?

I don't know, but congrats on your soaring success.

And to you too Julia, for helping mint this fine team.

To learn more about the K12 InVenture Prize, visit K12 InVenture dot Guterres.

That's Georgia Tech dot edu.

And now I believe faith has some very big news to share.

Faith, what's the word?

Thank you Ashley.

Indeed.

I do.

This fall, Georgia Tech is launching a new degree there Arts, entertainment and creative technologies degree, which means our show is going to get even better.

And I am here with Lisa Marks, the program's interim chair.

Lisa, thank you so much for joining us.

So tell me what's going to make Georgia Tech's approach to this subject matter unique?

I think that it's just that it's part of Georgia Tech and it's part of this great entrepreneurial spirit, and that the entire school is really excited about it.

This was something that originally was the idea of president Angel Cabrera.

And so we've had a lot of support through all the administration to make this a really robust major with really unique classes, things like the science and practice of creativity taught by people who have studied psychology as well as design, combined with local artists, and some really interesting courses.

So tell me about the degree itself.

Yeah, it's going to be a relatively broad degree, looking at a lot of creative practices, dealing with time and motion based outputs.

But since it's so broad, it also has room for 13 electives, which is a lot of electives and it allows students to really specialize in what they're passionate about.

And how is the response going so far?

We had over 400 applications this year in our very first year, and we've also had a lot of interest from industry, from gaming companies, from movie studios, immersive media studios.

And so we're going to have some really strong internships and co-ops coming up.

What do you think would surprise people the most to learn about this major?

I think just that it's going to exist at Georgia Tech and we're going to be so collaborative across the campus.

And it's going to involve classes from electrical computer engineering, from computer science, from literature, media and communication, along with the core design studio classes that make it unique.

Lisa, thank you so much and congratulations.

Thank you.

And to give everyone a look at the future of this program.

I want to introduce some friends.

So we'll move over here to make room for them.

For the first time ever, this year's Georgia Tech InVenture Prize has had students working on our production, both on the Pre-tapes as well as on tonight's live show, and they have been involved in everything from setting up light light stands to filming some of the B-roll you just saw.

Even the mic flag here that Lisa is holding was 3-D printed at a Georgia Tech makerspace by Kaylee and Jeet over there.

Give it up for Kaylee and Jeet.

If that is any indication of where this program is going, this degree is going to be a huge success.

Thank you all.

And speaking of huge successes, it is almost time to announce this year's winner.

And before we do, we're going to check in with Ashley.

She is rushing to meet up with the finalists backstage and oh, okay.

They're going to they're going to come out.

They're going to come out and join us.

Let me ask you.

Here they come.

Okay, we're going to interview them on stage.

But let me ask you, what did you do for this show tonight?

I was able I was able to help with a lot of the B-roll and producing and kind of see what it's like behind the scenes, as well as kind of talking to a lot of the students as well.

Okay.

Thank you so much.

I'll let you guys get backstage because there's more work to do.

Thank you so much.

And we're welcoming back our finalists and our judges.

Thank you, Lisa.

Ashley, you got a couple questions for them.

Yes.

Okay.

Faith, backstage of enthusiasm.

Out here backstage, we were talking about fate.

Because your experience in The Matrix made me wonder, do our teams believe in destiny, Morpheus style?

So I want to ask our team, scrolling ahead on the timeline, what fate do you envision for your invention?

Team?

DoorTix Nix.

We imagine DoorTix Nix being used by millions of fans to get their dream tickets at affordable prices.

Beautiful vision hero.

Just like.

Parents have thermometers and first aid kits at home, we see every parent having hero ready for when their kid gets an ear infection.

I like it AdaptaPlay.

I believe the AdaptaPlay will become a go to gaming solution for millions of people with disabilities.

What about my serve?

We envision myself to become the standard testing for cervical cancer.

All right.

Material paint with words.

We envision material being in every artist's toolbox as their go to for paint planning.

I can definitely see it.

All right, my pedal people.

Zephyr hit me.

We plan to have a vast library of cartridges, making us the easiest option for beginner guitarists to explore their tone.

All right.

Excellent.

They're truly amazing.

And I can sense that our judges are back.

Faith actually saw them back.

There.

Yeah.

You are correct, Ashley.

The judges are back in their seats, which means the results are in.

So we are going to ask them a couple questions.

May I part the waters a little bit so we can see y'all.

Okay, so I know the finalists are on stage so you can't say too much, but tell me, how difficult was this decision?

It was difficult.

It's I mean, having been a judge before, but I will tell you is this was every single one of these inventions was a standout.

Excellent presentations.

We did not we didn't fight.

No fighting.

No.

No fighting.

No.

No thumb wars.

No, no, no thumb wars.

But there was a lot of discussion.

And I do want to just say that we were very impressed with every single team on this stage.

And you should be very proud of what you've done.

All right.

Well, I will allow for more applause, but I want to know, was it unanimous in the end or was it two versus one?

It was two versus one.

And then we beat up the one and then it became unanimous.

No, it was unanimous.

It was unanimous.

We all came along.

All right.

Thank you, judges, for your hard work because it is a hard job.

It is.

Now I'm going to ask our students, our K-12 kids, to come out on stage now with Ashley to help present the trophies.

Thank you so much.

We've got Hudson, Graydon and Tanvi.

Thank you.

Thank you for joining.

Oh, and buzz, of course.

All right.

So y'all are fifth graders at Sope Creek Elementary, right?

All right.

Let's kick it off with the first prize of the night, the People's Choice award.

Do you have it?

Did you peek?

No.

Okay, I believe you.

All right, let's do this.

Love the sound of Velcro.

All right, this is worth $5,000.

And the winner of the 2026 Georgia Tech InVenture Prize People's Choice Award is DoorTix Nix team DoorTix Nix.

Congratulations, team DoorTix Nix.

All right.

Our second place winner.

Are you ready, Graydon?

All right, our second place winner with a cash prize.

Thank you very much.

Of $10,000 plus assistance in patent filing is team PedalSwap.

Congratulations.

All right, I'm gonna hand that back to you.

All right, tell me, y'all, whom would you like to thank?

Parker Ferreira.

He is a UGA student who helped every single day.

He is the best engineer I've ever worked with, and I'm going to keep working with him for the rest of my life.

Congratulations, y'all.

All right.

Can I hand you this?

Thank you.

All right.

It is time.

The moment we have all been waiting for.

It is finally time to reveal first place.

I am so excited.

Thank you.

I am so excited to announce the recipient of acceptance into Georgia Tech's CREATE-X startup launch program.

A check for $20,000.

And your winner of the 2026 Georgia Tech InVenture Prize.

And it is Team Hero.

I'll take this now.

Thank you so much.

All right.

Okay.

How does it feel winning the adventure prize after all your hard work?

It feels awesome.

It feels awesome.

Honestly.

Thank you so much, everyone.

First I want to say thank you to Dr.

Turner and everyone that helped us.

Get to the mentors and for helping us for all this journey.

Thank you so much everyone.

And.

And how do you plan to spend your InVenture prize winnings?

Go with it.

We want to get Hearo in the hands of more parents and kids and get it ready so that every parent can have one.

And I'd love to know.

What is your best piece of advice for anyone who wants to end up on this stage someday?

You got to think fast, though.

All right, all right.

I would say just to work hard, dream big and everything is possible.

I love that.

Yes.

And keep going.

Make sure to change your ideas.

Even if they're bad.

Just keep.

Going, though.

We gotta go.

All right.

Congratulations.

Let's hear it one more time for our People's Choice winner.

Who is team DoorTix?

Our second place team.

Team PedalSwap.

And the winner of the 2026 Georgia Tech InVenture Prize Team Hero.

And with that, we are at the end of the 18th annual Georgia Tech InVenture Prize.

Thank you to all of our six finalist teams for sharing your incredible work with us, your contributions and efforts have absolutely changed this world for good.

Thank you to my co-host Ashley Mengwasser and to our judges Catherine, Wesley and Cheri.

And of course, those at Georgia Tech who invented this wonderful show.

And lastly, thanks to you, our audience, for being here tonight and celebrating all of our finalists.

And please join us for the a InVenture Prize from the University of Notre Dame.

Friday, March 27th at 7:00 P.M.. And as we end this night, never ever forget necessity may be the mother of invention, but Georgia Tech is your daddy.

Good night and see you next year.

Funding for this program was made possible in part by the Georgia Tech Office of Technology Licensing and the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Impossible.

We love that work.

It's a challenge to explore the unknown, to sculpt skylines, to map the human mind and propel humanity to the edges of earth.

At Georgia Tech, we are determined to forge a better tomorrow because the world is counting on us.

Impossible.

It's not just a challenge.

It's a calling.