Gatton College of Business and Economics recognizes winners of 2025 PNC Wildcat Pitch Competition for student entrepreneurs

LEXINGTON, Ky., April 30, 2025 (gatton.uky.edu)- More than 20 student-entrepreneurs showcased their innovative ideas and business savvy during the 2025 PNC Wildcat Pitch Competition Sat., April 26, at the University of Kentucky's Gatton College of Business and Economics. This full-day competition allowed University of Kentucky student teams to pitch their business plans to judges for a chance to win a total of $20,000 in prize money.
The competition was divided into an undergraduate division and a graduate division and was judged by a multi-disciplinary panel. Judges for the final round included Austin Foreman, Business Banking relationship manager, PNC Bank; David Hasler, founder/president, Breakthrough Solutions Consulting; and George Ward, chair, Economic Development Collaborative, University of Kentucky. 
“This competition provided a platform for our region’s rising entrepreneurs to demonstrate the creativity, innovation and problem-solving prowess necessary for developing solutions to real-world challenges,” said Foreman. “All of us at PNC look forward to following the trajectory of these talented students and their ventures.”
The winners of this year’s pitch competition are:
 

Graduate Track Winners:
1. FlowTech ($5,000) | College of Engineering
2. NeuroVista Innovations ($3,000) | College of Engineering
3. RAM Devices, LLC. ($2,000) | College of Engineering

Undergraduate Track Winners:
1. AFO Cyber, LLC. ($5,000) | College of Engineering
2. Trace On ($3,000) | College of Engineering
3. LYPD (Lexington Youth Product Development) ($2,000) | College of Design

“I’m very proud of all of our winners and competitors and the work they have put in throughout the year,” said Warren Nash, Executive Director of the Von Allmen Center for Entrepreneurship, who provides commercialization advice to all teams. “Every team came well-prepared and impressed the judges, I am proud of the quality of this year’s pitches.”

The winning teams presented the following concepts:

FlowTech (Graduate, 1st Place) is a biomedical technology company developing compact, non-invasive wearable devices for real-time monitoring of brain hemodynamics. Their aim is to provide an affordable, wearable solution for monitoring brain blood flow and oxygenation to aid in the early diagnosis of neurological diseases.

NeuroVista Innovations (Graduate, 2nd Place) focuses on revolutionizing neurological imaging by developing a portable, high-resolution, and AI-powered imaging system. Their technology, Time-Resolved Laser Speckle Contrast Imaging (TR-LSCI), enables real-time blood flow monitoring and aims to be a more affordable and accessible alternative to traditional imaging methods like MRI and CT scans.

RAM Devices, LLC. (Graduate, 3rd Place) addresses the problem of time-consuming clinical assessments in stroke rehabilitation. Their first product is a wearable sensor-based device with an intuitive interface designed to provide objective monitoring of hand function, quantitative measurements, and real-time feedback, reducing assessment time by 53%.

AFO Cyber, LLC. (Undergraduate, 1st Place) is dedicated to protecting individuals, particularly the older generation, from scams and fraud. They offer a subscription-based service that combines human expertise with technology to provide personalized scam analysis and educational awareness, emphasizing a human-centric approach over solely AI-driven solutions.

Trace On (Undergraduate, 2nd Place) is introducing a blockchain-based platform designed to transform the verification of academic and professional credentials. Their solution aims to make credential verification secure, immutable, and instantly verifiable, addressing the inefficiencies and fraud risks of traditional methods.

LYPD (Lexington Youth Product Development) (Undergraduate, 3rd Place) is a summer program for high school students in Lexington, KY, designed to expose them to the world of product development. The program involves working on projects sponsored by local businesses, learning marketable skills, gaining work experience, and networking with companies.

Other concepts presented during the competition included SafeSip, which offers a color-changing cup to instantly detect spiked drinks; Sondr, a dating app aiming to foster deeper connections by delaying the reveal of profile pictures; LotWaze, a platform seeking to provide affordable and accessible parking in Lexington by utilizing underutilized lots; EdgeTrack Solutions, which offers an AI-powered platform for real-time predictive shipment tracking in logistics; AdjustaPutt, an at-home putting mat with a modular grid system for customizable terrain; and Bourbon Kings, a board game centered around bourbon production designed to be a fun, educational, and social experience. The team FreeFlicks offers free admission to movies by utilizing in-movie advertising. 
 

Student-entrepreneurs participating in the competition included:

Undergraduate Teams: AFO Cyber, LLC (Ayah Abdeldayem, Naji Abdeldayem, Hannah Hale), Lexington Youth Product Development, (Gabriel Portugal), SafeSip (Wesley Harper), Sondr (Alberto Cocke), Trace On (Vansh Patel).

Graduate Teams: LotWaze (Muhammad Qasim), NeuroVista Innovations (Faraneh Fathi, Sajad Vahedi, Samaneh Rabienia Haratbar, Guoqiang Yu), EdgeTrack Solutions (Bryce Gentner, Shem Odhiambo, Eric Wambua), RAM Devices (Madison Bates, Joseph Halcomb), AdjustaPutt (Delaney Bennett, Jackson Riney), FlowTech (Faezeh Akbari, Fatemah Hamedi, Pegah Safavi), FreeFlicks (David Rubury), Bourbon Kings (Ryan Sarhan).