The U of A Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, in partnership with the School of Law, recently held a seed funding competition which selected 13 teams to pitch to a panel of expert judges consisting of local investors, entrepreneurs, and business leaders on Jan. 21. Seven U of A students won and walked away with up to $2,000 each from the competition.

• The winning teams consisted of both undergraduate and graduate students who had conducted prior customer discovery or market research to advance their businesses and innovations. The funding is intended to be used to cover diverse needs for each team, including prototype development, customer discovery, design services, and legal fees. -U of A

• "This competition was a wonderful way of combining the practice of law with the grit of young entrepreneurship. These kinds of collaborations set our students on the path to success where they make remarkable contributions to the communities they serve," Margaret Sova McCabe, Dean of the School of Law.

• The winning teams include: ReGen Technologies (Grayson Morrow, Astha Malhotra, Emily Wiencek); Airkart (Zain Blackwell, Mitchell Belz, Morgan Burns, Gabriel David, Smit Patel, Casey Thurmon); Bullyproof (Liz Alspach, Amanda Earhart, Joe Macaluso); Gas pump project (Julia Davis, Emma Choate, Caleb Hill, Mary Pham, Isha Rajaram, Sailesh Sirigineedi, Halle Schneidewind); Nivera Icephobic (Giselle Toledo); Simple + Sweet ice cream (Coleman Warren), Sustainable concrete (Maddie Heal).