FreshX, a startup developing supply chain software to help food companies and freight brokers with cold chain transportation and storage, won first place in the Edward L. Kaplan, ’71, New Venture Challenge.
FreshX won $1 million in investment, including the Ratan L. Khosa Grand Prize of $185,000, at NVC, the signature venture competition for MBA students at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. The $1 million investment is the largest investment ever awarded to a single team at NVC.
The judges awarded a total of $1.9 million in investment funds to the 11 finalist teams, the largest investment in NVC’s 28-year history.
Encore Marketplace Inc., a resale marketplace platform focused on solving the problems that are driving Gen Z and millennials away from traditional marketplaces like eBay and Craigslist, and Herriot, an AI decision support tool aimed at helping veterinarians provide excellent care more efficiently, tied for second place, with Encore Marketplace receiving $345,000 and Herriot receiving $170,000.
“It’s been another incredible year for NVC, and we’re thrilled to see our team investment reach record levels,” said Steven Kaplan, Neubauer Family Distinguished Service Professor at Chicago Booth College and Kessenich EP Dean at the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. “This incredible milestone is a testament to the exceptional quality of the teams that joined this year, and I’m excited to see what these teams will accomplish.”
“This is the largest investment pool we’ve ever received and we’re thrilled to see the first-place team walk away with $1 million,” said Mark Tebbe, adjunct professor of entrepreneurship and entrepreneur in residence at the Polsky Center. “NVC continues to demonstrate the incredible potential of our students and the entrepreneurial community at large.”
The finalists were a diverse group of startups who presented their business plans to a panel of 30 investors, entrepreneurs and industry leaders, many of whom were Booth alumni, who then privately deliberated and announced the winners.
“We’re still in shock, but incredibly excited to win this award and take first place in a competition with so many great teams,” said Clay Curran (MBA’23), founder and CEO of FreshX. “This is exactly what FreshX needs right now, and this investment will be a great contribution to our success as we continue to develop our product and seek to grow.”
The 2024 NVC awardees are:
First Place
- Fresh X ($1,000,000): FreshX is a supply chain software company that helps food companies and freight brokers easily book and manage cold chain transportation and storage. The complexity of the cold supply chain has grown exponentially over the past few years, and companies increasingly need fast, transparent and flexible solutions for temperature-controlled cargo. FreshX’s total investment of $1 million includes the Rattan L. Khosa Grand Prize of $185,000.
2nd place (tie)*
- Encore Marketplace Inc.($345,000): Encore Marketplace Inc. is a resale marketplace platform focused on solving the problems that are driving Gen Z and millennials away from traditional marketplaces like eBay and Craigslist by driving sales with short video auctions, sophisticated recommendation algorithms and community-oriented auction events. Encore generates revenue through transaction fees, premium service markups and advertising.
- Heriot ($170,000)Herriot builds AI decision support tools to help veterinarians deliver superior care efficiently. Their conversational AI applications condense years of a pet’s clinical history into easy-to-read summaries, suggest differential diagnoses based on current symptoms, and provide value-based care plans, delivering unmatched efficiency and support at the point of care.
4th place (tie)*
- Decimal Code ($75,000): Decimal Code helps healthcare providers understand underbilling revenue and eliminate operational waste through automated medical coding. Medical coding is functionally how healthcare providers get paid: Providers submit numeric Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes that equate to reimbursement from insurance payers.
- Owl AI ($110,000)Owler AI is a web platform that leverages machine learning to compare student submissions against educator grading criteria and provide teacher review and targeted feedback to help students grow. Owler is a Chicago-based Delaware LLC that has had more than 400 beta users since launching in January 2024. Owler AI’s $110,000 investment includes a $25,000 Moonshot Prize that will be awarded to a team whose unique technology is accelerating innovative solutions to global challenges.
- Slosh Dynamics ($125,000)Slosh Dynamics enables winemakers to create better tasting non-alcoholic wines.
No.5
- Ark Health ($30,000)Ark Health recruits and retains patients for clinical trials by providing a concierge navigation service that removes barriers for patients, from pre-screening to enrollment. Using a predictive AI engine to efficiently deploy navigation services, Ark Health is a scalable platform that improves clinical trial diversity.
6th place (tie)*
- ORO Intelligence ($10,000): ORO Intelligence is a medical technology company that uses AI to automate and optimize healthcare provider workflows. The company’s mission is to improve patient access to care and the quality of interactions at the point of care, while simultaneously providing healthcare providers with revenue capture and generation opportunities.
- Pharos Aerospace ($10,000): Pharos Aerospace addresses the growing risk to satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), where fast-moving debris poses a dangerous threat to any spacecraft. Leveraging creative data acquisition and analytics, Pharos helps operators ensure the safety of their assets.
Stratics ($10,000): Stratix analyzes performance data and delivers personalized, AI-generated recommendations, translating data into actions that salespeople can take.
- Tour Me ($15,000): TourMe harnesses the best of online learning and AI-powered technology to provide each traveller with a powerful, personal connection to the culture they explore.
TourMe also won the People’s Choice Award, a $5,000 prize determined by audience votes.
*Additional investments were made after the voting ended, so the amount does not indicate ranking.
—Adapted from a story originally published on the Polsky Center website.
