2022 Heartland Challenge Winners Announced, Goetz Matches $50k Prize

Twelve graduate startup teams from across North America competed in the third annual Heartland Challenge, a competition designed to simulate the process of raising venture capital for a high-growth enterprise, over the past weekend. The Challenge was hosted by the University of Arkansas’ Sam M. Walton College of Business and overseen by UA’s Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, with support from the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation.

Alice Walton, the founder of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, and Sequoia Capital Partner Jim Goetz headlined an all-star list of speakers and judges Friday, April 15, in a keynote event at Crystal Bridges’ Great Hall in Bentonville.

This year’s winner was KLAW industries, KLAW Industries, a waste glass processing startup which turns glass sent to landfills into a cement replacement for concrete called Pantheon™. The KLAW Industries team is based at Binghamton University in New York and was represented by Jacob Kumpon and Nicholas Walling.

This year’s cash prize pool was more than $110,000, with the top prize originally set for $50,000, but the overall winner took home $100k after Goetz matched the top prize of $50,000.

The second place team received $25,000; third place received $10,000; and fourth place took home $5,000.

An ‘Investor Roundtable’ event took place alongside the main competition, engaging the student founders in informal discussions with active investors, simulating an experience of meeting in a restaurant or airport without the benefit of formal pitch decks or other materials. Event sponsors Cadron Capital Partners provided $3,000 awards to the winners of each of three roundtable events. Additional special awards were provided by sponsors Delta Solar, Atento Capital, Wright Lindsey Jennings, Natural Capital, John Chamberlin and Cannon Capital.

First and second place winners in the elevator pitch competition — decided by an audience vote — won $3,000 and $2,000, respectively.

BIG 4 WINNERS:

First place: $100,000

KLAW Industries, Binghamton University: Jacob Kumpon, Nicholas Walling

Second place: $25,000

EpiSLS, University of Michigan: Parker Martin, Cory Cooney

Third place: $10,000

Beam Commerce, University of Waterloo:Dhruv Patel, Armon Shokravi, Varun Kundra, Landon Fhur

Fourth place: $5,000

CiphrX Biotechnologies, University of Arkansas: Stephanie Gannon, PhD, Landon Burcham, Hailey Cole, Drake Harrison, Emilie Darrigues

Elevator Pitch

First place: $3,000