Winning Teams
Congratulations to the 2018 winning teams!
- First place ($25,000): YNot Bike
- Second place ($7,500): Fitz
- Third place ($5,000): Rewardzzz
The Cornell Hospitality Business Plan Competition is an annual entrepreneurship event that begins at the start of the academic year when students form teams and develop executive summaries for their business plans. The competition ends in early spring during Hotel Ezra Cornell (HEC), when the student teams submit their final business plans and semi-finalist teams make their presentations to a judging panel that selects the top three concepts as winners.
Prizes for the top three finishers total over $35,000 (All prizes subject to tax withholdings as required by IRS regulations). The Business Plan Competition is a meaningful learning experience for students who are interested in pursuing an entrepreneurial venture and whose ideas serve as new independent ventures in the seed, start-up, or early growth stages.
First place for $25,000 to team Outer Space
Team Members: Alex Barr ’24, Nadeem Gangat ’25, Samuel Nichols ’24, Jude Rizzo ’25, Bill Tong ’24
Cornell Chronicle (May 2, 2022): App connecting driveways with beachgoers win hospitality business contest
For full competition details refer to the 2021-2022 dropdown below.
First place ($25,000) to team Outer Space
Team Members: Alex Barr ’24, Nadeem Gangat ’25 (Dyson), Samuel Nichols ’24 (ILR), Jude Rizzo ’25 (A&S), Bill Tong ’24 (Dyson)
A service that enables property owners to rent out their driveway or parking spaces on an hourly basis.
Second place ($7,500): High Life Cannabis
Members: Raul Gamble, MMH ’22, Cody Perez, MBA ’22, MPS-RE ’22
Enables our customers to create unforgettable memories through a combination of top-quality products, events, and experiential spaces.
Third place ($5,000): Quay Side Farm and Table
Members: Kenisha Paliwal ’22 (ILR), Vishwajit Sharma ’23 (Dyson), Ariel Staffin ’22
A farm-to-table styled restaurant atop a barge deck docked in waterfront cities.
Honorable Mention: VINE
Members: Tony Ling, MMH ’22, Takamichi Matsuhisa, MMH ’22, Zihan Sun, MEng ’22, Alexander Vias, MMH ’22
Links the interests of the hospitality industry with financial investors’ and end-consumers’ to revolutionize how premium beverages can be more efficiently managed and converted into both immediate cashflows and high growth alternative investments.
Honorable Mention: MiFood Tech
Members: Yingtong Li ’23, Jack Ma, MMH ’23, Mokhtar Rajai ’22 (Eng), Elizabeth Vicarte ’22 (Eng), Mi Yan MS ’22 (CALS)
A kitchen robot startup that aims to provide automated solutions for restaurants and kitchens and to reduce labor costs while maintaining a high quality of cuisine.
Watch the 2022 competition here
First place ($25,000): Team Life After Life
Members: Shaily Patil MPS-RE ’21 (Baker), Jacob Tannenbaum MPS-RE ’21 (Baker)
Solves the problem of unaffordable and unsustainable funeral practices in America through conservation cemetery parks, experience enhancing technology, and community development.
Second place ($7,500): Adaptive Reuse Capital
Members: Noah Davis MMH ’21, Jack Levin MMH ’21, Jake Lynch MMH ’21, Janesh Patel MMH ’21
Aims to repurpose underutilized or distressed hotel assets into affordable, nurturing, and flexible independent senior living communities.
Third place ($5,000): Priya Hospitality
Members: Fareez Dossani MMH ’21, Jordan Korn MMH ’21, Chandan Sharma MMH ’21, Zachary Zaremba MPS-RE ’21 (Baker)
Aims to disrupt Indian cuisine in America through causal restaurant concepts across the country, a portfolio of consumer-packaged goods, and a media production company.
Honorable mention: Team Crave
Members: Boonyakorn Chandhanayingyong MPS RE ’21 (Baker), Sanjeet Dutta MEng ’21, Isa Goldberg MBA ’22, Pete Vejanurug MBA ’22, Kevin Wang MBA ’22
Develops a monetization platform designed to connect eaters to restaurants through influencers’ content, creating demand for all merchants within the F&B industry.
Honorable mention: Team RunDeVu
Members: Minwei Cao MBA ’22, Angad Jaspal ’21, Max Li ’23 (Eng), Gleb Margolin MBA ’22, Peter Nguyen MBA ’22
Looks to disrupt the vacation planning industry with an algorithm-based trip-planning concierge that helps busy and adventurous millennials find the unexpected path less travelled, in the most fun, painless way.
Watch the 2021 competition here!
The 10th Annual, and first ever virtual, Hospitality Business Plan Competition was held on April 17, 2020. The Leland C. and Mary M. Pillsbury Institute for Hospitality Entrepreneurship would like to thank all of our participating teams for their hard work and flexibility as we navigated this new format.
Team Matte Black Lounges is focused on bringing modern airport lounges to currently underserved, mid-market, domestic airports.
Members: Shucen Ding MMH ’20, Yi Xuan Huang ’20, Lyon Li ’23, and Gabe Trumbo MBA ’21
Watch Team Matte Black Lounges
Team farmVal makes the process of growing wine smarter, more efficient, and more reliable through a combination of Cornell PhD patented research, machine learning, and industry expertise.
Members: Ashley Bacalso MILR ’20, Shiang-Wan Chin MEng ’19, PhD ’22, Tamara Sato ’22
Team PediCure is a toenail trimmer that empowers elderly adults to reclaim independence in their grooming experience. Our device is to be sold to caretakers.
Members: Jordan Gorelick MEng ’20, Bryan Hyland ’21, Jialin Ke ’20 (HumEc), Jessica Tao ’20 (CALS), Joshua Zhu ’20 (CALS)
Team Dream Haüs is a platform that ncorporates homebuyers’ tastes and preferences through a visual search to save realtors and home-buyers time and money.
Members: Chris Gartrell ’20, Oren Michaely ’20 (Eng)
Team LayOP aims to leverage analytics tools and big data to help hospitality property managers and employees make informed decisions to optimize their service and increase revenue.
Members: Armaan Goyal ’22, Aditya Narayanan ’21 (A&S), Ananth Palaniappan ’21 (Eng), Abhinav Prasad ’21 (A&S)
Title Sponsor
Platinum Sponsors
Silver Sponsors
Team BoutiquePlus+ is a hospitality digital marketing management company that helps Chinese boutique and lifestyle hotels manage social media, build a substantial online presence, foster customer relationship management, and evaluate social media related revenue management solutions at an affordable price. Members: Xiaokun Qin ’19 (SHA), Yennie Handika MMH ’19, Mengmeng Wang MMH ’19 and Yibing Sun ’19 (SHA)
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Team Entroterra proposes a lodging business in the Hudson Valley that would provide farm and culinary programming both on site and through partnerships with local farms. Members: Gemma Richardson MMH ’19, Nicole Cusenza MMH ’19, Anushae Feerasta MMH ’19
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Team MYSE Center is a coworking and accommodation space designed for fast moving young entrepreneurs and community driven travelers. Members: Ghali Jorio ’21 (SHA), Michael Zhang MBA ’20
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Team Speak2 Systems is focused on improving the well-being and quality of life of intubated patients within intensive care units worldwide. Members: Ori Belson MEng ’19, Timothy Buttigieg ’19 (SHA)
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Team Wandr Yondr introduces a platform that allows tourists to book amazing, safe experiences with locals on their Caribbean vacations. Members: Hugh Bullen ’19 (Eng), Gizem Kilic PhD ’21 (SHA), Mardochee Reveil ’18 (Eng)
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The Leland C. and Mary M. Pillsbury Institute for Hospitality Entrepreneurship would like to thank all of our participating teams for their hard work.
Watch the 2019 competition here!
Title Sponsor
Platinum Sponsors
Silver Sponsors
Team Campagna proposes an upscale casual farm-to-table restaurant concept featuring local and seasonal menu offerings. Members: Aida Scarpati, MMH ’18, Tamar Paikowsky, MMH ’18, Tiange Xiao, MMH ’18.
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Team Fitz aims to create a mobile application providing hotel guests access to an array of personal trainers and use of hotel fitness facilities. Members: Frank Baptista, MMH ’18, Samantha Cohn, MMH ’18, Sage Patel, MMH ’18, Margaux Verbeeck, MMH ’18, Richelle King, MMH ’18.
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Team Rewardzzz is developing the first universal rewards-exchange program through their app, acting as a digital wallet for rewards points. Members: Hunter Friedland ’19, Spencer Goldsmith, ’20 (A&S), Lorenzo Masias ’20.
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Team Synwell Consulting strives to provide senior living facilities with foodservice consulting to enhance personalized nutrition. Members: Hongwei Wang ’18 (Hum Ec), Yibing Sun ’19.
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Team YNot Bike introduces a revolutionary mode of transportation that allows users to call a bike using their phone and the bike will roll to them. Members: Will Murphy ’18 (Eng), Stephanie Forester ’19, Davis Bruch ’20, Sam Barnum ’19 (ILR).
Presentation coming soon.
Watch the 2017 competition here!
Watch the 2016 competition here!
Watch the 2015 competition here!
Are you a current student wondering how you can get involved?
Are you seeking information about how you or your company can become a sponsor?
Contact Michelle Ciaschi at mlc296@cornell.edu.