Whitman’s Fall 2024 Capstone Competition Showcases How Entrepreneurial Ideas Come to Life

The excitement was palpable throughout the Whitman School of Management on December 6 as members of the Class of 2025 presented their Capstone projects representing the culmination of four years of business school education. Fifty-nine teams participated, but, in the end, it was team LaceMate that took first place in the Fall 2024 Capstone competition.

Each semester, the Capstone course is taught by faculty from Whitman’s Department of Entrepreneurship and Emerging Enterprises (EEE), who challenge teams of students to create a concept for a new service, product or business model that is practical, executable, and introduces a novel approach to creating economic value. The idea must be scalable and able to achieve $3 million in gross revenue within the first five years and investment from an outside source that exceeds $100,000.

Several dozen alumni, faculty and other entrepreneurial professionals judged the 59 teams who pitched in the first round. These judges whittled the slate down to 15 finalists, each of which gave 3-minute business pitches in front of a new panel of judges and all of the other capstone students. Scores from these judges were combined with the results from audience voting and from judges who completed a full review of their business plans, to determine the Top 5. The large on-campus audience was bolstered by over 370 online viewers, leading to over 1450 audience votes.

LaceMate Offers Physical Security and Location With Every Step

LaceMate team members James Crane ’25 Juliette Daigneault ’25, Arismendy Lantigua ’25, Rylin McGivney ’25  and Brshna Sultan ’25  were presented with first place by Interim Dean Alex McKelvie along with Professor of Entrepreneurial Practice Ken Walsleben.

LaceMate showcased a unique opportunity to revolutionize safety through wearable technology. The device slides onto the top of a laced shoe with a cover that snaps in place to keep tied laces secure. An embedded GPS connects through the LaceMate app, offering real-time location monitoring directly to a smartphone. Users gain immediate physical security and broader location awareness, with a premium subscription option for enhanced features. Parents and caregivers face challenges in ensuring the safety and whereabouts of children or dependents, while athletes struggle with untied shoelaces during activity. The demand for reliable, secure, and non-invasive safety and location tracking solutions continues to grow as current market options suffer from platform restrictions, heavy subscription fees or the absence of integrated safety features. This presented an opportunity for LaceMate to address this demand in a single device.

 James Crane ’25 noted that "Each of LaceMate team member’s unique knowledge and experience, combined with our shared passion for the product, allowed us to turn creative ideas into a winning solution. By leveraging our strengths and embracing collaboration, we stayed focused and transformed our vision into reality.” Walsleben was LaceMate’s faculty mentor throughout the project this semester.

EM-Patch Streamlines Vital Health Communication During Emergency Calls

Second place went to EM-Patch, led by teammates Ty Hashemi ’25,  Anna Heron ’25, Callan Hoff ’25, Ellie Sternschein ’24 and Annette Yi ’25. EM-Patch highlighted the need for a product to deal with emergency medical calls, as time can be the difference between life and death for injured patients. The team emphasized that “critical moments require critical communication,” as the most valuable asset of EM-Patch Corp. Two-hundred-and-forty million of these calls were made to 911 in the United States in 2023. While many companies sell products that make emergency medical calls more efficient and effective in this essential industry’s market, EM-Patch has a unique a mission to streamline the vital communication of emergency calls through advanced yet simple technology.

The EM-Patch is a single-use sticker with vital-tracking technology created to resolve these issues. Non-EMS personnel, such as firefighters and police officers, will be equipped with EM-Patch. When removed from its sticker pad, an emergency signal is sent to the on-scene department’s EMS. Once placed on a patient by a first responder, EM-Patch will continuously transmit vitals to the EMS. These stickers will help simplify the jobs of firefighters and police officers when faced with complicated medical situations, especially if that responding personnel is not medically trained. EMS staff are now able to identify present issues and the condition of the patient before seeing them with their own eyes. EM-Patch’s faculty mentor was also Walsleben.

"My team and I are overjoyed to have placed second in the Capstone Competition! This achievement is a testament to the hard work, creativity, and collaboration of Team EM-Patch, and we couldn’t have done it without the incredible support of our amazing professor, Ken Walsleben. Winning second place was such an exhilarating moment. It’s proof that every second counts!” says team member Ellie Sternschein ‘25.

EZReturnz Enables a Timesaving, Seamless Return Process

Third place was presented to EZReturnz. The team proposed a product called EZReturnz, which is an on-demand package return service that simplifies the inconvenient and time-consuming process of returning items purchased online. Through a user-friendly mobile app, customers can schedule pickups, track packages in real-time and enjoy a seamless return experience. Team members included Julia Rose Moreno ’25, Jackson Craig Rover ’25, Abigail Lauren Savner ’25,  Xiangfu Ye ’25 and Jenna Morgan Zamkov ’25.

Jenna Zamkov ‘25 shared their excitement by noting, “Winning third place in the Capstone competition was an incredibly special moment for us. It was a true testament to the dedication and hard work we put in all semester, and it showed how our collaboration and perseverance could turn challenges into success!” EZReturnz’s faculty mentor was Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship David Park.

Honorable mentions were presented to the Smart Guard Apparel team of Robert Hartmann ’25, Mario Antonio Escobar Jr. ’25, Katherine Garson ’25, Leah Saulnier ’25, Aryan Trivedi ’25 and the True Gaze, team of Alanna Mandel ’25,  Joseph Biondolillo ’25, Ilana Lefkowitz ’25, Catie Stueck ’25 and Abdull Shirwa ’25.

“Capstone is one of the most anticipated days on campus at the Whitman School, as we see entrepreneurial ideas come to life through the ideation, hard work and concepts that our business students learn over their four years here,” says McKelvie. “I am so proud of the work of our senior Capstone students and the commitment of the faculty of the Entrepreneurship and Emerging Enterprises department, as well as staff, alumni and other partners, who mentor and support them over this semester-long process. Capstone is a tangible display of the entrepreneurial enthusiasm that can be found throughout the Whitman School on any given day, and I congratulate our Capstone winners, as well as all the students who competed in the Fall 2024 competition.”