The global NYU InnoVention teams are headed for a showdown

Since officially launching on February 8, the 2021 NYU InnoVention Competition has provided non-stop excitement, as teams brainstormed their entrepreneurial ideas, honed their pitches, and worked on their prototypes. The work, though, was months in the making, as the NYU campuses in Abu Dhabi and Shanghai collaborated with NYU Tandon to organize the first truly global InnoVention. (This year marks the first time since InnoVention began more than a decade ago in Brooklyn that teams from three NYU sites are participating.) 

Now that regional finals are over, the excitement has reached unprecedented levels, with the global teams preparing to go head-to-head on April 28, from 9 am to 11 am EST.

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Representing NYU New York will be:

• Neurobotica  — developers of a teleoperation robotic system that enables remote healthcare and manufacturing
• Stan (formerly Trim)  — creators of a loyalty platform where fans can earn points for engaging with their favorite content, and redeem them for exclusive creator prizes, like a video shoutout
• Jade — a platform that provides information on the environmental and ethical impacts of various clothing brands to empower sustainability-conscious consumers to make informed clothing purchases and drive sales to eco-friendly clothing brands — was the third-place finisher and will serve as an alternate.

NYU Abu Dhabi competitors will be:

• Rehla — A gamified, interactive virtual field trips solution for school students
• Peer Minded — A peer-to-peer network for university students in the UAE consisting of an online learning platform that disseminates interactive and self-driven mental health support training that aims to improve student wellbeing

The Teams from NYU Shanghai are:

• Shepard — A DTMF (dual tone multi frequency)-based hardware solution that turns every elevator button digital
• Novate — A groundbreaking workflow management tool for home renovations

“If our experience with InnoVention here in New York is any indication, the judges in Abu Dhabi and Shanghai probably had a very hard time choosing their regional winners,” said Tandon Vice Dean for Research, Innovation and Entrepreneurship and Director of the Tandon Institute for Invention, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship (IIIE) Kurt Becker. “The creativity, determination, and entrepreneurial spirit on display at the regional finals were exceptionally impressive, so I can only imagine what will ensue on April 28.”

Becker’s fellow judge, Teal Willingham, Associate Director of NYU Tandon’s Data Future Lab, added, “ Everyone wants to be the next Acculis, Cresilon, Statespace, or Sunthetics, so this is a very highly motivated group of aspiring entrepreneurs. And with a grand prize of $25K in cash and access to many other perks at stake, InnoVention is serious business in more ways than one.”