UMW Eagle Egg Pitch Competition Awards Cash to Hatch Student Entrepreneurs

April 30, 2026

Lisa Chinn Marvashti

Two men stand behind a podium holding an oversized check for $10,000. — UMW junior J.D. Nett (third from right) took top prize in last week’s Eagle Egg Pitch Competition, winning $10,000 to help bring his LAX Gear Dryer venture to life. Nine participants – individuals and teams – showed off their entrepreneurial savvy at the event, pitching business ideas in hopes of winning seed money. Photo by K Pearlman Photography.

University of Mary Washington junior J.D. Nett already knew he had at least one supporter of his proposed business venture – his mom.

His LAX Gear Dryer – a portable system for airing out sweaty athletic equipment, like the shoulder pads that fumed up the family car between practices in Leesburg, Virginia – now has more backing … and more seed money. Lots more.

Nett, No. 41 on the Eagles lacrosse team, walked away from last week’s Eagle Egg Pitch Competition with a first-place finish and $10,000 to help bring his entrepreneurial vision to life.

“Small awards create excitement. Larger awards create traction,” College of Business Dean Filiz Tabak said of the Shark Tank-like contest, where students present their ideas to a panel of experienced judges. “For many UMW students, even a few hundred dollars for prototyping can be transformational.”

Nine teams vied for top awards – second- and third-place finishers receive $2,000 and $1,000 respectively – during the three-hour annual event, which took place in the Hurley Convergence Center’s Digital Auditorium. Five successful professionals, all Mary Washington alumni, served as judges, providing feedback and posing questions following timed pitches for everything from a campus laundry service to charms that dress up your shoes.

Held since 2019, the pitch competition received a recent boost with a gift from Summit2Sea Consulting Founder Bryan Eckle ’96 that increased prize money while also providing prolonged support for up-and-coming endeavors. Last winter, teams submitted proposals for a chance to win $500 “concept awards” and weeks’ worth of mentorship from faculty and industry leaders.

A woman and a man sit side-by-side watching presentations

Two men shake hands while another looks on

Four men and one woman sit at a judges table

UMW College of Business Assistant Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship Lulu Huang watches presentations with Aloysious Kabonge during the Eagle Egg Pitch Competition. Kabonge took second place for his business idea, Proof Mode, a PDF system designed to assure professors that assignments were completed without the help of AI. Photo by K Pearlman Photography.

UMW alumni Micah Dalton ’96 (left) and Brett Christiansen ’95 (right), who served as judges for the Eagle Egg Pitch Competition, congratulate Maximilian McCusker, who took third place, winning $1,000 to fund his entrepreneurial idea for ZIP Rugby. Photo by K Pearlman Photography.

A panel consisting of all UMW alumni, (from left to right), Bryan Eckle ’96, Brett Christiansen ’95, Micah Dalton ’95, Justin Gerbereux ’97 and Catherine Saadat ’04, served as judges for the Eagle Egg Pitch Competition. Photo by K Pearlman Photography.

UMW College of Business Dean Filiz Tabak kicks off the Eagle Egg Pitch Competition, held in the Hurley Convergence Center’s Digital Auditorium. The event showcases the entrepreneurial lessons students learn in the classroom. Photo by K Pearlman Photography.

College of Business professors worked throughout the semester with additional students from UMW’s management and entrepreneurship major, and entrepreneurship minor programs. In the end, all the contenders came together to bring a variety of viable ventures to the pitch competition.

Eckle served as a judge, along with Brett Christiansen ’95, a partner with Dominion Design Build; Micah Dalton ’95, a partner with DLG Strategic; Justin Gerbereux ’97, who heads global fixed income research for T. Rowe Price; and Catherine Saadat ’04, a partner with Aprio.

Two girls stand behind a podium with microphones in their hands

A girl stands behind a podium and beside a boy talking on a microphone

A guy holding a microphone behind a podium in front of a screen that says "Hold Over."

Two girls sit side-by-side smiling for the camera

UMW students Jasmine Olvera (left) and April Paredes
present thier business concept, Mini Chef, at the Eagle Egg Pitch Competition. The traveling cooking class would pull 5- to 14-year-olds away from an overload of screen time to learn valuable culinary skills. Photo by K Pearlman.

UMW students Daniel Rojas and Prachi Dharams pitch their proposed business venture, Local Loop, an app designed to connect community members to local businesses, to judges at the Eagle Egg Pitch Competition. Photo by K Pearlman Photography.

UMW student Colby Haag presents his entrepreneurial concept, Hold Over, which aims to tap into the booming self-storage market by turning vacant buildings into flexible storage space. Photo by K Pearlman Photography.

UMW students Team Savannah Jacks (left) and Maddie Capellino pose for a photo during the Eagle Egg Pitch Competition. The two hope eventually to partner with laundromats on their business venture, Campus Clean, which allows college students to schedule a pick-up time and pay per pound for their clothes to be laundered. Photo by K Pearlman Photography.

They evaluated presentations on innovation, market impact, feasibility and execution, and headed into a closed-door deliberation before awarding the win to Nett and the LAX Gear Dryer he plans to market at summer tournaments. A solid sales plan made his proposal stand out, the judges said, along with his dryer-and-deodorizer product design, and his mention of GloveStix, a similar invention that grossed hundreds of thousands of dollars after winning support on the Shark Tank TV show.

Aloysious Kabonge took second place and $2,000 for Proof Mode, a time-stamped PDF system meant to assure professors that assignments were completed without AI assistance. Fellow UMW senior Maximilian McCusker came in third, winning $1,000 for ZIP Rugby, which aims to reduce the delivery time of socks and other rugby supplies generally shipped overseas.

A woman and three men sit around a table with papers in front of them

A close-up of a guy with a microphone in frront of a blurred-out crowd

Two girls stand behind a podium, while one speaks into a microphone

A boy and a girl sit in the front row of an audience that is clapping

Judges deliberate during the Eagle Egg Pitch Competition, which awarded a total of $13,000 to three top presenters. Photo by K Pearlman Photography.

Mary Washington alumnus Bryan Eckle ’96, part of the judges panel for the Eagle Egg Pitch Competition, questions a participant following their presentation. Eckle took UMW’s pitch competition, launched in 2019, to a whole new level with a recent gift that created the Eagle Egg Innovation Fund, allowing the winner to take home a whopping $10,000. Photo by K Pearlman Photography.

UMW students Naomi Knight (left) and Madison McCarty pitch their proposed business venture, Shelf Life, an app intended to reduce food waste by tracking expiration dates of purchased groceries, offering recipe suggestions and more. Photo by K Pearlman Photography.

UMW students Kyle Johnson and Monique Lipton watch others present their entrepreneurial ideas at the Eagle Egg Pitch Competition. They presented their proposed business venture, Cove Charm Co., selling decorative shoe charms, at the event as well. Photo by K Pearlman Photography.

Participants draw from courses like Foundations of Entrepreneurship, where they learn to launch a business in three weeks, and Entrepreneurial Venture Design, where they practice refining their pitches, said Assistant Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship Lulu Huang, who coordinates the competition.

“The program emphasizes learning entrepreneurship by taking actions, encouraging students to develop an entrepreneurial mindset through real-world experiences,” said Huang, who also serves as co-director of UMW’s Center for Economic Development. “The pitch competition builds on this approach by giving students the opportunity to present their business ideas to real investors.”

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