Student teams from the University of Arkansas and John Brown University dominated the 2022 Arkansas Governor’s Cup business-plan competition on Thursday.
Winners were the Ascend team from John Brown University in the small business division, GammaVet from the University of Arkansas in the high growth/technology division, Ascend from JBU in the elevator pitch competition small business division’s elevator pitch competition and the UA’s Horizon Health Solutions in the high growth/tech elevator pitch competition.
Other winners included the UA’s Bento and Orange Otter Toys, which took second and third places, respectively, in the small business division. Two more UA teams, CiphrX Biotechnologies and SHOCK, took second and third, respectively, in the high growth/tech division.
Other finalist teams were ARLawn from Arkansas State University, Kopi Koffee Company from the UA and Limitless Fitness from Central Baptist College/Ouachita Baptist University in the small business division, as well as Suelo LLC from the UA and Veza from JBU in the high growth/tech division.
Overall, UA teams, accustomed to dominating the competition, took six of the eight top awards. Thirty-one teams representing 10 Arkansas colleges and universities participated in the annual competition with 12 finalists invited to pitch their products at the awards ceremony.
The Governor’s Cup is held annually and produced by Arkansas Capital Corporation. This year’s awards ceremony was held in person for the first time in two years and in Northwest Arkansas for the first time.
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