New Venture Competition

Since its inception in 1999, Technology Management's New Venture Competition (NVC) has continued to grow in popularity and quality and become an important and transformational educational experience at UC Santa Barbara. NVC is unique relative to many university business competitions in that it is open to students of all majors and levels at UCSB, and it encourages participants to complete a rigorous eight-month program to develop, refine, and validate their businesses. The entire process involves a variety of workshops, and seminars led by an outstanding and committed group of faculty and industry mentors.

2025 New Venture Finalists

Assistive Tech
Through the use of VR headsets, Assistive Tech offers a non-invasive biomarker test that detects Alzheimer’s risk up to 15 years before symptoms appear. Earlier diagnoses enables treatment options that improve patient outcomes and quality of life. 

Copona
Copona is an augmented reality retail solution that enhances in-store shopping using smart glasses. Copona provides consumers in-store guidance and a more informed shopping experience. For retailers, Copona reduces staffing burdens and delivers powerful analytics through a dashboard that tracks customer behavior and product interaction.

JaffX
JAFFX is an open-source guitar pedal that promotes community-driven development and sharing of digital audio effects. We offer a digital guitar effects device that is affordable and easy to use right out of the box, yet also infinitely extensible through our software ecosystem.

Masterminding
Masterminding is a teacher AI Agent for High Schools that streamlines lesson planning by transforming hours of work into a rapid, intuitive process. It generates personalized learning paths—customized quizzes and adaptive content—for each student based on their individual strengths and weaknesses, while providing teachers with real-time analytics to enhance classroom outcomes.

NetSplit
NetSplit is a software solution that intelligently manages and monitors internet performance for shared facilities. Our solution provides complete control over the network with innovative ‘smart-sharing’ technology that allows the user to dynamically allocate bandwidth based on device priority. NetSplit saves money for businesses while enhancing internet performance.

RazeMath  
RazeMath revolutionizes math education by using AI to break down complex problems into personalized, step-by-step solutions tailored to each student's unique needs. It dismantles educational barriers by transforming standard instruction into a customized learning journey that directly addresses individual challenges.

The New Venture Finals winners are...

1st Place - RazeMath
2nd Place - JAFFX
3rd Place - MasterMinding
Honorable Mentions - NetSplit, Copona, Assistive Tech
People's Choice Award - Assistive Tech
NV Fair Runner Up - Spotlight NIL
Most Improved - Resa
Impact Award - Resilireef

Congratulations to all our participants!