UPIKE announces winner of fifth Startup Challenge Business Plan Competition

The University of Pikesville recently announced the winners of its fifth Startup Challenge Business Plan Competition.
The contest is open to Eastern Kentucky residents and allows them a chance to compete for $10,000 in prize money. The competition tasks participants with developing written business plans for ventures in conceptual, seed or startup stages.
This year's first-place winner, which received $5,000 in prize money, was a team of UPIKE students named CitrOHa that developed an organic feed supplement for dogs with osteoarthritis.
“UPIKE’s Startup Challenge was an excellent experience offering East Kentuckians a chance to showcase their talents while gaining confidence to move forward with their ideas,” Christin Justice, who was on the CitrOHa team, said in a news release. “UPIKE is serving their community by fostering an entrepreneurial spirit in the region.”
Kentucky Innovation Network Pikesville Office Director David Snow, the event's founder and an associate professor of business, as well as the director of the Small Business Institute program and business competitions, said that interest grows and plans keep improving each time the competition is held.
"It is exciting to see the current entrepreneurial activity in Eastern Kentucky and to play a role in supporting these efforts,” he said.