SE Valley Times

Several student entrepreneurs from Arizona State University secured significant cash investments for their ventures during Demo Day, an event organized by the Venture Devils program. This initiative is part of the J. Orin Edson Entrepreneurship + Innovation Institute at ASU and supports students, staff, faculty, alumni, and community founders.

Uzoma Ndulue, a graduate student in industrial design, received $25,000 for her fashion company, Good Road Collection. Reflecting on her journey, Ndulue said, "Sometimes we feel like our dreams is not what people want to see." She emphasized the importance of having an African fashion brand and expressed gratitude to Tracy Lea for her encouragement. Lea responded positively: "I’m so glad you got past ‘Should I do this’ and you just did it."

Joan Bayega, a master's student in computer science, was awarded $10,000 from the Mastercard Foundation for DMB Translation Services Ltd. Meanwhile, a team behind Tradies, a social media platform including members Vansh Gupta, Erlang Liu, Edward Lee, Min Kim, and Riddhi Gondaliya won $15,000.

Micaiah Wiafe celebrated receiving $1,000 from the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Venture Challenge for CirculaNova. Seth Thorn was also recognized with funding from Canon Solutions America.

Lindiwe Mutungamiri earned $6,000 for her venture eighty-nine. Sandul Gangodagamage's Legion Platforms received $25,000 in funding; he noted his perseverance through challenges: "The most important thing in my journey is that I never gave up."

Edward Lee shared his experience with Tradies: “We didn’t want to talk to our mentors... But after a year I’m so proud to stand up on this stage.” Tristan Tierce’s Allergy Voyage secured $15,000 as well.

Other winners included ventures like 10 Shots of Soju and Illumishade among others across various funding tracks such as the Edson Student Entrepreneur Initiative and Mastercard Foundation Scholars Venture Challenge.

Overall more than $250,000 was distributed among participants who also gain access to mentorship and workspace through Venture Devils.