Colgate University’s Arts, Creativity and Innovation Weekend brought together students, alumni and faculty for a series of events centered on creativity and impact on Friday, April 10, and Saturday, April 11. Among the highlights was the 14th annual Thought Into Action (TIA) Entrepreneur Showcase, held on Saturday in James C. Colgate Hall. The event featured student ventures at various stages of development, from early ideas to fully realized businesses, all united by a common goal of solving real-world problems.
The showcase included both a pitch competition and a tabling fair, creating space for students to present their work in different formats. Four ventures were selected to pitch on stage for a top prize of $10,000, while more than two dozen others participated in the tabling portion, competing for audience votes through the “Iggy” system. Attendees were given four tokens to distribute among their favorite ventures, allowing them to directly support student innovation.
This year’s pitch competition featured four ventures with distinct missions but a shared focus on innovation. Echoscape, presented by Colgate ITS staff member Mike Ahearn Wilcox, explored therapeutic sound and immersive technology. MajiSafi Solutions, presented by sophomore Agnes Ndanu, addressed water scarcity in Kenya through sustainable, solar-powered wells. Hatch Pay, presented by seniors Fletcher Goodell, Anders Larson and Jack Tapper, introduced a digital wallet designed to automatically select the best payment method for each transaction. PLNT, presented by senior Porter Comstock, focused on modernizing the plant nursery industry through artificial intelligence and robotics.
For many participants, the event was the culmination of months of work. Director of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Carolyn Strobel-Larson emphasized the significance of seeing these projects come to life.
“Seeing everything come together for these four teams on stage was really incredible,” Strobel-Larson said. “They’ve spent months now working on their pitches, refining their business models and thinking about how they tell that story, and now really seeing it all come together feels so rewarding and is really inspiring.”
PLNT ultimately won the $10,000 top prize. Founded by Comstock, the venture focuses on modernizing plant nurseries using artificial intelligence and drone technology. Comstock developed the idea after encountering inefficiencies firsthand while working on a landscaping project.
“I thought I could go online and have plants delivered, but that wasn’t the case. I spent hours calling and emailing nurseries, and more often than not, they wouldn’t even know what they had in stock,” Comstock said.
The experience led him to identify a larger issue within the industry. Nurseries often manage inventory spread across large areas of land without reliable tracking systems, making it difficult to operate efficiently.
“Imagine having your assets spread across hundreds of acres with no way to track them,” Comstock said. “How can you make sound business decisions if you don’t know what you have?”
PLNT addresses this problem by using aerial imagery and machine learning to count and eventually identify plant species. Comstock explained that his long-term vision includes integrating more advanced features into the platform.
“We want to develop a system where nurseries can access real-time data about their inventory and eventually expand into plant health and management tools,” Comstock said.
For Comstock, participating in the TIA Showcase was about more than just presenting his venture. It was also an opportunity to connect with potential investors and mentors and to develop his own skills as an entrepreneur.
“I think a big part of this is learning how to communicate your vision and bring people into that idea,” Comstock said.
While the pitch competition dominated the main stage, the tabling portion of the event offered a more informal setting for students to share their work. Ventures ranged from technology platforms to community-based initiatives, each reflecting a different approach to innovation.
First-year Norah Wright, who works with Hami-Down, an online platform designed to facilitate buying and selling within the Colgate community, highlighted the importance of showcasing tangible results.
“It’s really awesome to showcase the numbers that we have, especially from our sales. We’ve had two sales already this semester, and our most recent one brought in over $1,300,” Wright said.
Beyond the numbers, Wright discussed the broader mission behind the project.
“The goal is really to strengthen the Colgate-to-Colgate connection and create something that benefits both sellers and buyers within the community,” she said.
For attendees, the showcase provided a chance to engage directly with student creators and gain insight into the entrepreneurial process. First-year Isabella Jardine, who attended the event, noted the value of having access to these on-campus opportunities.
“I think it’s really cool that students are able to launch startups while they’re still in college,” Jardine said. “Being in an environment that supports that kind of work and gives students the resources to pursue their ideas is really valuable.”
She also pointed to the diversity of experiences represented at the event, particularly during the panel discussion featuring this year’s judges.
“I really liked the panelists. It’s interesting to see people come from so many different paths and still find success, while also staying connected to the Colgate community,” Jardine said.
That sense of connection was a consistent theme throughout the showcase. Whether through mentorship, funding or simply sharing ideas, the event created opportunities for collaboration across different groups within the Colgate network.
Strobel-Larson emphasized that fostering this kind of environment is central to the mission of the Thought Into Action program.
“Our goal is helping students take any kind of idea and turn that into a reality. Whether it’s a business, a nonprofit or a campus initiative, we want to support students in making an impact,” Strobel-Larson said.
She added that Colgate students are particularly motivated to engage with challenges beyond the classroom.
“Students here are driven to solve the problems they see in the world around them, and this is a space where they can explore those ideas and bring them to life,” Strobel-Larson said.
The event reflected Colgate’s growing entrepreneurial culture and the breadth of student innovation across campus.
