Semifinalists named in 2013 Harvard College Innovation Challenge

Twenty teams have been named as semifinalists in the 2013 Harvard College Innovation (I³) Challenge, a competition in which student entrepreneurs, inventors, designers, engineers, and social innovators vie for a share of $50,000 and an office space in Harvard Square.

Sixty-four teams applied to the I³ Challenge this year, and the semifinalists were selected by a panel of industry experts, venture capitalists, and entrepreneurs.

At this point, the teams have all spent at least six months creating project proposals, meeting with Harvard mentors and advisers, attending workshops on marketing, venture capital, or the legal aspects of entrepreneurship, and perfecting their pitches. Some of the projects have grown out of assignments for courses like CS 50 (Intro to Computer Programming I), Soc 159 (Social Entrepreneurship), or ES 139 (Innovation in Science & Engineering).

All 20 teams will have the opportunity to demonstrate and discuss their projects at the Harvard Student Start-up Showcase on April 4 from 6 to 8 p.m., at the Charles Hotel in Harvard Square. That night, winners in seven categories will be announced, and the successful teams will then go on to develop their projects further with the prize grants and Harvard's many resources for student entrepreneurship and innovation.

Click on a team below to read about each project—or, to watch the students' video pitches, click here.

Commercial Track

myLINGO
Get It Together
CircadianShift
Downtime App
HarvardQ
Theratech
Memozoid
@tlas
Butucu
FriendJam

Social Track

Project Lede
Sawubona
Kartis
Geyser Flicker
College Connect
Labs on Wheels
Indi Mentoring

Public Track

OpportunitySpace
TextMED
Project Green Campus

The I³ Challenge is a project of the Technology and Entrepreneurship Center at Harvard, which is based at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.