10th Annual SEC Student Pitch Competition Held at Vanderbilt University

Vanderbilt University hosted the 10th Annual Southeastern Conference Student Pitch Competition on October 16.
The 2025 competition is presented by the SEC and hosted by the Owen School of Management, Vanderbilt University Athletics, and Vanderbilt I-Corps. Additional support for Vanderbilt I-Corps programming in the School of Engineering was recently provided by alumnus Chris Phipps (Eng ‘80) to further recruit and support aspiring entrepreneurs and innovators.

Congratulations to Bootcamp team, PRLZ Packaging, for representing the Big Blue Nation University of Kentucky, Gatton College of Business and Economics at the SEC Student Pitch Competition in Nashville! Their startup seeks to bring new packaging innovations into the cannabis industry, and if you would like to know more, please connect with the founders - Avery Nelson, Venky Suryadevara, Eli Gersony

"We are incredibly proud of this team, their hard work, and are excited to see their business continue to evolve." - Warren Nash

“There is tremendous, undiscovered innovation and entrepreneurial activity across the Mid-South and Southeastern region of America,” said Charleson Bell, director of the NSF Mid-South I-Corps Hub, national chair of the NSF National Innovation Network, and Vanderbilt’s outgoing SEC Entrepreneurship Directors Council representative. “The business pitches from these young innovators, while only a sliver of a fraction of the impact that is currently being created within our region, gives us a glimpse into the future these young leaders of commerce will create.”