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UT undergraduate student Brett McQuaide was awarded $10,000 in seed money to reach the beta testing phase for his new “Stir Stick” business product at the Spartan Accelerator program last Friday. The item, which features thermochromic ink, lets people know when their cup of coffee is at the perfect drinkable temperature.McQuaide was one of four UT student-run business ventures that had the opportunity to present their business plans to local entrepreneurial judges — all competing for a chance to gain $25,000 in no-payback seed capital. The students presented formal investor business plans. Judges from Sherloq Solutions, Florida Funders and Atlantic Merchant Capital Investors were astounded by the quality of the presentation and businesses. “Everybody’s materials were superb,” said Atlantic Merchant Capital Investors’ judge Douglas Licker. “This is institutional quality in both its content and the information it conveys.” The competition, which is part of the Spartan Accelerator program, was held in UT’s Sykes College of Business. The Spartan Accelerator program is designed to help current students and recent alumni grow their business ideas. Each semester students and alumni can apply for this program, which partners with Hillsborough County and Sherloq Solutions to fund entrepreneurial ventures that are scalable and planned to operate in Tampa Bay. The four student businesses were selected from a group of 10 unique scalable businesses to be launched in Tampa Bay. The other teams receiving funding include:
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