AI Tool That Aims for Viral Clips Takes Top Honors at Pitch Dingman
Terps Awarded More Than $170K in Prizes at Annual Entrepreneurship Competition
By John Tucker
Takiyah Roberts ’25 makes her case to the judges at the 10th Pitch Dingman Competition. Her nonprofit, Dare to Dream, took the $15,000 prize in the event's Main Street Track.
Photos by Stephanie S. Cordle
Aayush Gupta ’25 was getting annoyed when his roommate, a variety streamer, spent hours editing highlights from the various games he played online into social media content.
“I wanted to solve the problem because he was spending his weekend making clips instead of hanging out with us,” said Gupta, a computer science major with a background in machine learning research.
Gupta turned that idea into a business called Saved, and on Thursday inside a packed Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center, he accepted the top award of $25,000 at the University of Maryland’s 2025 Pitch Dingman Competition. There, entrepreneurial students and alumni presented their ventures to judges “Shark Tank”-style in hopes of taking home a share of more than $170,000 in prizes, a record.
Gupta’s product uses artificial intelligence to cut livestreams into made-for-social-media clips, capturing key content in real time and packaging it for virality. He tested it on UMD’s esports team quickly causing its online video views to skyrocket, he said.
The venture helps creators earn sponsorships, said Gupta, who took the award in the competition’s David and Robyn Quattrone Tech Track, open to students who founded scalable, tech or tech-enabled ventures that already have traction through metrics like revenue, users, investments and grants.
The Dingman competition, in its 10th year, is hosted by the Dingman-Lamone Center for Entrepreneurship at the Robert H. Smith School of Business. This year’s winners, selected from a pool of 97 applications and competing in five tracks, will receive venture-development resources and professional coaching in addition to prize money.
“This event is the culmination of everything we do,” said Mike Hoffmeyer, managing director of the center. “We call this the fearless future of entrepreneurship. The participants are the best of the best, and it’s an amazing show.”
Thursday’s event also celebrated the late Rudolph P. “Rudy” Lamone, former Smith School dean, pioneer of entrepreneurship and founder of the Dingman-Lamone Center, whose name was added to the title in January following a $3.8 million gift from his widow, Linda Lamone.
“He was a man whose vision and dedication helped make Maryland a more innovative and entrepreneurial state,” Maryland Department of Commerce Deputy Secretary Ricardo Benn ’83 remarked to the crowd.
David Shukhin ’27 (green and white shirt), of Tailored, and Aayush Gupta ’25 (white shirt), of Saved congratulate each other after Gupta's company won the David and Robyn Quattrone Tech Track.
In addition to the Quattrone Tech Track, this year’s tracks and top winners were:
Dare to Dream, founded by Takiyah Roberts ’25, won the $15,000 prize in the Main Street Track, for small businesses with revenue and initial customers that aren’t necessarily focused on scale. The nonprofit is dedicated to empowering young people in marginalized communities through entrepreneurship, with initiatives like after-school programs, mentorship and an international project in Ecuador.
Plan Forward, founded by Anne Spear ’19, won the $20,000 prize in the Alumni Tech Track, for tech and software ventures with traction in the form of early customers and/or a testing prototype, with less than $100,000 in annual recurring revenue. The platform for K-12 administrators transforms raw data into insights by leveraging educational frameworks and AI models, helping schools and districts make informed decisions and tell stories behind the data.
3708 Spirits, whose founders include Tony Ajayi ’10, won the $15,000 prize in the Alumni Main Street Track, for non-tech small businesses that have revenue and initial customers and have generated at least $1,000 in lifetime revenue and less than $100,000 in annual recurring revenue. The company centers on an upscale, locally Black-owned agave spirit brand.
Spotter, founded by Kevin Kyle ’27, won the $4,500 prize for the Joan and Chester Luby Idea Track, for early ventures and/or ideas to change the world. The company’s AI-powered mobile app analyzes and provides real-time feedback for gym workouts.
The contest featured dozens of judges comprising company founders, investors and entrepreneurs, most of whom are UMD alums.
Following is the complete list of winners.
Track 1: David and Robyn Quattrone Tech Track
Grand Prize ($25,000): Saved
2nd Place ($10,000): Tailored
3rd Place ($5,000): BetterU
Audience Choice ($1,000): Saved
Tom's Industrious Entrepreneur Award ($1,000): Saved
Track 2: Main Street Track
Grand Prize ($15,000): Dare to Dream
2nd Place ($8,000): Energy by Evelyn
3rd Place ($5,000): Papa Suya
Audience Choice ($1,000): Dare to Dream
Track 3: Joan and Chester Luby Idea Track
Best in Show ($4,500): Spotter
Best in Customer Discovery ($3,000): Alcclear
Best in Product-Solution Fit ($3,000): Podfolio
Best in Go-To-Market Strategy ($3,000): Educate
Best in Innovative Solution ($3,000): Dancify
Best in Sustainability ($3,000): Bluuzone Bottles
Best in Social Impact ($3,000): Breaking The Ice
Elevate! ($3,000): AkereRose Glove
Elevate! ($3,000): Sit’n Sweet
Terp Town Audience Choice ($1,000): Alcclear
Track 4: Alumni Tech Track
Grand Prize ($20,000): Plan Forward
2nd Place ($15,000): Cursive
Track 5: Alumni Main Street Track
Grand Prize ($15,000): 3708 Spirits
2nd Place ($10,000): Green Mechanics Benefit
Alumni Audience Choice ($1,000): 3708 Spirits
Terp Town Audience Choice ($1,000): M’Elyon Organics
Each semifinalist won a $500 prize. See list here.
Pitch Dingman's judges and some of the winners pose for a group picture after the competition.
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