---
title: Mental Health Resource App Goes From Win to Win at 2022 Pitch Dingman Competition
date: 2022-04-28T05:30:00-04:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://today.umd.edu/mental-health-resource-app-goes-from-win-to-win-at-2022-pitch-dingman-competition"
section: Articles
---
# Mental Health Resource App Goes From Win to Win at 2022 Pitch Dingman Competition

*April 28, 2022* — by [Pablo Suarez](/author/pablo-suarez)


> Student Startup Aims to Reduce Clinician Stress, Burnout

*DSC 1715 1920x1080 — Sanketh Andhavarapu ’23, one of the founders of Vitalize, gives an overview of his grand prize-winning startup Tuesday at the 2022 Pitch Dingman Competition. Below, the the top three teams line up with their checks.*

While health care worker burnout intensifies as a public health crisis during the COVID pandemic, a potential tech-based antidote helped two Terps walk away with the $30,000 grand prize at the 2022 Pitch Dingman Competition on Tuesday—just five days after winning the University of Maryland’s 2022 Do Good Challenge with the same app.

Sanketh Andhavarapu ’23, a neuroeconomics/individual studies and biological sciences major, and Veeraj Shah ’21, a health policy and technology/individual studies and biological sciences major, were honored for their startup, Vitalize. The clinician-centric app and web-based dashboard is designed to help hospital leadership reduce employee burnout and promote mental and psychological well-being.

Launched in January 2020, the company participated in Terp Startup, a summer accelerator program for student entrepreneurs hosted by the [Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship](https://www.rhsmith.umd.edu/centers/dingman-center). In addition to winning the $5,000 venture track category at the Do Good Institute’s 10th annual Challenge on April 21, it also took home the $1,000 audience choice prize during Tuesday’s event.

“Vitalize isn’t just a startup, it’s a mission,” said Andhavarapu. “We exist to restore the purpose and joy and improve the well-being of health care workers globally so that millions of patients get the best care possible.”

Hosted by the [Dingman Center](https://www.rhsmith.umd.edu/centers/dingman-center) at the Robert H. Smith School of Business and now in its 12th year, the competition returned to an in-person format at the Adele H. Stamp Student Union for the first time since 2019. The final round saw six student teams from a pool of 60 applicants compete for a share of $80,000 in startup funding.

“Pitch Dingman Competition is our signature program because it attracts the most talented student entrepreneurs across campus,” said Holly DeArmond, managing director of the Dingman Center. “These are the student founders who are putting in the hard work and the skills building to make their idea a reality. The competition process and the funding will help them immensely.”

At the semifinals earlier this month, teams across three competition tracks pitched their business models and growth strategies to a panel of UMD alum and entrepreneurs to make it to the final showdown on Tuesday evening.


*Four students hold three giant checks at Pitch Dingman Competition*




**Topics:** [Campus & Community](https://today.umd.edu/tags/campus-community)


**Tags:** [Academic Competitions](https://today.umd.edu/topic/academic-competitions), [Mental Health](https://today.umd.edu/topic/mental-health)


**Units:** [Robert H. Smith School of Business](https://today.umd.edu/topic/robert-h-smith-school-business)