It’s hard to believe that another successful Dempsey Startup Competition came and went in the spring of 2025. The winning teams’ ideas were so innovative that I wanted to give them the congratulations they deserve, just in time to look ahead to the 2026 competition!
For those who need a refresher, the Dempsey Startup Competition is run by the Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship. I must take this opportunity to give Yuko Oaku, Amy Sallin, and their marvellous team a shout-out here. They work year-round to bring this competition to life and provide students, mentors, and judges alike with a great experience.
The goal of this competition is to provide student entrepreneurs with a real-life opportunity to pitch their ideas, receive mentorship, and potentially receive funding to bring their companies to life. Each round of the competition takes students through the entire process of developing an idea, building a team, writing a business plan, putting together a pitch and presenting it to investors.
This year, a record-breaking 174 students participated! So, without further ado, here are the fantastic student companies that took home prizes in 2025.
The Voltair team is made up of students in electrical and computer engineering, computer science, finance, information systems, and psychology at the University of Washington. They created autonomous drones that charge directly on power lines, enabling utility companies to inspect for maintenance issues and potential fire hazards.
Voltair became the very first team to win both the $25K Dempsey Startup BECU Grand Prize and the $15,000 Environmental Challenge Grand Prize in the same year! In addition, they won the $5,000 Glympse Internet of Things Prize.
The students behind Biosyft Technologies are in the pharmacology, MBA, neuroscience, computer science, and biochemistry programs at UW. Together, they created an AI-driven technology that automates and standardizes the classification of animal behavior in drug testing. This removes the obstacle of human error while improving the speed and accuracy of testing.
The Biosyft Technologies team took home the $15,000 WRF Capitol second-place prize at the Dempsey Startup Competition. They also went on to win the $2,500 Holland & Knight Best Health and Wellness Impact Idea Prize.
The UES team, a combination of engineering and business administration students, travelled from Eastern Washington University to pitch their idea. Together, they created a single-step plastic waste recycler named PolyForge that converts shredded plastic and pellets into filament in real time, seamlessly shaping the material for 3D printing or spooling it for future use.
The timing of this idea was particularly fortuitous, as their innovation aligns with a period when the 3D printing market is growing rapidly.
The UES team took home the iSpot.tv 3rd place prize of $10,000, as well as the $2,500 David & Patty Helberg Smukowski Best Sustainable Business Prize.
The Revyn Medical Technologies team visited from the University of Victoria, comprised of students in biomedical engineering and mechanical engineering. Revyn, a medical device company, pitched an alternative to the vaginal speculum, a tool created 150 years ago. Their updated device was designed with patient comfort in mind.
They took home the $7,500 Friends of the Dempsey Startup fourth-place prize and the $2,500 Saara Romu Community Impact Prize, an award that recognizes ventures that have a direct impact on the lives of women and other underserved communities.
Beyond the top four, six additional Best Idea and Big Picture prizes were awarded:
You can learn more about each of these winning ideas in the Foster School of Business’s blog!
Thank you to all of the hundreds of organizers, volunteers, mentors, advisors, and judges who make this event such a valuable experience. Your time, expertise and commitment to entrepreneurship are an inspiration!
And, finally, congratulations to all of the teams who pitched their ideas at the 2025 Dempsey Startup Competition. Even if you didn’t take home any prize money, you walked away a winner. Receiving feedback from real professionals in the investment industry is an unmatched opportunity for students looking ahead to a future in entrepreneurship.
I look forward to keeping an eye on some of these fantastic companies as they make a difference in the world!
