Each year, the Dempsey Startup Competition breaks records in multiple categories – number of participants, dollars awarded, number of mentors, etc. – and this year was no different.
The Dempsey Startup Competition, dedicated to developing young entrepreneurs and celebrating excellent business ideas, continues to grow and change lives each year. The competition has now reached:
This competition leaves a bigger mark year after year, and I’m deeply proud to be a part of it. Without further ado, let’s take a look at the winners of 2026!
The BioBead team, formed by a civil and environmental engineering PhD and a student in the MBA program at the University of Washington, took home the $25,000 grand prize. Motivated by food security and crop quality, these students put their heads together and developed a grand-prize-winning idea: pairing a novel soil probiotic with biodegradable technology.
Their approach utilizes drought-resistant hydrogels encasing critical nutrients that increase crop yields while decreasing or altogether eliminating the need for chemical fertilizers. Talk about an idea with huge global implications! They’re now developing partnerships with local growers to demonstrate the efficacy of their technology, specifically starting with lettuce crops.
I can’t wait to see how far this idea goes! Their win was well-deserved.
The second-place winners of a $15,000 prize, a University of Washington team of neuroscience, medicine, computer science, and electrical and computer engineering students, directed their focus towards the healthcare field. Specifically, they looked at providing a solution to a frequent failure to provide high-quality, timely CPR in emergencies.
How? A smart feedback patch that shares real-time data on compression depth and pace during a cardiac emergency.
The CPRight team’s work with CPR didn’t start with this technology. Their first endeavour was to create a female CPR dummy for training purposes to help address gender gaps in CPR care.
This idea isn’t only award-winning; it’s potentially life-saving. Congratulations on the win!
This team of students from the University of Idaho brought together expertise in data science, mathematics, finance, computer science, and medical services. Their goal? To close the visibility gap in orthopedic recovery. Their wearable sensor system transmits continuous, objective joint-movement data to physical therapists, clinicians, and professional athletes to aid in effective recovery.
In addition to the $10,000 third-place prize in the Dempsey Startup Competition, Kinnex Health took home the $2,500 Amazon Best Consumer Product Idea Prize. This technology is an example of data that makes real-life changes to everyday challenges.
Focusing on safety, the Alarmable team from the University of Washington developed a bracelet equipped with alarms that’s both fashionable and functional. They merged skill from computer engineering, computer science, finance, information systems, and entrepreneurship.
Where many personal safety tools are passive, bulky, and difficult to access, Alarmable’s bracelet is convenient and stylish. Their motto, “Always on you, always out for you,” perfectly sums up their technology.
Overall, $92,500 was awarded to student entrepreneurs at this year’s competition! This speaks to the immense talent of our upcoming generation.
I have to give huge kudos to all the students who were bold enough to bring their ideas to the table this year. Hopefully, every team that entered walked away with valuable insights from the experience.
Which brings me to my next round of thanks: to all the mentors and judges from the industry willing to share their time and expertise with all the students, some for many years in a row. Your dedication to mentoring our upcoming talent is greatly appreciated.
And, finally, to the organizers of the event: Yuko Oaku, Associate Director, Dempsey Startup Competition, Buerk Incubator and Accelerator, Amy Sallin, Director of the Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship, and their entire teams. Your organization, commitment, and passion for this competition cannot be overstated. It just gets better year after year!
.jpg)
