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SwatTank

SwatTank 2022 Finalists

SwatTank is an idea competition, guiding students through the process of conceptualization to pitch. Students start with a rough idea or product and develop it with workshops, mentorship, and collaboration. The students with the most well-developed ideas are invited to pitch their product to a panel of judges in the SwatTank finals. Teams are assessed on overall business idea, creativity, and quality of their pitch and are rewarded through cash prizes. 

Important Dates

  • Application Opens: Mon, Jan 22
  • Find Your Founder Events:  Wed, Jan 25, Thurs, Jan 31 and Fri, Feb 9- 12:30-1:30
  • Applications Due: Thurs, Feb 15
  • Decisions Sent: Tues, Feb 20
  • Bootcamp 1: Sat, Feb 24, 10-4 and Sun, Feb 25, 9-12
  • Bootcamp 2: Sat, April 6, 10-4 and Sun, April 7, 9-12
  • Final: Fri, April 19

Find Your Founder

Do you have a great idea for SwatTank but haven't found the right collaborators? Are you interested in learning how to start a venture but don't have an idea? You're in the right place! Come to a Find Your Founder event (Jan 25, Jan 31 and Feb 9, 12:30-1:30), grab some lunch, learn about SwatTank, and connect with your peers to form a team. Register here

If you can't make it to an event or just want to work on meeting your future collaborators anytime, fill out our Find Your Founder form with your information, and explore our Founder Database to find other interested students. If you see someone you might want to collaborate with, reach out!

Apply

Must apply as a team (3-5 students) and a preliminary idea. Application will open on Jan 22 and will be closed on Feb 15. Applicants must agree to participate in both boot camps if accepted. APPY HERE

Boot Camps

Two mandatory bootcamps:

  • Boot Camp 1: Developing your concept- Sat, Feb 24, 10am-4pm and Sun, Feb 25, 9am-12pm
  • Boot Camp 2: Implementing/pitching your concept- Sat, April 6, 10am-4pm and Sun, April 7, 9am-12pm

Participants will engage in two bootcamps designed to transform them from innovators into entrepreneurs. Teams will apply entrepreneurial tools, lessons, and perspectives to their idea and take it to the next level. Students will leave with a tool kit to critically examine and shape ideas into enterprises. 

The SwatTank Boot Camps are designed and facilitated by Jay Friedlander, a professor/entrepreneur who has over a decade of experience working with students from across the curriculum to transform their ideas into enterprises. As the Sharpe-McNally Chair of Green and Socially Responsible Business at College of the Atlantic, Jay founded one of the earliest enterprise accelerators providing academic credit to liberal arts students – the Diana Davis Spencer Hatchery. His experience includes consulting with Fortune 100 companies and major nonprofits; helping raise over $6 million for a natural foods venture; demystifying business concepts for 100s of entrepreneurs so they can bring their passion to life.  

Mentorship

Mentorship is a critical part of SwatTank. Jay Friedlander will be available to mentor all teams. Additionally, students are matched with an alumni mentor relevant to their idea to provide guidance and support as they work through this process. Their mentor is meant to be a resource to talk through ideas and questions, connect with someone in a professional context, and provide experience necessary to help a new business. We are thankful and proud that our mentors are each experienced, knowledgeable, and care tremendously about helping students!  

Judging

Teams of students will be assessed on a set of criteria specific to ideation and creativity. Teams who complete the boot camps will compete at the SwatTank Finals in April where they will give a more developed idea and project presentation. The general judging criteria are as following:

  • Overall concept of the business 
  • Creativity
  • The Pitch: Verbal delivery + visual design of presentation 
  • Depth of understanding of market and customer segments

Prizes

SwatTank Prize money is a step towards making student ventures a reality! The prize will be split between all members of the team. At the SwatTank Finals, audience members will also have an opportunity to cast their vote for "Audience Choice", an additional $500.  

  • First Place: $3,000
  • Second Place: $1,000
  • Third Place: $250 

Finalists are encouraged to apply for Venture Funding!

SwatTank 2023 Finalist

Below are the three final teams and project descriptions from the SwatTank 2023 Final student teams: Comma, Suiter.io, SQUAD and Travial!  

Comma 
Anhad Singh ‘26, Aaron Dubois ‘26, Nana Asante ‘26

Through its partnerships with libraries across the globe, Comma offers access to ebooks like never before. With a user experience analogous to Spotify's, Comma is a legal alternative to pirated libraries with comparable access and book collection size. There is no longer a reason to pay for a Kindle or an Apple Book.

Suiter.io 
Rodas Jateno ‘24, Olivia Medeiros-Sakimoto ‘25,  Ziming Yuan ‘24

Suiter.io is the Airbnb for productivity tools. Our global marketplace empowers you to personalize your digital workspace, or “suite,” using cutting-edge applications that fit your needs, all under a single, tailored subscription. Like Airbnb supports the little guy, Suiter.io partners with independent developers to offer high-quality services and app bundles that can boost your productivity. Join the Suiter.io community today.
 

SQUAD
Saumya Raj ‘25, Hojune Kim ‘25, DongGyu Kim ‘25


SQUAD is an AI-powered software-as-a-service that focuses on saving lives by reducing response times of emergency vehicles such as firetrucks. It streamlines the process by analyzing surveillance footage to calculate the quickest route for fire trucks even when encountering parked cars and narrow lanes, and employing a number-detection software to identify and send emergency notifications to drivers of parked cars. Based in Korea and with the potential for expansion to East Asian cities with similar road situations, SQUAD represents a significant step towards improving efficiency, saving lives and bolstering convenience with AI technology. In the era of autonomous vehicles, SQUAD’s future expansion into this industry can serve as a critical communication solution between government agencies and autonomous car companies, ensuring a safer and more efficient traffic system for all.

 

Trabial
William Huang ‘23, Nader Almadbooh ‘23, Gary Chen ‘25

Introducing Travial - the ultimate trip-planning app that takes care of everything so you don't have to! With Travial, you can plan a trip with just one click, and we'll take care of everything from lodging to activities; you have complete control over your itinerary, with the option to specify your preferences and constraints, or sit back and let us do all the work for you. It's the stress-free way to plan a trip, with zero decisions required!