Mercer Innovation Center on April 16th awarded prize money to three teams as part of the virtual Next Big Idea Competition to help student entrepreneurs launch their businesses.

The $4,000 first-place prize was won by VTasteCakes, a vegan bakery owned by Aneesha Reddicks, a Master of Science in Business Analytics student, and Jasmyn Reddicks.

VTasteCakes operates from a commercial kitchen in Metro Atlanta and provides bespoke cakes, cupcakes, muffins, cookie dough and cookies for curbside pickup and delivery. The company aims to be a social advocate for sustainable, natural and freshly baked locally prepared desserts that can be enjoyed by those who may have food allergies and/or a dietary preference that excludes eggs, dairy or animal byproduct.

Two $1,000 second-place prizes were won by AB Glitz and Solar Turtle.

AB Glitz is owned by Amber Byrd, a senior pursuing her Bachelor of Business Administration in marketing. The multipurpose business is currently focused on the hair industry and a new product, the BraidAid, which is a tool used to part and texture hair.

Solar Turtle is owned by senior electrical engineering major Trenton Williams and senior environmental engineering major Spencer Lowe. The company intends to streamline alternative power by focusing on solar power generation that tracks and repositions itself to the sun to provide enough power for customer needs, both protecting the ecosystem and empowering customers.

The three winning teams were among 14 teams competing, including seven finalists who made 10-minute business pitches to judges Petrina Bloodworth, immediate past president of OUT Georgia Business Alliance; Emma Foulkes, managing partner of Greenwood Wealth Management; Luke Kolbie, founder of Kingfisher Leatherworks; and Dr. Vijaya Subrahmanyam, associate dean and C. Ben Harnsberger Professor of Finance.

Other finalists included BirdBrain, The Global Exchange Company, Patter and TruHLTH.

This year’s competition was organized by Dr. Briana Stenard, assistant professor of management and entrepreneurship; Stephanie Howard, director of Mercer Innovation Center; and Helena Berry, student marketing intern and a marketing and international business major in the Bachelor of Business Administration program.