On its 10th Anniversary, Spark Tank is a Sweet Success
“Innovation is in your blood.”
That’s what Provost Sara Quay told the audience at Spark Tank, Endicott’s Shark Tank-style competition that awards seed money to fund entrepreneurial student and alumni ventures, on April 17.
But it was no ordinary Spark Tank. This was the 10th anniversary of Spark Tank, and the night was full of reflections on what it means to show up as an entrepreneur and dare to put yourself out there; powerful pitches from students, including some familiar faces; new traditions; and, of course, the night’s winners.
Quay told the audience of Gulls, parents, professors, and staff that everyone was in that room that night because Endicott is one of the most innovative colleges in the country.
“We were founded as a two-year women’s college—the first college to require internships,” she said. “Just think about that. The very first college in the country to require internships, and those internships were required of women. If you think back to 1939, that was pretty innovative and progressive.”
When enrollment sharply declined in the 1980s and Endicott almost closed, the late President Dr. Richard E. Wylie innovatively turned a women’s college into the four-year coeducational institution that Endicott is today, Quay noted.
“You are here today because you come by your entrepreneurial spirit,” she said.
Executive Director for the Colin and Erika Angle Center for Entrepreneurship Gina Deschamps agreed. “Every idea starts with a spark, and tonight, you’re about to ignite your ideas and start your entrepreneurial journey,” she said. “As we celebrate this milestone 10th anniversary, let us reflect on our incredible journey and the bright future that we have ahead.”
The evening’s judges included Seth Romans of SJR Equity; Neil Bhammar, Head of Operations and Customer Success at BusRight; Kate Morgan, Founder and CEO of Boston Human Capital Partners, Inc.; and Jack Duggan, Endicott’s recently retired Associate Dean in Engineering.
If you’re unfamiliar with the rules, each Spark Tank entrant gets three minutes to make their pitch and the judges have an opportunity to ask one follow-up question. And this year, a new tradition was also added to the mix—a fan-favorite audience vote while the judges deliberated.
First up on the pitch deck were bioengineering majors Cassandra Wightman ’24, Margaret Brockmire ’24, and Michael Ingraffia ’24 with Myoreactor, an open-source microbial bioreactor, which is the group’s affordable answer to grow bacteria that can be used for life-saving medicines. Typical bioreactors can cost upwards of $30,000 they told the judges.
MBA candidate Yuhao Wu presented Happy Pet, a comprehensive app that gives pet owners worry-free pet care; business management major Ridge Ranalletti ’27 pitched EnviroHydro, an electrolyte hydration supplement with zero environmental impact; elementary education major Grace Wlodarczyk ’25 offered a solution to gun violence with Lockdown Lockers, a bulletproof door that slides over classroom doors and locks into place; and biology/biotech major Abbey Agrodnia ’26 and entrepreneurship and marketing major Kristen Precourt ’24, both avid surfers, pitched EasyCoat, a surf wax applicator that’s also a handy scraper.
MBA candidate Zach Mazur ’23, Noah Therrien ’23, and Nate Mousseau ’23—winners of the 2023 Spark Tank—returned with a new member and MBA candidate Andrew Lorinchak ’23 under a different name, ReelMaster Nets.
Mazur, Therrien, and Mousseau spent the summer of 2023 in Cork, Ireland, at the Rubicon Centre at Munster Technological University where they collaborated with an engineer to optimize their high-tech fishing net design.
“He helped us streamline our product by adding a load cell, which gives out the weight measurement; a Bluetooth processor, which will connect to our application that we are in the process of creating; and a rechargeable battery,” explained Therrien.
The team is currently trying to finish and finalize a provisional patent, hire an app developer, and scale production so they can showcase their net at ICAST 2025, the country’s largest fishing trade show.
Another returning participant was marketing major Eli Wilson ’25, founder of Tick3t Tree, a blockchain-backed platform that allows organizations to give their fans brand value through ticketing, and entrepreneurship major Amanda Drager ’24, who is renowned on campus for her allergen-free baked goods that she bakes out of her residence hall and sells as Sugar on Top Bakery.
After a brief deliberation, Deschamps and graduate assistant Ryan Curley ’23 M’24 returned to announce Myoreactor as the fan favorite and winner of $1,000. Brockmire’s mother, Holly, was in the audience to watch and celebrate.
“Maggie went to engineering camp the summer before 5th grade and here she is about to graduate as an engineer,” she said. “I’m beyond proud of her.”
Then the judges appeared and a hush fell over the crowd as they announced the $2,000 third-place win to EasyCoat, the $3,000 second-place win to Tick3t Tree, and the $10,000 first-place win to Drager’s Sugar on Top Bakery.
Sometimes, innovation is great-tasting cupcakes—minus the gluten.
“I came into entrepreneurship thinking that it is mostly startups and a lot of tech, but I’ve found that it’s anybody with a dream and a passion to do what they love—whether it’s a small business that makes pastries to running a bus tracking company,” Drager said. “It’s anybody that has a passion for something and wants to do it in their own way versus following the trends.”
Spark Tank is supported through the continued support of Cummings Foundation and Colin and Erika Angle.