Three Students Receive New Venture Awards from Patricelli Center
Out of 10 students who pitched their startup ideas at the 2025 New Venture Awards in Memorial Chapel on April 4, three won the top prizes of $6,000 in grant funds from the Patricelli Center for Entrepreneurship.
The New Venture Awards, formerly known as the Seed Grants, aim to recognize and support impactful student projects, organizations, and companies across sectors and communities.
In the 14-year history of the Patricelli Center, this year the New Venture Awards received a record number of applications, 30 in total, said Director Ahmed Badr. One distinguishing factor of these awards is that powerful ideas often stem from the students’ personal histories. Each “has an incredible lived experience that they’ve connected to a particular project that then is making the world a better place,” said Badr before introducing the finalists who offered their pitches in five-minute presentations.
Judges included Khalilah Brown-Dean, executive director of the Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life, who said the process of choosing the finalists was tough yet inspiring. “It is encouraging to know that there are young entrepreneurs who possess not only the interest and talent, but the commitment to drive both innovation and impact,” she said. “And I think we should celebrate that every time that we can.”
The winners are Chukwudi Udechukwu ’27, Lois Amponsah ’27, and Abdiasis Dauud ’27.
Udechukwu’s venture is Anya, a social networking and community-based mobile app designed to reduce crime by equipping Nigerians with technology to keep them aware, secure, and connected. The security app offers real-time alerts, direct messaging, and AI-powered insights to help users respond to security threats in their communities.
The idea was born from Udechukwu’s personal experience with crime as a child in Nigeria. He recalled feeling helpless then because the police were unreliable and there were no emergency services like 911. In doing research, Udechukwu found that all of the Nigerians he interviewed said they would call a loved one before contacting emergency services, and only about one-third would contact the police. The biggest culprit was lack of structure, he said.
To fill this gap, Udechukwu and his sister created Anya, which connects communities to a real-time security network, providing information such as the level of threat. “We collect this data, analyze it, and update the observatory module with hotspots so [users] can make informed decisions to protect themselves and protect others,” said Udechukwu. It will be particularly useful for students living in high-risk areas, low-income workers, and communities with no accessible or reliable emergency services, he said.
Udechukwu is growing the app’s active user base and finalizing partnerships with the goal of deploying it in universities in Nigeria, and eventually, the United States.
To assist the high percentage of Ghanian young adults who are unemployed, Lois Amponsah launched Wings of Change. This fellowship program equips youth with practical skills, mentorship, and opportunities to foster entrepreneurship and community development.
Although her research showed 82 percent of her target market had never started a business before, 87 percent said they’d be interested in participating in a program like Wings of Change, which provides young people with tools they need to start and grow their own businesses. Instead of helping established businesses, Amponsah’s venture assists young people to start businesses and grow their skills through workshops, training, and seminars.
“We expose these entrepreneurs to industries so that we can ask the questions they need to ask to make sure that their ideas are being brought into the market as excellent and quality products,” she said.
With the grant, Amponsah plans to address barriers needed to improve operations, transportation, and infrastructure. The venture aims to raise a generation of youth who will transform the economy of Ghana and Africa more broadly through social impact and innovation.
Abdiasis Dauud started Agab to transform businesses in the Horn of Africa by replacing traditional ledgers with a “cloud-native POS SaaS platform”—that is, a point-of-sale software program that uses cloud computing for scalability, flexibility, and remote access, among other features. Dauud noticed that many businesses in the region either rely on underpaid cashiers to sell products or use software like Quickbooks “but its platform is too complex and too expensive for them to do.”
Agab, by contrast is a more efficient, portable, easy-to-use, and bilingual cloud-based system. “We equip businesses with products that can give them the insights to grow,” said Dauud.
He sees a large untapped market in Sub-Saharan Africa. His team was looking for funding for an office and to develop an app to reach new clients. Dauud and his best friend and partner are passionate about the project. “We also have a few people on the ground connecting us with clients. So right now we’re prioritizing partnering with financial institutions in the region because they hold the key to breaking into the market,” he said.
The Venture Awards are made possible through the generosity of the Robert ‘61 and Margaret Patricelli Family Foundation, Jon Turteltaub ‘85 and Amy Eldon, Stephen McCarthy ‘75, and Propel Capital.
This Friday all 10 NVA finalists will travel to Boston for a day of meetings with alumni entrepreneurs and engagements at MIT’s Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship.
To read about the seven finalists, who will each receive $3,000 for their ventures, see the .
