UT Dallas Hosts Big Idea Competition: FoodiFy Claims Top Prize with Innovation

From left to right: Ananya Sammidi, Ralph Yongoueth, Zebedee Uyanwune, Anisha Holla, Asad Moulvi, Aditi Mungale, Sahil Patel MA’23, Andrew Denton BS’15, MS’20 and Rick Tett MS’21 represented startups that vied for the top prizes in two categories at 2024 Big Idea Competition finals.

The Big Idea Competition, reminiscent of the hit show "Shark Tank," made its annual return at The University of Texas at Dallas, orchestrated by the Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (IIE). In a captivating twist, this year's event featured seven determined competitors vying for top investment prizes across two categories, with guest judges empowered for the first time to determine prize allocations, injecting an air of unpredictability into the proceedings.

The student competition saw FoodiFy, a pioneering digital platform devised by psychology senior and Eugene McDermott Scholar Anisha Holla, emerge victorious, clinching the coveted $10,000 prize. With FoodiFy's innovative model facilitating connections between social media influencers and restaurant owners for paid taste-testing and promotion, Anisha envisions expanding beyond their 25 restaurant partnerships in North Texas, aiming to generate $1.5 million in revenue this year and to build an outreach team essential for nationwide growth, poised to bring FoodiFy's transformative impact to eateries across the United States.