On Friday, March 15, 250 people gathered in person to watch 13 startups pitch at Walleye Tank, Minnesota’s life science competition. After welcome speeches from Carlson School of Management Associate Dean Stephen Parente and Vice Dean for Research of the Medical School Peter Crawford and a series of pitches, UMN startup Objective Biotechnology won the $10,000 prize in the mid level division and UMN startups Vertex Medical Systems and Emergense won $1,000 prizes as runner-ups in the junior division. Three other pitchers, Salamander Life Systems, Magtection, and Femicorp, LLC, also had UMN connections.
Here’s the full list of winners and runner-ups:
Mid Level division
Winner: Objective Biotechnology
Runner up: Davenport SAF-T Systems
Junior division
Winner: Empower Independence Company
Runner up (tie): Vertex Medical Systems & Emergense
Jointly produced by Tech Comm and the Mayo Clinic Office of Entrepreneurship with support from the UMN Medical School and the Gary C. Holmes Center for Entrepreneurship, Walleye Tank was originally founded in 2016 and occurs twice a year. This spring’s event was the largest yet, with approximately twice as many people in the audience and nearly twice as many applicants as previous events. UMN startups have consistently had a strong showing at Walleye Tank, with UMN startup Adialante winning at the winter edition in December 2023.