Founder Spotlights

A student from Dallas has been announced as the winner of the Global Student Entrepreneur Awards Pitch Competition.

November 27, 202430 views0

Sofia Babool, the founder of Bright Owl, was awarded the first prize of $5,000 at the Global Student Entrepreneur Awards pitch competition, which took place on Thursday evening at the Studio Movie Grill.

Additionally, Babool was granted a $2,000 travel budget to attend the national competition in San Diego in March, where she will compete with winners from across the United States.

The event was sponsored by the Entrepreneurs’ Organization chapters in Fort Worth and Dallas.

Bright Owl is a virtual tutoring company that is dedicated to providing families with affordable and equitable education via Zoom, with the assistance of virtual reality. Bright Owl offers students a complimentary online diagnostic assessment, which evaluates their existing academic trajectory and formulates an academic recommendation.

Babool stated that she currently has over 60 students and over 60 tutors. In the preceding year, she stated, the company had generated a revenue of over $80,000.

Babool holds a Bachelor of Science degree in neuroscience from the University of Texas at Dallas. She is currently enrolled at Harvard Extension School. In August, she was accepted into medical school.

“The pandemic gave rise to a multitude of challenges, one of which was the emergence of educational inequity due to the abrupt transition from physical to virtual learning,” Babool stated in her application for the award. In light of the considerable financial burden and widening academic gap that I observed in the news and in articles, I conducted qualitative research at my mosque and in the local community to ascertain the extent to which students were struggling with the platform switch.

She identified a specific area of interest. The Bright Owl initiative was launched in August 2021, while the founder was still an undergraduate student.

“Following a full year of Bright Owl, I have come to perceive the skills required for entrepreneurship as being analogous to those needed for a fulfilling life,” Babool stated.

Each of the four finalists received a monetary prize.

The second-place finisher, Mercedes Johnson, founder of Food Magnet, was awarded the sum of $3,000. Payton Dae Cranford, a student at Texas Christian University, was the third-place finisher and received a prize of $1,500 for her company, March. Jason Hendricks, the founder of Forgot or Knot, was awarded the sum of $500 for finishing fourth.

Food Magnet is a mobile application and business solution designed to assist food truck owners in enhancing their visibility, tracking business analytics, and communicating with customers.

March is an inclusive toiletry line for hotels and resorts that places a particular emphasis on providing shampoos and conditioners that are suitable for African American hair. In addition to the shampoo and conditioner, the line includes a body wash, lotion, and hand soap.

Forgot or Knot is a service that facilitates the creation of memorable experiences for friends and loved ones through the provision of video production, luxury transportation, live performances, and customized gift delivery.

Johnson and Hendricks are enrolled as students at the University of Texas at Dallas.

Cranford is currently pursuing a dual major in marketing and comparative race and ethnic studies at TCU. Furthermore, she is employed on a full-time basis as a media buyer at Chappell Digital Marketing. Additionally, she serves as president of the TCU Entrepreneurship Club, social media manager at TCU’s Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, student assistant at the TCU Alcon Career Center, and a marketing intern at TCU’s NIL collective, the Flying T Club.

“I am most passionate about my company,” she stated. “It would be my preference to be able to dedicate a greater proportion of my time to the development of my company, thereby facilitating its growth.”