Oluwafunlola Falade took home $10,000 cash and $55,000 in essential business services as the winner of this year’s Joust Business Plan Competition organized by the College of Business Administration’s Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership at UCF on April 11. The Joust, held at the FAIRWINDS Alumni Center, is UCF’s premier entrepreneurship event in which students from all disciplines are invited to present their business venture proposals and compete to win startup funding and services.

More than 160 people witnessed the four finalists present their business models to the “Shark Tank” style judge panel.

  • Oluwafunlola Falade finished in first place with Quarterwear, a company that designs and sells t-shirts while giving 25 percent of its profits to non-profit organizations.
  • Craig Bolz, Jeffrey Nadel, Geoff Castillo, and Nicholas Bowers finished second with DrinkDrivers, a business that provides alcohol delivery services.
  • Leif Bang, Joe Hadley, Aaron Blades, Jordan Kummer and Artus Nemati took third place for Proof Protector, a company producing a protective pour spout for liquor.
  • Caroline Castille and Odie Calderin won fourth place with Bsteps, a company that produces dance shoes.

    • Falade has future plans to compete in the International Business Model Competition and launch his business this June. “I would definitely recommend [The Joust]. It will accelerate your business because you have to ask the tough questions to put together a business plan,” he said.

    Judges for the Joust finals included Jeffrey Adler of Silver Fox Capital Group, LLC, Andrew Fore, III, ’76 & ’83, of Alvarez & Marsal, Julie Gaines of LSQ Funding, and Jonathan A. Kennedy, ’94 & ’96, of Natus.

    Presenting sponsors for The Joust are Steve Felkowitz, ’79, and DigiThinkIT, Inc. Additional sponsors included CoLab, Nperspective-CFO Services, General Counsel Advisors, P.A., DG3 Media Group, and Stage One Screening Solutions.

    Established in 1968, the UCF College of Business Administration offers degrees at the bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral, and executive levels. All programs, as well as the Kenneth G. Dixon School of Accounting are accredited by AACSB International – the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.

    The college provides high-quality academic programs designed to give students a competitive advantage in the world of business now and in the future. As such, the college establishes partnerships with some of the nation’s most innovative leaders to model new and best practices that harness evolving technology. In addition, the college promotes a unique culture of engagement, risk-taking, cross-disciplinary collaboration and data-driven decision making in an effort to ensure students are well prepared to enter a dynamic marketplace.