Recent UGA engineering graduates took home $10,000 from the UGA Venture Prize Competition with novel pool cleaning technology
It may be the middle of February, but pool season will be here before you know it.
Recent UGA engineering graduates Garrett Stigall and Guy Gober want to help Georgians make sure their pools are algae-free for May’s first cannonball.
The duo won $10,000 at the UGA Entrepreneurship Program’s Venture Prize contest on Feb. 20 with S.A.M. – an ultrasonic algae-killing buoy that substantially reduces the amount of pool chemicals. S.A.M. stands for Sound Amplifying Machine.
Stigall and Gober have been perfecting their product since 2021 when Stigall developed the concept at the UGA Entrepreneurship Program Summer Design Sprint. The duo participated in several pitch contests in Athens and Atlanta, winning several thousand dollars in startup capital. In the spring of 2024, their company Pool Protection Technologies brought their S.A.M. system to market to Savannah-area pool stores.
“I’ve seen this one before,” said UGA Small Business Development Center Consultant Michael Myers, who served as a Venture Prize judge. “You did a great job, just watching your progression, growth, and what you’ve done. I think you did a really good job of storytelling … I also thought you did a great job — and I think this is key in a pitch competition — of saying, ‘If I can get this prize money, I can take it and grow my business in this way.”
Atlanta-based hard flooring retail chain Floor & Decor, founded by Terry College alumnus Vincent West (BBA ’77), has sponsored the annual competition since 2022.
Stigall and Gober plan to use this $10,000 prize to ramp up an influencer marketing campaign and expand their sales to metro Atlanta pool stores, Stigall told judges.
In addition to Myers, judges for the contest included self-storage entrepreneur Dan Hagberg, tea and beverage entrepreneur Keith Hong, and physician and entrepreneur Arun Mohan.
The Venture Prize judges recognized peer-led group travel service Sisterhood of the Traveling 20s and its founder, UGA journalism senior Kelsie Pearson, with second place and a $5,000 prize. Recent neuroscience and psychology graduate Roseann Harpold took home $2,500 to help fund Hauntfest — a horror and Halloween-themed event production company hosting horror festivals across the Southeast.
All three companies launched in the UGA Entrepreneurship Program ecosystem and grew with the help of mentors and the support of entrepreneurship faculty.
The UGA Entrepreneurship Program is housed in the Terry College but serves all UGA. The program’s mission is to develop the mindset of future entrepreneurs and prepare students for business leadership roles. The UGA Entrepreneurship Certificate program is open to all UGA students. Most UGA Entrepreneurship Program accelerators are open to UGA students and Athens community members.
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