Virtual Reality Reading App Blasts to Win at ORU Startup Competition
From 22 teams down to one, The Stovall Center for Entrepreneurship at Oral Roberts University was proud to crown the winner of The Launch Competition,
an annual endeavor that allows future business owners to develop their ideas and compete
for seed money to help make those ideas a reality.
This year’s final round was held on Saturday, February 15, 2020, on the ORU campus, and though all the finalists made a strong showing, ultimately the grand prize went to Trevor Ellis and Isaac Rowaiye. The team won for their concept called TeleportED, an educational virtual reality reading app that teaches kids reading skills through progressive rewards. A child dons virtual reality goggles and is presented with words to read aloud. A correct answer unlocks doors and lets them explore the virtual environment further, in this case the Tulsa Zoo.
“It feels great [to win],” said Rowaiye. “All the hard work and dedication that we’ve been putting in shows there’s something behind this. We haven’t been doing it for nothing.”
“Without this competition, we would’ve done ten percent of what we got to,” said Ellis. “Being a competition, it spurred us on to take it so much farther, so much faster.”
The teams competing in the Launch Competition were paired with business mentors from SCORE, a thriving community of entrepreneurs and executives who specialize in mentorship that allows people to achieve their dreams.
“We are excited to see how TeleportED will leverage cutting-edge technology to improve how children learn in the digital age,” said Dr. Kevin Schneider, Executive Director of the Stovall Center for Entrepreneurship. “We are also proud to see how far The Launch finalists progressed over the last several months and will continue to offer support to all teams as they launch their businesses.”
Team TeleportED now plans to continue making more connections and working to build their idea into a full business.
Pictured at the top of page, L to R: Jim Stovall, Donor, Stovall Center for Entrepreneurship; Trevor Ellis, Team TeleportED; Miesha Smith, AVP Commercial Lender; Isaac Rowaiye, Team TeleportED; Tess Schroeder, Vice President and Lobby Manager, Prosperity Bank; Kevin Schneider, Executive Director, Stovall Center for Entrepreneurship.
The Launch Competition was sponsored in part by Prosperity Bank, Blue Sky Bank, and Warburton Capital. The judges for the event are: Ryan McDaniel, Executive Vice President and Managing Director of Commercial Banking at Blue Sky Bank; Devon Laney, CEO at 36 Degrees North; Rose Washington, Chief Executive Officer at TEDC Creative Capital; Caleb Caldwell, Project Manager at CCK Strategies; and Chandler Malone, Director of Entrepreneurial Development at Atento Capital.