Photo by Chris Kowalczyk, Luddy Communications.
It's a simple piece of work for John Albans, a freshman at Indiana University who is fascinated by entrepreneurship.
He just won $3,500 thanks to the debut of the Shoemaker Scholars AI Business Competition at the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering's Shoemaker Innovation Center.
Albans' CleanDrive concept, which uses AI to schedule appointments with reputable dealers to clean and detail cars anywhere in the country, beat out three other finalists to win. The competition required one student to be paired with an AI to launch a startup business.
“Think about a business like a car wash, something simple that you can easily automate and apply AI to and use as a way to grow your business,” said Albans, a Pennsylvania native majoring in finance and mathematics at the Kelley School of Business.
Things are going well in Albans. He said he plans to use the money to invest in marketing, or even more.
Credits: Photo by Aaron Smith, Luddy Communications.
“I have considered financial services, equity research and commodities as a career, but I really enjoyed participating in this competition. I want to work for myself and I find entrepreneurship appealing. I hope to pursue that in the long term.”
Travis Brown, senior executive assistant dean for Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Commercialization, said CleanDrive was a winner, saying it was “exactly what we were looking for, to give students the ability to look at the world and essentially say, 'Here's a problem that AI can quickly solve without any technical knowledge or deep industry expertise.'” That's exactly what CleanDrive reflects. ”
The judges were Mr. Brown, Ilya Rector, CEO of Megawatt, and the shoe manufacturer's innovation center advisor, who came up with the idea for the contest. Kelly King, Marketing Lecturer at the Kelly School of Business.
“You represent what we were looking for,” Rector told Albans. “Every team has had aspects of it, but you have by far the most. Without AI, I don't know if you would be able to get into this business.”
“Given AI and the progress we’ve made in such a short period of time, we hope you put your $3,500 to good use and scale even further.”
Credits: Photo by Aaron Smith, Luddy Communications.
What was so impressive about the CleanDrive concept, King said, was that it was “a national product that we could continue to develop and use if we wanted to and still make money tomorrow.”
“It’s clear that there was an opportunity to make the business successful in a short period of time with the help of AI,” she said. “It never would have happened without that support. It was really impressive. He really thought through everything about the business model and the technology to support it.”
Fellow finance freshman Caio Bonato won second place and $1,000 for his Link Transit idea.
Mr. Brown told the finalists, “There are competitions that advertise how many semi-finalists there are. In some cases, the finalists are the ones who make it all the way to the end. I know it seems like a small thing, but most people don't show up and very few make it all the way. You did it.”
“It's impossible to run a contest like this without strong participation, and that's reflected in you as well. We're here to support you, no matter the contest. It's the execution that counts. We have the resources to help with that.”
Resources include Shoemaker Scholars, who support entrepreneurship by helping their peers develop the technical skills needed to build startups;
A key role in the development of the competition was Noah Bakken, a shoe manufacturer scholar and senior majoring in informatics and human-centered computing with a minor in business. He plans to graduate next spring.
He said the contest started with about 140 people. This was narrowed down to four finalists.
“Overall it went very well,” he said. “We have enabled several students to launch their own businesses. Some students started a while ago and paused it. Thanks to our competition, they were able to continue it and really produce results. We are very proud of our finalists.”
King said the competition was “incredibly impressive,” particularly the fact that the students were “able to create something in a very short period of time with an AI as a teammate.”
Rector added, “It met all my expectations.”
“As entrepreneurs, we ask ourselves, why this, why me?” he said. “They built something with AI, and I don't think that product would exist without AI. They built something, got it ready for production, and acquired customers within two months. To accomplish this in such a short time without a co-founder is pretty impressive.”
Credits: Photo by Chris Kowalczyk, Luddy Communications
Brown said Shoemaker Scholars has historically been known for disseminating information through StartupIU's newsletter and website.
With the creation of IU Innovates, a university-wide initiative to uplift entrepreneurs at Indiana University through a startup incubation hub, sponsorship of entrepreneurial resources and impact storytelling, Shoemaker Scholars' mission needs to change, Brown said.
“Their mission has evolved into a research and development boutique for small student startups and innovation competitions,” he said.
Brown added that the goal is to engage students in innovation and leverage AI in creative ways.
“Shoemaker Scholars made it all happen,” he said. “Noah as a scholar contributed to that.
“What this competition has proven is that there is demand for these student programs and a real need for shoemaker scholars.
“That's the beauty of this group. They get to play, they get to experiment, they get to be creative, they get to try things. I wouldn't be surprised if this became one of the core competitions within the school.”
