Epilepsy sensor wins top prize at health and wellness pitch contest

By Terry College of Business
Posted
From left finance student Wyatt McAvoy, Amin Trabelsi and Ashley Galanti and Geethika Atmakuri hold prize checks in front of the Truist Pitch Deck after the UGA Entrepreneurship Program's Health and Wellness Pitch Competition.
Finance student Wyatt McAvoy, from left, biomedical physiology undergraduate Amin Trabelsi and biomedical engineer Ashley Galanti and biomedical physiology students Geethika Atmakuri hold prize checks in front of the Truist Pitch Deck at Studio 225.

UGA biomedical engineering doctoral graduate Ashley Galanti saw first-hand the impact that epilepsy had on the lives of her brother and mother.

Her single focus when she entered the University Georgia in 2018 was find a way to make their lives safer and better. Since then, she’s developed The Joey – a wearable sensor named after her brother — that uses sensors to detect volatile organic compounds and alerts patients between 10 and 45 minutes before they have a seizure.

This week, judges at UGA Entrepreneurship Program’s Health and Wellness Pitch Competition recognized the promise of The Joey and Galanti in her time at UGA.

“We think you’ve got something, and we want to encourage you to keep going,” said Dr. Michael Smith (BSA ’79), founder of Marti Health, told Galanti.

Galanti took home $10,000 in prize money, which she will put toward moving her device to FDA approval and the market.

 The contest, sponsored by UGA alumnus Joel Katz (BBA ’85) and his wife Kathy, supports business ideas to improve consumer physical or mental health. Each contestant in the pitch contest went through UGA’s Idea Accelerator program to hone their pitches.

Judges included Smith, Joel Katz, an investor based in Austin, Texas; Kathy Katz, an investor and project manager at Alive and Well wellness center in Austin;  Valaurie Lee, serial entrepreneur, IT consultant and of founder the spa The Wellness Spot -ATL and health-technology advisor and commercialization coach Greg Jungles.

In addition to AMG Detection, the judges awarded second place and $5,000 to CAPable, a wearable migraine therapy system that works like a TENS device to relieve migraine symptoms created by biomedical physiology student Geethika Atmakuri.

Third place went to Niche Supplements; a pre-workout supplement blend made with clean ingredients and a gentler form of caffeine created by student Wyatt McAvoy. McAvoy will use his $2500 prize to boost his marketing efforts with paid ads and to add more affiliates.

In addition to the top three businesses, judges watched presentations about:

  • Alfalfa Gummies, a protein and vitamin gummy snack made from alfalfa and created by food science graduate student Ruben Vinueza Duque.
  • DROIT FIT, an augmented reality app that helps clarify the serving sizes listed on nutrition labels, created by public relations student Vania Djomoah
  • Magadalene, a primer that puts a barrier between and perfume for people who want to wear scents but can’t due to eczema, created by Heaven DeGracia, Feneti Badi, Destiny Butts and Abigail Zerihun.
  • Neurodrive, a system that uses sensors embedded in a car seat head rest to detect when a driver is too tired to drive, created by first year students Tanish Reddy and Tanishka Jadhav.
  • Stack Sticks, a supplement organization product created by Trey Taylor.
  • OculeSys, a dashcam based system that learns a drivers eye movements and forces them to stop driving when it senses they are too, created by Addi Mavengere and Varunson Greetson.

The mission of the UGA Entrepreneurship Program is to develop the mindset of future entrepreneurs and prepare students for business leadership roles. UGA Entrepreneurship Program accelerators are open to UGA students and the Athens community.