Senior Shield, a startup working to keep nursing home patients and seniors healthy through remote monitoring, took home $2,500 from the UGA Entrepreneurship Program’s 2025 Build/Test Accelerator program.
Kareem Elfoulie, a recent mechanical engineering graduate from Georgia Tech, created a noninvasive wearable that alerts caregivers when their senior loved ones need incontinence garments changed. He presented his Senior Shield to judges at the June 18 pitch contest, and they were impressed with his strategy for getting the wearable sensor approved for Medicare reimbursement.
Elfoulie, who plans to use the prize money to create enough Senior Shield devices to be tested in senior care facilities, has won $25,000 at various UGA pitch contests since 2024.
Terry College Entrepreneurship lecturers Cali Brutz and Jim Flannery designed the Build/Test Accelerator as the next growth stage for students completing the UGA Idea Accelerator.
Judges—including Gently Soap founder Kristen Dunning, sales tax software entrepreneur Robert Dumas, and Studio co-owner Grace Bagwell Adams—evaluated each startup based on how far it had come since the Idea Accelerator phase and who was best poised to invest the $2,500 prize.
In addition to Senior Shield, judges recognized The Girls’ Trip Co., founded by recent UGA journalism graduate Kelsie Pearson, with second place. Syl, a calendar-building service for undergraduates founded by recent Terry graduate Maahir Murad and MIS senior Huzaifah Malik, took home third place.
Other finalists presenting at the June 18 pitch contest include FarmTurn, a farm consulting startup developed by UGA animal science graduate student Raine Cox; Cres, a customizable scheduling software developed by finance and real estate student Nic Polumeyv; Nahren, a grocery price comparison app created by MIS and finance student Andrew Sharpe; and Echo, a cognitive/behavioral therapy app for musicians made by recent psychology and neuroscience student Kiernan O’Mara.
The Entrepreneurship Program is a comprehensive academic program that encompasses experiential learning and equips students with the tools and resources to pursue their startup ventures.