{"id":7118,"date":"2021-11-10T16:21:02","date_gmt":"2021-11-10T22:21:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin-new\/?post_type=campus_story&p=7118"},"modified":"2021-11-10T16:21:02","modified_gmt":"2021-11-10T22:21:02","slug":"blugolds-app-project-wins-statewide-business-competition","status":"publish","type":"campus_story","link":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/story\/blugolds-app-project-wins-statewide-business-competition\/","title":{"rendered":"Blugolds’ app project wins statewide business competition"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Photo
Several UW-Eau Claire students and recent graduates used their creative and business skills to earn top honors in the 2020-21 WiSys APPStart Challenge, a statewide competition that connects mobile app ideas with the expertise and resources needed to launch them. The team created an app that connects multiple Bluetooth-enabled devices into one centralized app. (Photo by Shane Opatz)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A team including University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire students and recent graduates earned top honors in the 2020-21 WiSys APPStart Challenge, a statewide competition that connects mobile app ideas with the expertise and resources needed to launch them.<\/p>\n

The team\u2019s app for its startup company, ParityBlu, offers an all-in-one solution to connect multiple Bluetooth-enabled devices \u2014 such as TVs, speakers or smart thermostats \u2014 into one centralized app.<\/p>\n

\u201cI almost couldn\u2019t believe it,\u201d Sam Fitzhenry, who will graduate from UW-Eau Claire in December with a business major and a physics minor, says of winning the contest. \u201cKnowing we were top three in August helped us focus on our business model and maximize our app prototype. So, it was really a matter of executing a great pitch and waiting for our hard work to pay off.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s exciting to have come this far. Winning the challenge allows us to continue pushing to turn our vision into a reality.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ParityBlu team includes Fitzhenry, who is from Oshkosh; Max Bossert, an Oshkosh native who graduated from UW-Eau Claire in December 2020 with a major in physics with an applied emphasis and a minor in mathematics; Logan Ickert, a Wausau native who graduated in May with a computer science-software engineering major and a mathematics minor; and UW-Madison student Nicholas Hersperger.<\/p>\n

The competition is fierce, and the expectations of applicants are high, Ann Rupnow, who teaches entrepreneurship, says of the app contest. But ParityBlu is one of those startup teams that you get excited about, she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have complementary skill sets and the necessary drive to plow through rough spots knowing they are onto something the market needs,\u201d Rupnow says. \u201cYou don\u2019t have all the answers when you seek to do something innovative in the tech realm, but ParityBlu continues to develop their company, and along the way they won the AppStart Challenge. I couldn\u2019t be prouder of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the winner of the challenge, the team receives more than $10,000 in cash and services to help it launch its app as a business.<\/p>\n

The annual contest \u2014 open to students, faculty, staff and alumni from UW-Eau Claire and 10 other UW schools affiliated with WiSys \u2014 drew more than 70 entries, which were evaluated on the significance of the problem being addressed and the participants\u2019 vision for how their app could solve the problem.<\/p>\n

\u201cCongratulations to the ParityBlu team for all their hard work, not only coming up with a great idea, but working to take it to the next step,\u201d WiSys president Arjun Sanga said in a statement. \u201cWiSys is proud to support these emerging entrepreneurs.\u201d<\/p>\n

WiSys is a nonprofit organization that works with faculty, staff, students and alumni to facilitate cutting-edge research programs, develop and commercialize discoveries and foster a spirit of innovative and entrepreneurial thinking across the state.<\/p>\n

Finding inspiration<\/h3>\n

Last year, Bossert was building a robot for his physics capstone project but struggled to use open-source software in tandem with Bluetooth. After sharing his frustrations with Fitzhenry, the Blugolds began brainstorming ideas for addressing the issue, a conversation that eventually sparked their app idea.<\/p>\n

\u201cMax\u2019s struggles with executing software onto his robot interested me, and as we continued talking about the problem, we found that we felt strongly about some standards that Bluetooth has created and implemented into our daily technologies,\u201d Fitzhenry says.<\/p>\n

They realized that any device, such as wireless speakers, headphones and TVs, all require their own application to manage them.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf people or families use these technologies daily in their homes, it becomes cluttered and unmanageable to use them, especially if they have different brands of like technologies, all requiring their own application to manage,\u201d Fitzhenry says. \u201cMany top tech companies promote their smart technologies as the end-all solution, but brand loyalty is required to achieve device autonomy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Building a business<\/h3>\n

Intrigued by the problem they identified and potential solutions, Bossert and Fitzhenry continued to brainstorm ideas and invited Ickert and Hersperger to join the conversation. Several months later, the team came up with a product to address the multi-device problem they\u2019d identified \u2014 ParityLink.<\/p>\n

ParityLink consists of hybrid wireless hubs that users can place around their house. These hubs generate a mesh network that allow the user to pair an unlimited number of devices to one network and manage it on one application.<\/p>\n

By using ParityLink, people can pair with devices of different brands, allowing maximum use of each technology, Fitzhenry says. ParityLink also allows users to move through their houses and have their devices and settings in each room activate based on their movements.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis effectively unlocks a home full of high-tech and heavily used technologies, making them more accessible and fully functionable for any need,\u201d Fitzhenry says. \u201cImagine three different brands of speakers paired to your Google Home. Now imagine your smart lights in the bathroom paired to your smart lights in the hallway. All these devices can be connected and managed together, separate or anything in between with all other devices in the space. Think of ParityLink as the first introduction to a DIY smart home.\u201d<\/p>\n

In October 2020, the team founded ParityBlu LLC, a startup company built on the principle that every technology consumer is entitled to comprehensive and limitless opportunities to evolve and incorporate their technologies without proprietary limitations.<\/p>\n

Fitzhenry credits his entrepreneur class and UW-Eau Claire faculty with helping him and his teammates take their idea and build it into a product that is the basis for their business.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter we got a little bit of footing on our idea through my entrepreneurship class, we knew we really wanted to take it further,\u201d Fitzhenry says. \u201cThe four of us believed in the idea, and given the scope of the technology industry and the growing necessity for wireless networks and smart technology, we felt it would do well in the APPStart contest.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnn Rupnow, my advisor and entrepreneurship instructor, encouraged us to exhaust all our options to build traction and gauge interest in the idea. That was really the push we needed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Next steps<\/h3>\n

With the financial and other assistance they\u2019ll receive as winners of APPStart, the team will continue to design and develop its prototype. Already, it\u2019s consulting with Wisconsin engineering firms about development costs and design plans. Soon, it hopes to secure a contractor and build prototype models. From there, they\u2019ll build a scalable minimum viable product and approach early adopters.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re making a serious push with ParityBlu in the coming months,\u201d Fitzhenry says. \u201cSeeking funding and building our minimum viable product are our No. 1 concerns. We hope that as we build on our vision, we find support from other like-minded individuals. As more people follow us on LinkedIn, talk about our product or learn more about multiconnectivity in the smart home, it\u2019ll help us greatly.\u201d<\/p>\n

With graduation nearing, Fitzhenry also now is looking for a full-time job in business development within the technology industry. He also will continue to work with ParityBlu.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re on the threshold of acquiring serious funding, so if we take a little more time to refine our product and implement a prototype, our chances of success will be even higher,\u201d Fitzhenry says.<\/p>\n

Path to UW-Eau Claire, entrepreneurship<\/h3>\n

Having the opportunity to be part of a student team of entrepreneurs and to participate in a statewide entrepreneurial contest \u2014 all with the support of professors and others on campus \u2014 is exactly what he\u2019d been looking for when he came to UW-Eau Claire, says Fitzhenry, noting that the university\u2019s smaller classes and personal interactions with faculty are what convinced him to become a Blugold.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving professors who know and recognize you is a great feeling, and it\u2019s allowed me to discover new passions and to position myself comfortably,\u201d Fitzhenry says.<\/p>\n

While he\u2019s now excited about the field of entrepreneurship, it wasn\u2019t a career path that was even on Fitzhenry\u2019s radar when he began his college career.<\/p>\n

\u201cI initially wanted to be a materials scientist, so I spent my first few semesters at UWEC taking chemistry and physics courses,\u201d Fitzhenry says. \u201cI quickly discovered I was not driven to continue that path, so I took a leap of faith and switched to business. I switched my majors around quite a few times and ended up finding my passion with management-entrepreneurship and a minor in physics.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s now eager to see where his marketing and entrepreneurship studies will take him.<\/p>\n

\u201cGrowing up, I always had a vision of introducing some positive change or innovation to the world,\u201d Fitzhenry says. \u201cI never knew what idea that possibly could be, but I found myself trusting that my passions and hobbies would allow me to build on a vision from bottom up. Trusting my shift back to the business world, I immediately found my place, and I\u2019ve never looked back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fitzhenry already is bringing his dreams of making positive change in the world through innovation to life through his work with ParityBlu. That is possible because UW-Eau Claire and its faculty and staff encourage students to think big and to embrace every opportunity, he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve found myself surrounded by opportunities that are created and supported by amazing people,\u201d Fitzhenry says. \u201cHaving an amazing safety net of support has allowed me to try new things and take risks. From this, I\u2019ve been able to find myself and rediscover my passions, and I will continue to carry that mindset throughout the rest of my lifetime.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Written by\u00a0Judy Berthiaume<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A team including University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire students and recent graduates earned top honors in the 2020-21 WiSys APPStart Challenge, a statewide competition that connects mobile app ideas with the expertise and resources needed to launch them. The team\u2019s app for its startup company, ParityBlu, offers an all-in-one solution to connect multiple Bluetooth-enabled devices \u2014 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":7121,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","institution":[96],"story_category":[],"class_list":["post-7118","campus_story","type-campus_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","institution-uw-eau-claire"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story\/7118","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/campus_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7118"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"institution","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/institution?post=7118"},{"taxonomy":"story_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story_category?post=7118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}