The Texas Tech Innovation Hub recently hosted Red Raider Startup, a three-day marathon of idea presentation, team formation and value proposition development, culminating in a pitch competition with the top 12 teams and 133 participants going for a $1,000 prize sponsored by the Lubbock Economic Development Alliance. A key highlight of the 2024 program was the introduction of a new $500 cash prize sponsored by the Texas Tech Davis College, awarded to the top agricultural innovation team.
“This collaboration between Davis College and the Innovation Hub is a pivotal step in inspiring students to innovate within agriculture. The economic impact of agriculture, natural resources, and landscaping industries is $10 billion in West Texas alone,” said Davis College Strategic Partnerships & Innovation Senior Director Cele Stone.
“Supporting programs like Red Raider Startup spurs innovation geared toward preserving our way of life,” she said. “We're excited to see how these young entrepreneurs will bring fresh ideas and solutions to the industry.”
Green N' Things won the $500 Davis College Agricultural Entrepreneurship Award. Co-founders, Lilly Herring and Giulian Alfaro are developing an AI-powered app that helps gardeners and plant lovers find the perfect plants for their space, tailored to their environment and care preferences.
Herring said that the app is a multi-vendor e-commerce marketplace platform, in other words it connects users with pre-existing vendors that own specific plants, according to a TTU KTTZ online news item.
According to KTTZ, Alfaro detailed the idea and how it benefits from the use of artificial intelligence. “Imagine if you had no clue where to start with gardening,” he said. “We have an AI that could basically say, ‘Okay, this plant would work really well in your living space, and you could pair it with this pot and this soil and get started’, and we'll give you a care guide.”
The next big step for Herring and Alfaro is entering the idea into the iLaunch competition, another Innovation Hub event that’ll take place in late November and awards larger prizes to the best ideas, the top reward being $10,000.
CONTACT: Cele Stone, Sr. Director of Strategic Partnerships & Innovation, Davis College of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources, Texas Tech University at (806) 834-6266 or Cele.Stone@ttu.edu
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