2025 Winners
1st Place: Mycillage: Ryan Sarhan, Keya Rani Roy, and Suvro Talukdar
Cultivating Pure Mycelium Materials from Distillery Stillage for Textile and Food Applications
University of Kentucky
2nd Place: Bio SeaL Mulch: Ayden Kemp, Clay Dorrill, Pravalika Boini, Sagar Kafle, Sudip Sapkota, and Dale Hartmann
Aiming to Improve Soil Health and Environmental Impacts by Reducing Plastic Mulches in
Row Crop Farming with a Biodegradable and Sprayable Mulch with C-SHEL Technology
Auburn University
3rd Place: Biocorshield: Vivian Usha, Edith Ngoupeyou, and Natacha Kakama
Green Anti-Corrosion Coating
Auburn University
The ASABE Bioprocess Startup Competition, first launched at the ASABE Annual International Meeting in 2022, is designed to cultivate entrepreneurial thinking and help students translate academic innovation into real-world commercial ventures. In this simulated “shark tank” event, teams comprised of undergraduate and/or graduate students develop startup concepts around novel bioproducts or bioprocesses that utilize sustainable biological resources. Teams prepare a 3–5 page report describing their design, business model, and market strategy, demonstrating how their ideas can move from research to impact. The top three submissions, selected from written reports due in April, advance to pitch their innovations to industry judges at the Annual International Meeting in July. The competition builds critical skills in business development, communication, and commercialization—bridging the gap between academia and the private sector—while awarding $1,250, $1,000, and $750 to the top three teams.
DEADLINE EXTENSION:
April 15, 2026, is the deadline to submit Round 1 documents for the competition. No late submissions will be accepted. Teams will be informed of results by April 30th. The top three teams will be invited to compete in the final pitch at the Annual International Meeting.
Rules and Contest Guidelines
Past Winners
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