This spring, student entrepreneurs from MiniMinds, a team that competed in the Charles F. Dolan School of Business’s 2025 StartUp Showcase, earned first-place recognition at the 29th Connecticut Collegiate Business Plan Competition in New Haven, Conn. Along with the top honor, they received a $5,000 award to support the continued development of their business.
The competition, hosted by the Entrepreneurship Foundation, challenged teams to pitch their businesses to a panel of judges and respond to questions about their offerings, strategies, and development.
MiniMinds teammates Brooke Kaplan ’26 and Lauren Von Hassel ’26 presented their venture, an AI-powered platform designed to support the early identification of learning disabilities through game-based screening activities. MiniMinds’ goal is to make early screening more accessible, engaging, and data-driven in order to empower schools to better support students. This concept earned the team first place in the scalable venture category of the statewide competition.
Beyond the potential for additional funding, the competition provided teams with an opportunity to receive fresh feedback from the panel of judges and strengthen their business plans.
“Every opportunity to pitch helps us refine our ideas, strengthen our approach, and continue building a solution that we hope can make a meaningful impact,” said Von Hassel. “The funding also provides valuable resources as we continue refining our platform, conducting market research, and exploring opportunities to bring MiniMinds to life as soon as possible.”
The experiences gained through Fairfield's StartUp Showcase program played a key role in MiniMind's success at the state competition.
“Throughout the [StartUp] program, and even after it concluded, we received mentorship from experienced entrepreneurs, practiced communicating our value proposition, refined our business model, and learned how to confidently answer challenging questions from judges and investors,” said Von Hassel. “The community and opportunities that came through StartUp, such as the Silicon Valley Immersion Trip where we pitched to venture capitalists, further strengthened our experience in environments like this.”
Looking ahead, the MiniMinds team plans to join StartUp Westport’s PITCH competition in September, which offers a $25,000 prize to the first-place winner.
Other StartUp Teams Recognized in State Competition
Three additional Fairfield teams, all from the 2026 StartUp Showcase—Compassly, EviSyna, and Leave It to Us— also participated in this year’s Connecticut Collegiate Business Plan Competition.
- Compassly: An AI-driven SaaS platform that supports international students throughout the process of moving to the United States.
- EviSyna: An AI-powered research assistant that streamlines the clinical trial and literature review process for researchers.
- Leave It to Us: A subscription-based service designed to simplify everyday tasks and improve quality of life for the aging population.
Compassly earned third place in the competition and received a $3,000 prize. EviSyna and Leave It to Us were each recognized with $500 prizes.
For more information about Fairfield Dolan’s StartUp Showcase, visit experiential learning at Fairfield Dolan.
