UWRF students win WiSys Big Idea Tournament

five people stand while holding oversized checks. The sign in the background says WiSys Big Idea Tournament

 

UW-River Falls students win WiSys Big Idea Tournament

April 28, 2026 - Bradley Arndorfer and Ethan Perkins of UW-River Falls won the WiSys Big Idea Tournament on Friday, April 17.

This year’s statewide entrepreneurship competition was hosted by the St. Croix Valley Business Innovation Center at UW-River Falls, and 13 students from nine Universities of Wisconsin institutions participated.

The annual competition encourages students across the Universities of Wisconsin to combine their innovative ideas with entrepreneurial tactics, pitching their invention to a panel of judges for the chance to earn prizes.

Arndorfer and Perkins, both sophomores and football players at UW-River Falls, earned first place and $2,500 for their business venture, “mopp.” Through research and feedback from potential consumers, the pair discovered a gap in reliable cleaning services around the River Falls area. From there, they created their business, as well as an app, which is designed for customers to find and purchase on-demand cleaning services. They emphasize tech-friendly, approachable scheduling for residential customers, offering services ranging from standard home cleans to move-out services. They hope to expand their cleaning into commercial properties in the future.  

UW-La Crosse graduate student Kaaviya Saraboji earned second place and $1,500 for her pitch, “AIOrch.” Saraboji noticed the lack of visibility and organization of AI systems across hospitals and met with various hospitals to discuss the issue. After those discussions, Saraboji theorized a platform designed to create a centralized system for hospitals to track integrated AI systems. In the future, she hopes to create the prototype and pilot it with hospital partners, with a larger goal of expansion to multi-hospital systems.

UW-Milwaukee graduate student Maia Scurry earned third place and a $750 prize in the tournament for her pitch, “Hroshi,” an employer-funded Bitcoin benefit platform that helps employees build long-term ownership in Bitcoin. Scurry, who operates as the founder and CEO of Hroshi, discovered that employees feel their benefits package are stagnant in value, and employers feel they can’t offer more competitive packages. With Hroshi, employees can gain real financial assets, and employers will signal innovative solutions and stand out as recruiters.

UW-Whitewater entrepreneurship student Stefan Gamino won the audience-voted people’s choice award and $250. He pitched “The Element Alarm,” a light and smell-based alternative alarm clock solution for waking up on time. By combining the traditional sound of the alarm clock with scent and light sensors, Gamino hopes to create a new desirable product to help people wake up sooner and stay awake longer.

“This competition highlights the entrepreneurial talent of UW students at our regional, primarily undergraduate institutions,” said WiSys President Arjun Sanga. “Congratulations to the winners!  It’s exciting to support their innovative ideas and entrepreneurial journey through one of our signature events.”

In addition to presenting their business ideas, the participating students had the opportunity to network with business leaders and hear from a panel of Wisconsin entrepreneurs about the challenges they faced on their journeys to launch a company.

Overall, 11 presentations were shown at the WiSys Big Idea Tournament.  Additional competitors who won their local qualifying competitions to present at Big Idea included:

  • Benjamin LaCroix – Appvertise (UW-La Crosse)
  • Natasha Holzem – Cookie Tin (UW-Green Bay)
  • Leah Norgal – Easy Zip (UW-Platteville)
  • Spencer Anderson – Stock Lock Advisors (UW-River Falls)
  • Kyle Berres – The Roaming Bear Pizza Co. (UW-Eau Claire)
  • Drew Pemberton – FitCore (UW-Stout)
  • Alex Peterson & Evan Peterson – Spike Slipper (UW-Oshkosh)

The students delivered their pitches to the following esteemed judges:

  • Elaine Coughlin, Startup Ecosystem Director at the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation
  • Ray French, Regional Economic Development Director at the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation
  • Warren Schneider, Retired Manufacturing and Engineering Director at 3M
  • Paul Kolars, Former Business Owner at TriMax Direct

To view the full recording of the WiSys Big Idea Tournament, please click here. Photos from the event are available here.

For more information about the WiSys Big Idea Tournament, visit wisys.org/bigidea.

Photo: UW-River Falls students Ethan Perkins and Bradley Arndorfer (right), won the WiSys Big Idea Tournament, held April 17 at the St. Croix Valley Business Innovation Center in River Falls. 13 students from nine Universities of Wisconsin institutions participated in the statewide entrepreneurship competition. Also pictured l-r: UW-Whitewater student Stefan Gamino, UW-Milwaukee student Maia Scurry and UW-La Crosse student Kaaviya Saraboji.