BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — Two Illinois Wesleyan University students were awarded grants after showcasing their innovative ideas through the Titan New Venture Challenge on Oct. 15.
Organized by IWU’s School of Business and Economics and funded by Marc Talluto '94, the Titan New Venture Challenge is a seed grant program where students identify problems and apply critical thinking, while effectively communicating the solutions to a panel of judges.
Judges for the event were Kari Danek, managing director at IHT Wealth Management and chief investment officer at Riverwalk Capital Partners; and Mike Straza, a serial entrepreneur who runs his own consulting firm Straza Consulting, and a member of the Bloomington city council.
Dean of the School of Business and Economics Bryan McCannon ‘98 said the program highlights creative problem solving and communication skills, “two traits that we believe a quality liberal arts education can develop.”
“We aspire to be the leading entrepreneurial liberal arts university in the country,” McCannon said. “Entrepreneurship is something that students of all educational paths can engage in. It encourages one to not only identify and study a problem but to be innovative and propose a solution to it.”
Six students competed in this year's competition, with two grant recipients selected: Hadi Imtiaz '26 and Caleb Martinez '27. The two received between $2,000 to $3,000 in grants to further develop their ideas.
Imtiaz Hadi, a computer science major, presented his business Nudge. With Nudge, Hadi wants to find a way to help himself and his friends who struggle with excessive cell phone usage. He created an app that lets the user set daily limits and when the time limit is hit, the phone begins to vibrate and will not stop until the phone is put down.
“My venture is designed to help users build healthier digital habits,” Imtiaz Hadi said. “It originated from my own struggles with overusing social media apps like Instagram and TikTok. I found that existing screentime tools, including built-in and third-party applications, were often either too passive or too restrictive, which didn’t feel effective.”
“I realized the need for a more persistent, real-time form of feedback. Nudge addresses this by providing gentle but firm haptic nudges: when a user exceeds their screen time limit, the device vibrates and sends a notification encouraging them to lock their phone.”
Imtiaz Hadi said the judges gave insightful feedback during the event, particularly with the challenge of monetization. The application is ad-free in an effort to “stay true to the app’s mission of digital minimalism.”
Over the summer, Imtiaz Hadi developed a working Android prototype to prepare for the Titan New Venture Challenge. Long term, he’s working on social features for a premium version that will let users track usage, share a “Nudge Score” and connect with friends.
He aims to use the grant funding to complete additional features, refine the app, handle marketing and operational cost and launch publicity.
Martinez, the second grant recipient, is the owner of two businesses — Bear SEO and Bear Power Wash. Bear SEO is a search engine optimization consulting enterprise that allows local home service businesses to be found on Google. Bear Power Wash is a company providing power washing services.
“After working with clients like landscapers and contractors,I decided to start my own home service business Bear Power Wash,” Martinez said, “Over the summer, it really took off with both residential and commercial work. Now I’m expanding into new states like Arizona to keep the growth going.”
Martinez, a business major, focused on showing real results and where he sees his business going next.
“The judges were very supportive and encouraged me to keep pushing forward,” Martinez said. “It meant a lot hearing that from people who see so many strong ideas. Illinois Wesleyan has such a great community that genuinely wants to see students succeed, and I’m really thankful for that.”
With the Titan New Venture Challenge funding, Martinez plans to hire an assistant who can handle inquiries while he focuses on growing both businesses.
“I want to keep growing these brands into full scale operations that can run in multiple markets, even while I’m managing new clients or locations,” Martinez said. “My goal is to keep building both Bear SEO and Bear Power Wash into something sustainable after graduation.”
McCannon said two strong abilities stood out in both pitches from the student entrepreneurs: innovation and communication.
“I love the fact that they were able to identify a problem, cleverly come up with a solution, and have the work ethic to follow through and address the problem,” he said. “They both went up on the stage in front of judges and an audience and pitched their idea wonderfully. They had a slide deck that was professional, they spoke clearly and with passion and energy, and handled questions from the judges expertly.”