Sydney Forrest ’23, Juan Jose Martinez-Hill ’20, and Fasya Addina LLM ’20 are the winners of NYU Law Venture Fund’s inaugural Business Plan Competition. Open to current NYU Law students and 2020 graduates, the competition asked entrants to submit a one- to two-minute video with a business idea addressing a specific challenge in one of three areas: healthcare, justice technology, and the future of work.
With the generous support of Andrew Appelbaum ’91, each of the three winners received an award of $500, and Forrest, the grand prize winner, received an additional $1,000. Her healthcare-related pitch focused on software that would standardize electronic healthcare records and allow doctors to more easily share information across different record systems.
Inspired by the influx of donations to justice organizations following the 2020 murder of George Floyd, Martinez-Hill’s winning proposal in the justice technology space centered on a platform to connect donors to grassroots justice organizations, allowing them to filter by geographic location, specific issues like policing or bail reform, and other criteria.
Addina was selected as the winner in the future of work category for her pitch to create an e-commerce site for street food and clothing vendors in her native Indonesia, whose livelihoods were especially impacted by the mandatory lockdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The NYU Law Venture Fund, launched in 2018 with donor support, encourages entrepreneurship by NYU Law students and alumni through grants and internships, networking events, and early stage investments, among other initiatives.
The winners of the competition were selected by a group of alumni judges, including Andrew Appelbaum ’91, Catherine Hammack ’08, Brandon Nelson ’99, and Melissa Tidwell ’03.
Posted October 21, 2020