Championship Round

Paul J. Holloway Prize celebrating 30 years

The 38th Holloway Prize Competition will be held Tuesday, May 5, 2026. 

NOW OPEN! People's Choice Award - Your vote helps one team win an extra $2,000!

Vote Today!

RSVP today for the 2026 Holloway Competition

Come see six teams of top student entrepreneurs and innovators pitch their business plans to a panel of industry-leading judges for a chance to win the top prize of $15,000 in the 38th annual Paul J. Holloway Prize Competition.

Schedule

 

1 p.m. Competition Opening

Room G75, Marini Auditorium

Welcome by Holloway Competition Chair Andrew Earle

1:05 p.m. Judges Q&A with Student Entrepreneurs

Marini Auditorium

1:05 p.m. OmniClimb

1:32 p.m. Lablincs

1:59 p.m. Agent Integrator

2:30 Break

3:00 p.m. Armored Pig

3:27 p.m. Municable

3:54 Burlingame Technologies

4:30 p.m. Celebratory Reception and Awards Ceremony

5:00 p.m. Winning Teams Announced and the

2026 Paul J. Holloway Entrepreneur of the Year award

 

Prizes

$15,000- 1st Place Team
$10,000- 2nd Place Team
$5,000- 3rd Place Team
$1,000- Runner-Up  Teams
$2,000- People's Choice Award Winner

NEW FOR 2026! Sponsored by Impax Asset Management

$1,000- Sustainable Impact Award 

$1,000- Strengthening NH Award 

Vote in the
People's Choice Award!


Vote for your favorite team

to take home an extra $2,000! Make your vote count twice by also voting using an in-person ballot at the event.
Voting will close on May 5 at 4:45 p.m.

 

Agent Integrator

Agent Integrator is an AI transformation firm and venture studio. We build and launch vertical AI agents with industry leaders.

Shaun Devan, CEPS, UNH, (Hometown: Derry, NH)

Advisor: Ray Grady

Armored Pig Studios

We are a development team focused on creating XR (AR/VR) applications and games.

Kinoa Witt, CEPS, UNH, (Hometown: Concord, NH)

Aidan Cronin, Paul, UNH, (Hometown: Attleboro, MA)

Dylan Nye, COLA, UNH, (Hometown: Laconia, NH)

Advisor: Kimberly Clark

Burlingame Technologies

Burlingame Technologies is a hardware and software company redefining productivity for knowledge workers through seamless workflow automation. We design premium, easy-to-use macro pads that combine multi-step sequence automation, intuitive software, and AI integration to help creators, developers, and professionals work faster and smarter.

David Scholz, CEPS, UNH, (Hometown: Adams, MA)

OmniClimb

Our venture is OmniClimb - a technological advancement in the field of indoor rock climbing that provides climbers with real-time feedback on their climbing performance, providing a way to track their progress, log which climbs they've completed, and find ways to improve.

Ethan O'Leary, COLA, UNH, (Hometown: Madison, NH)

Advisor: Michael Ferguson

Lablincs

Lablincs is a unified research ecosystem designed to solve three critical challenges in academia—inefficient researcher–PI matching, difficult-to-navigate research knowledge , and fragmented research workflows—enabling faster, more effective collaboration. 

Kwasi Owusu-Boateng, Paul, UNH, (Hometown: Accra, Ghana)

King-James Egbe, CEPS, UNH, (Hometown: Benue State, Nigeria)

Nizar Alhalabi, CEPS, UNH, (Hometown: Beirut, Lebanon)

Fatima Hanif, CEPS, UNH, (Hometown: Lahore, Pakistan)

Advisor: Joël Nkounkou
 

Municable

Municable is a GovTech company modernizing the local government citizen experience through AI-powered search. We help residents get answers and complete tasks instantly while reducing workload for government staff, saving time on both ends.

Arthur Murphy, Paul, UNH, (Deerfield, NH)

Advisor: Lisa Keslar

 

Moderator(s):

Moderator: Joe HerrNeckar 

Time Keeper: Joe HerrNeckar 

JUDGES 

Gareth Dickens '02, Co-Founder, Chairman & CEO of ConvenientMD

Ed Farrington '93, President, Impax Asset Management North America

Jeremy Hitchcock, Managing Partner & Co-Founder, New North Ventures 

Joanne Mercaldi, Co-Founder & CEO, BLOOM

Peter Paul '67, Owner & Chairman, Headlands Asset Management

Jackie Russ, '88. CFO & COO Glance Networks.

Meg Smith '07, Founder & CEO, Cloudstate and Love Lexxi

 

Jeffrey Sohl named UNH Paul J. Holloway Entrepreneur of the Year 

Jeffrey Sohl; male, professioanlly dressed leans against a filing cabinet, and poses with a smile

Jeffrey Sohl, a pioneering researcher in angel investing and a driving force behind experiential entrepreneurship education at the University of New Hampshire, has been named UNH’s 2026 Paul J. Holloway Entrepreneur of the Year. 

Sohl is a professor emeritus of entrepreneurship and decision sciences at the Peter T. Paul College of Business and Economics and the former director of the Center for Venture Research. Over the course of his career, he has become a nationally recognized authority on angel investing, helping shape understanding of early-stage capital markets through decades of research, policy engagement, and industry collaboration. 

He has authored more than 50 peer-reviewed articles, delivered over 60 keynote addresses worldwide, and provided invited testimony to both the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives. His work has been featured in major media outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Forbes, and The Economist. In recognition of his contributions to the field, Sohl received the prestigious Hans Severiens Award from the Kauffman Foundation. 

At UNH, Sohl’s impact extends beyond research. He is the founder and former managing director of the Mel Rines Student Angel Investment Fund, an innovative program that gives undergraduate students hands-on experience evaluating startups, conducting due diligence, and making real investment decisions. Since its launch, the fund has provided students with a highly competitive, real-world learning environment that mirrors professional investment firms.  

Under Sohl’s leadership, the Rines Fund has become a cornerstone of entrepreneurship education at UNH, with students producing comprehensive investment analyses and engaging directly with founders and investors. The experience has helped graduates launch careers across venture capital, finance, and startups, with many securing positions before completing their degrees.  

In 2022, he was honored with the University of New Hampshire’s Distinguished Professor Award. 

Sohl has also played a key role in advancing entrepreneurship research and practice nationally, serving on editorial boards for leading academic journals including Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, and contributing to national initiatives such as the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Capitalizing Science, Technology and Innovation. 

A Special Thank you to our Event Supporters
Paul and Anna Grace Holloway
Bud Albin Entrepreneurship Fund
Charles and Mirium Nelson Fund for Business Innovation
 

#HollowayPrize