Northwestern University Athletics
Matt Wilcox ('14) Guides Luna Lights To Cupid's Cup Finals
2/8/2017 4:37:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving, David G. Kabiller NU for Life Program
BALTIMORE, Maryland – Wildcats swimming alum Matt Wilcox (McCormick '14) has guided his startup, Luna Lights, to a position as one of five finalists in the 2017 Cupid's Cup, an entrepreneurship competition created by Under Armour founder and CEO Kevin Plank. The finals are slated for March 30 at Northwestern's Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, where the five remaining competitors will compete for more than $100,000 in total prizes.
At Luna Lights, Wilcox and his team are focused on developing products that provide older adults with tangible benefits and integrate seamlessly into their lives. Luna Lights is currently rolling out an automated lighting system that uses cloud based data analytics to reduce the risk of falling at night.
Wilcox, the company's co-founder and chief technology officer, told The Daily Northwestern that he and his team have noted that opportunities for entrepreneurship on campus have grown since they were undergraduates. The team visited The Garage, NU's hub for student innovation and entrepreneurship that opened in 2015, and praised it for promoting student startups.
Cupid's Cup aims to reach the nation's top entrepreneurial minds. The competition, now in its twelfth year, is designed to inspire and foster the community of students and recent graduates who've already followed Plank's lead and are running their own companies.
The name refers to one of Plank's first businesses - Cupid's Valentine Rose Delivery - an enterprise he started as a student at the University of Maryland to sell roses on campus. Those profits eventually became seed money for Under Armour, one of the world's largest makers of athletic performance gear.
Three businesses with Northwestern roots were among a group of 11 semifinalists, selected from hundreds of entrants, invited to Under Armour's world headquarters in Baltimore on Feb. 6 for "Validation Day" presentations. All three had former Northwestern student-athletes in leadership roles.
Wildcats soccer alum Zak Allen (McCormick '16) is the co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Flyhomes, a smart real estate brokerage built for today's generation of home buyers that augments the traditional home buying process with AI technology and a rewards program unlike any other in the industry. Tennis alum Pete Rispoli (WCAS '11) is the founder and 'Chief Doorman' of Campus Doorman, intended to make moving into an apartment a 1-click process by designing, purchasing, delivering, assembling, and staging all of your furniture and home goods before you arrive, turning an unfurnished apartment into a completely move-in ready apartment.
Scheduled for March 30, 2017, at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall on Northwestern's Evanston campus, Cupid's Cup is moving away from the University of Maryland campus for the first time in its 12-year history. The annual event will rotate to other schools in the future, but competition officials called Northwestern the perfect launch point for a new era of growth.
Northwestern News: NU To Host Business Competition Launched By Under Armour CEO
Congratulations to @PiperWai @learnlux @swinetech @lunalightsinc @naturallclub for advancing to the finals!!! #CUPIDSCUP
— Cupid's Cup (@CupidsCup) February 6, 2017
At Luna Lights, Wilcox and his team are focused on developing products that provide older adults with tangible benefits and integrate seamlessly into their lives. Luna Lights is currently rolling out an automated lighting system that uses cloud based data analytics to reduce the risk of falling at night.
Wilcox, the company's co-founder and chief technology officer, told The Daily Northwestern that he and his team have noted that opportunities for entrepreneurship on campus have grown since they were undergraduates. The team visited The Garage, NU's hub for student innovation and entrepreneurship that opened in 2015, and praised it for promoting student startups.
Cupid's Cup aims to reach the nation's top entrepreneurial minds. The competition, now in its twelfth year, is designed to inspire and foster the community of students and recent graduates who've already followed Plank's lead and are running their own companies.
The name refers to one of Plank's first businesses - Cupid's Valentine Rose Delivery - an enterprise he started as a student at the University of Maryland to sell roses on campus. Those profits eventually became seed money for Under Armour, one of the world's largest makers of athletic performance gear.
Three businesses with Northwestern roots were among a group of 11 semifinalists, selected from hundreds of entrants, invited to Under Armour's world headquarters in Baltimore on Feb. 6 for "Validation Day" presentations. All three had former Northwestern student-athletes in leadership roles.
Wildcats soccer alum Zak Allen (McCormick '16) is the co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Flyhomes, a smart real estate brokerage built for today's generation of home buyers that augments the traditional home buying process with AI technology and a rewards program unlike any other in the industry. Tennis alum Pete Rispoli (WCAS '11) is the founder and 'Chief Doorman' of Campus Doorman, intended to make moving into an apartment a 1-click process by designing, purchasing, delivering, assembling, and staging all of your furniture and home goods before you arrive, turning an unfurnished apartment into a completely move-in ready apartment.
Scheduled for March 30, 2017, at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall on Northwestern's Evanston campus, Cupid's Cup is moving away from the University of Maryland campus for the first time in its 12-year history. The annual event will rotate to other schools in the future, but competition officials called Northwestern the perfect launch point for a new era of growth.
Northwestern News: NU To Host Business Competition Launched By Under Armour CEO
Be there.
— Christian Crosby (@ChristianCrosby) February 6, 2017
MAR 30 • 2017 @CupidsCup FINALS Northwestern University's Pick-Staiger Concert Hall (Yes, that's my voice) ?? pic.twitter.com/qiYWhTlu9x
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