On stage at Arizona State University’s SkySong campus, student entrepreneurs presented their market-ready business ventures, showcasing how Arizona’s public universities are helping students turn innovation into enterprise. Some pitched new approaches to improving health care delivery, and others shared their ideas to improve sustainability or new ways to use artificial intelligence to streamline everyday processes. Each venture shared a common goal, building something that can work and compete in the real world.
That entrepreneurial spirit is part of a broader shift taking place across Arizona’s public university campuses. During the second annual 2026 Inferno Invitational Startup Cup, student-led startups from founders at ASU, Northern Arizona University and the University of Arizona competed in a high-stakes pitch competition. Supported by a shared commitment to entrepreneurship championed by the Arizona Board of Regents, students competed for the chance to win up to $100,000 in funding from the ASU eSeed Challenge and the Prescott Student Venture Fund to help turn their early ideas into real-world businesses.
Regent Gregg Brewster was one of a panel of judges, which also included Daniela Santangelo, founder of Freeway, and Tony Wells, venture partner at Copper Sky Capital, evaluating the pitch presentations for their scalability and long-term impact. He spoke highly of the participants as each student team pitched their ideas into viable businesses.
