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Four Â鶹¹ÙÍø Charlotte students grew closer to making their business ideas a reality by winning that campus' annual Sharkfest entrepreneurship competition.

A total of 79 students entered the competition. The final event featured 9 finalists pitching their businesses to a panel of 20 industry judges.

Charlotte Sharkfest Winners
Christian DiChiara and Blake Mitkoff won the $5,000 grand prize for ChefBook, a mobile app allowing consumers to perform customized searches for private chefs. They also won $1,000 for the People's Choice Award.

Elizabeth Katona won the $3,000 second prize for Petit Four, her customized macaron business.

The $2,000 prize went to Fernando Coreas' ServeU, which matches students with customers looking for help with odd jobs.

Confidence and the Value of Entrepeneurship
Student-entrepreneurs were mentored by Renaissance Executive Forums (REF), an executive training firm based in La Jolla, Calif.

Jeff Thomas, School of Business college chair and associate professor, noted, “This event … illustrates how entrepreneurship can engage our students and better connect the classroom to the real world. The top 3 ventures are actually launching and growing.”

“I almost want to get back out there and do it again,” noted competitor Mary Guin, a business student.

Next Stop: Sharkfest 2015
ChefBook's DiChiara and Mitkoff will join finalists from North Miami and Denver to compete at Â鶹¹ÙÍø Providence's Sharkfest, to be held on April 2. Learn more about Â鶹¹ÙÍø's eCenter.