Red Bull Launchpad Announces Winner of National Collegiate Start-Up Contest: App-Connected Ring That Turns Color from Any Physical Object Into Sound

Competition Gives Collegiate Start-Up Specdrums Wings to Attend Prestigious TechCrunch Disrupt Event in San Francisco

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Sep 13, 2017, 08:02 ET

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Sept. 13, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- University of Colorado Boulder grad student and Co-founder/CEO of Specdrums, Steven Dourmashkin, has been named winner of Red Bull Launchpad, a program introduced last spring to give wings to collegiate entrepreneurs and their ideas. The program, now in its second iteration, provides college students with a platform to cultivate innovative concepts into reality while providing access to people and events that will increase their exposure and help them grow.

For winning the digital pitch-off portion of Red Bull Launchpad, Dourmashkin was awarded a coveted spot for Specdrums to exhibit in the Startup Battlefield at the upcoming TechCrunch Disrupt, September 18 through 20 in San Francisco. His team will also be provided access to several networking events and given an opportunity to develop future content that spotlights the products.

Growing up as a drummer and gearing up for his undergraduate college years at Cornell University, Dourmashkin became motivated to develop an extremely portable drumming machine. Realizing the most accessible, reliable solution possible would be to use color to create a virtual drum set out of any physical object, he invented Specdrums, app-connected rings that turn the world's colors into a personal sound machine, allowing people of all ages and musical backgrounds to create beats and melodies by tapping on anything with color.

"My entire team and I are so thrilled to win Red Bull Launchpad and thankful for the amazing opportunity to showcase Specdrums among some of the tech industry's top innovators," says Dourmashkin. "Things have been moving very fast lately with the success of our Kickstarter campaign, and Red Bull is really taking that to the next level by setting us up to attend Disrupt."

College undergraduate and graduate degree students were invited to submit a 90 second video showcasing their business or product idea for a chance to be a part of the Red Bull Launchpad program that features a trip to San Francisco and an opportunity to join other top entrepreneurs at the TechCrunch Disrupt Battlefield. An expert panel of judges — including Chad Campbell, head of marketing, WeWork; Joey Hinson, AOL Tech director of operations; Amanda Signorelli, CEO, Techweek; Ryan Kelly, senior marketing manager, Hyperloop One; and John Mannes, TechCrunch journalist specializing in machine learning and AI — selected Specdrums as this fall's winner from a field of over 100 creative entrepreneurial entries including representatives from Harvard, MIT, Stanford, and Lehigh.

"The collegiate level is ripe with innovation and entrepreneurship, and the submissions we received for Red Bull Launchpad were no exception," adds WeWork's Campbell. "While there were many strong contenders, we ultimately selected Specdrums as the winner because their innovation has the potential to change the way people create, consume and learn music. We're excited to see the Specdrums team compete on a national platform at Disrupt, and ultimately leverage resources provided by the Red Bull Launchpad program to scale their start-up."

Previous winners, Virginia Tech students David Hall and Jordan Klein of Park and Diamond, gained access to the prestigious Disrupt event in New York last spring for their stylized yet collapsible bike helmet.

Co-founder Hall commented, "In addition to the business relationships we forged and the hands-on experience we obtained through the TechCrunch Disrupt opportunity, we gained invaluable lessons and feedback on our marketing plan through our amazing connections with Red Bull. We have enjoyed countless opportunities that have accelerated our growth as entrepreneurs and which resulted from Red Bull Launchpad, from working with their marketing team to share our story to obtaining feedback on our design from their team of athletes. Red Bull gave our business wings and continues to be a catalyst to our success."

About Red Bull Launchpad
Red Bull Launchpad was developed in spring 2017 as a program to give wings to collegiate entrepreneurs and their ideas. The program provides college students with a platform to cultivate innovative concepts into reality while providing access to people and events that will increase their exposure and help them grow. To learn more visit launchpad.redbull.com.

SOURCE Red Bull