Meal Mode won the top prize in Towson University’s fourth annual College Cup. Developed by Tamsir Toure ‘26 and Ahmed Satti ‘24, Meal Mode provides healthy, delicious lunches for kids through a seamless, reliable school lunch service, eliminating the barriers schools face in meal delivery.
The father and son duo took home a cash prize of $10,000 to put towards their venture and won a spot in the 2025 StarTUp Accelerator, where they will join several other founders for eight weeks to collaborate and accelerate their ventures.
Watch Meal Mode’s winning pitch
About the Towson University College Cup
The College Cup is a university-wide challenge offered through the StarTUp at the Armory, TU’s award-winning entrepreneurship and business engagement hub. The pitch competition is open to undergraduate and graduate students from all seven of Towson University’s colleges and helps them bring their ideas and innovations to life.
This year, 28 student-led ventures applied to participate in the 2025 College Cup. Once accepted, the student entrepreneurs attend mandatory programming at the StarTUp including a bootcamp, a “learn to pitch” classroom session, and other sessions designed to help students succeed on their entrepreneurial journey.
“The College Cup epitomizes what it’s like to be a student founder, balancing course work, social obligations, and a dream to bring your ideas to reality,” said Leari Jones, programming and business specialist at the StarTUp at the Armory, who manages the College Cup.
“Over the past few months I’ve encountered TU alumni and community members who wished that opportunities similar to tonight’s College Cup existed when they were starting their entrepreneurial journey. This sentiment drives the work we do here at the StarTUp and proves the power behind this competition.”
Eventually, 16 ventures made it to the College Cup Pitch Event, where six ventures pitched their ideas for a chance to win $10,000 to put towards their business idea. In addition to Meal Mode, those included:
- SneakerSyncLabs, developed by Hermes Bunch, uses AI to revolutionize sneaker reselling by providing real-time data and automated tools that give resellers a competitive edge. Bunch recently won $50,000 for his venture at the Maryland Intercollegiate Student Venture Showcase and inaugural Pava LaPere Innovation Awards.
- Earth’s Groove, developed by Layla Morgan, provides high-quality herbal tea blends and interactive workshops, creating a space for holistic herbal education.
- Draftspire, developed by Makayla Mitchell, is a graphic design platform that empowers users to easily create, customize, and sell digital planners, eliminating the need for traditional paper planners.
- Palava Hut, developed by Daniel Kai, is a next-generation civic engagement platform designed to bridge the gap between citizens and policymakers through AI-powered policy insights, transparent fact-checking, and community-driven decision-making.
- StudyWise, developed by Bishop Ezeigbo Akalusi, Bria Reeves, George Coutoulakis, and Grace Hardy, is a digital student companion that helps students manage their academic life by organizing classes, assignments, and deadlines for a clear overview of their workload. The StudyWise team recently won the first TU MakerFest competition for their prototype in November 2024.
Four other ventures won $600 each for their ventures:
- Campus Connect, Derek Knight and Xavier Sabree
- CourseSight, Manyaka Anjorin, Olamide Abegunde, Oluwagbenro Oluwalade, and Tiwalayo Oluwalade
- M-Brace, Maytal Fleisher
- Mini Tech, Leule Yonas
- The VSNRY Dept., Elijah Brantley
Five others each were awarded $250. Those included: Impact in Motion, Alphonso Faltz Jr; Likoudis Legacy Foundation, Andrew Likoudis; MyLife Academy, Macarious Adjingbaruk; and Take Mine, Giancarlo Colloca.
The TU College Cup is just one way the StarTUp at the Armory helps TU students to build and grow entrepreneurship mindsets, connections, and startups through competitions, events, and other programs.
