At Fetch, we believe bold ideas can spark meaningful change. That belief is what inspired the Defeat the Odds Pitch Competition, now in its second year. After launching last year as a Massachusetts-based high school initiative, the competition has expanded nationwide and opened eligibility to college students across the U.S..

The goal remains the same: to give student entrepreneurs a platform to showcase their ideas, gain mentorship and pitch their businesses to a panel of seasoned judges. Over the past several weeks, our finalists have sharpened their pitches through clinics and one-on-one mentorship with Fetch leaders.

Now, meet the five finalist ventures pushing boundaries and shaping what’s next.

Finalist 1: Métopi – Rescue inhalers redesigned for real life

Founded by Miles Lanham, a student at the University of Virginia, Métopi is reimagining inhaled emergency drug delivery. Their innovation, the Portahaler, is a compact, wearable, and ultra-accessible inhaler platform that ensures patients are never without life-saving medication when they need it most. Traditional inhalers are bulky, wasteful and not always accessible, leaving patients vulnerable during emergencies. The Portahaler is 60% smaller, wearable and available in multi-pack prescriptions—making medication more reliable, safer and cost-effective. Miles was inspired by personal experiences with asthma and by witnessing a teammate’s life-threatening attack, and through Métopi he is determined to bring long-overdue innovation to a stagnant industry.

Finalist 2: Finexus Software – Gamifying financial literacy for students

Gabby Lopes, from Babson College, founded Finexus to make financial education engaging and effective. After research revealed that secondary students scored just 56% on basic finance quizzes and teachers found existing tools boring and ineffective, Gabby designed a platform that uses interactive storytelling and decision-making to teach money management skills. Growing up in a low-income household herself, she knows firsthand the stakes of financial insecurity and wanted to build something accessible, engaging and empowering for all students, not just the privileged few. Finexus transforms dry lessons into immersive experiences with real-world consequences, helping students build confidence and knowledge that will stay with them for life.

Finalist 3: ClaimReady – AI-powered support for families after disaster

At the University of Wisconsin–Madison, Smyan Vinu, along with Arnav Mohanty, Jayanth Balu, Aditya Parekh and Soham Kundu, created ClaimReady, an AI-powered platform that simplifies the insurance claims process after natural disasters. Inspired by the devastation of wildfires and floods, the team wanted to help families avoid the stressful and time-consuming process of documenting and valuing their belongings during a crisis. ClaimReady allows users to upload photos of their homes, then leverages computer vision and real-time market data to automatically detect, identify and value items in minutes—reducing a process that once took more than 20 hours to just a few clicks. Their mission is to help families focus on rebuilding, not paperwork, and they’ve already launched a demo.

Finalist 4: BoxMate – Affordable student storage, right on campus

Jenil Makwana, also from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, founded BoxMate after experiencing the high costs and inefficiencies of student storage firsthand. As an international student, Jenil once paid more than $1,000 for storage while noticing that friends had unused space in their apartments. That frustration became the spark for BoxMate, a peer-to-peer marketplace that connects students needing summer storage with those who have extra room nearby. The platform offers transparent per-item pricing, easy booking and a streamlined process that benefits both sides. By solving both the storage and subleasing problem, Jenil is building a service that saves students money while turning empty apartments into income opportunities.

Finalist 5: Hygeia Vending LLC – Redefining campus hygiene with confidence and convenience

Isaiah Joseph, from American University, launched Hygeia Vending to make hygiene products more accessible, convenient and student-driven. He noticed how often his peers forgot or ran out of personal care essentials, and he wanted to create a solution that was both practical and engaging. Hygeia offers customizable hygiene packages through vending machines and pop-up events, letting students select the products they actually want while also encouraging campus engagement through partnerships with student organizations. Isaiah’s vision is to empower students to feel confident, look their best and build a sense of community through something as simple as access to everyday essentials.

What’s at stake

Finalists won’t just gain visibility and mentorship—they’ll be competing for top prizes to help fuel their ventures:

• 1st Place: $15,000, as well as 1:1 mentorship with Fetch CEO & Founder Wes Schroll
• 2nd Place: $5,000
• 3rd Place: $2,500

Join us at the finale

The Defeat the Odds Pitch Competition finale will be held on Friday, September 19, from 3:00–6:00 p.m. ET at the UMass Club in Boston, MA. RSVP here to be part of this inspiring evening!

We can’t wait to see which idea rises to the top—and how each of these student founders will continue making an impact long after the competition ends.