Fetch Fuel, an electrolyte mix developed to help working and sporting dogs stay hydrated, took home the top prize at the UGA Entrepreneurship Program’s Venture Prize Competition.

The $10,000 prize will help founders — Terry economics student Harrison McMahan and finance student Campbell Moore — commission the first manufacturing run of the canine water additive. They’ve developed a formula, found their market, and created a sales website — now all they need is a product.   

“Our roadmap is pretty straightforward,” McMahan told the Venture Prize judges. “When talking to manufacturers, it’s clear we need more capital to make a custom formulation … Once we get that first batch done, however, we can sell direct to consumers on a website we’ve already created.” 

Moore and McMahon were inspired to create Fetch Fuel after McMahon lost his dog to dehydration. They hope active and working dogs and dogs recovering from illness will benefit from the dog hydration mix. 

In addition to Fetch Fuel, judges recognized student organization service Syl Campus — founded by recent Terry management graduate Maahir Murad and management information systems student Huzaifah Malik — with the $5,000 second place prize. 

Skyfall Space — a small satellite company founded by UGA Engineering seniors Grant Baumann and Ben Pumphrey — earned third place and $2,500. They’ll use the money to continue building a prototype of their space junk-capturing mini satellite. 

Judges for this year’s Venture Prize competition included Tra Williams (BS ’95), founder of FleetForce professional driving school; Angie Burge (BA ’17), founder of English Village Lane rug designers; Justin Seibert (BS ’02), cofounder of Sign Bros., and Preston Davis, a partner at Evoce Capital. 

In addition to the winners, six other student-run startups competed on Thursday, including: 

• BedDot, a smart hospital bed company cofounded by Terry finance student Austin Song and computer science student John Song 

• Eagle Grip Golf, a fun golf glove brand founded by Terry finance student Charles Kuntz and management student Vraj Patel 

• KB Skin, a skincare brand founded by political science student Kayla Calloway 

• KM Scoring, a movie and media soundtrack and scoring company founded by recent music and computer science graduate Kayla McGuinn 

• Niche Supplements, a better-for-you pre-workout supplement founded by finance student Wyatt McAvoy 

• Sharpe Media, a chain of locally focused newsletters aimed at connecting people to events and activities in their cities, was founded by MIS and finance student Andrew Sharpe 

This is the fifth year that Atlanta-based hard flooring retail chain Floor and Décor has sponsored the UGA Venture Prize Competition. 

The mission of the UGA Entrepreneurship Program is to help develop the mindset of future entrepreneurs and prepare students for business leadership roles. UGA Entrepreneurship Program accelerators are open to UGA students and Athens community members.