Computer science student wins BizPitch Competition

This is the second year in a row that a CSE has taken home the top prize

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (05/15/2026) - Kanav Gupta, an international student from India in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, won the 2026 University of Minnesota BizPitch Competition. This is the second year in a row that a College of Science and Engineering (CSE) student has taken the top prize at the competition.

BizPitch is a University-run competition where undergraduate students have an opportunity to present a new business idea to a panel of entrepreneurs and investors. The 90-second presentation is similar to the TV show, “Shark Tank.”

Gupta won the grand prize, which came with a check for $2,000. In the Q+A below, Gupta talks about his experience in the BizPitch competition and what inspired Gotix, the company he presented.

Tell us about Gotix, the company you presented. 

Gotix is a peer-to-peer ticket marketplace built exclusively for verified Big Ten college students. I actually launched the first version as GopherTicket.com, and it grew organically to 100K views and 1,500 monthly active users without any paid marketing. The most consistent feedback I got was that people wanted a mobile app with a streamlined experience, so I rebuilt it from the ground up.

Why did you want to pitch Gotix?

Gotix solves a problem I ran into firsthand. Buying and selling tickets as a college student is messy and full of scams. I knew the market, I knew the pain point, and I'd already proven there was demand. It felt like the right story to tell.

What was the experience like participating in BizPitch? 

Truly exhilarating! Distilling months of work into 90 seconds in front of a live audience that forces you to summarize all your hard work, progress and your product within that short span.

What did you learn from the process? 

Momentum is everything early on. The traction GopherTicket got before I had a polished product showed me that a real problem, even with a rough solution, moves people. That validated the rebuild.

Why did you choose the University of Minnesota? 

The University of Minnesota has a strong computer science program and a genuinely tight-knit student entrepreneurship community. It felt like the right place to build. I wanted to attend a campus integrated within a city, offering access to all the resources a metropolitan area provides. The University of Minnesota campus was the right choice.

Story by Kalie Pluchel

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