2021 Governor’s Giant Vision winners announced

April 29, 2021

The Governor’s Giant Vision competition has recognized five startups with $40,000 in prize money.

The entrepreneurial business competition, which is in its 17th year, is hosted by the South Dakota Chamber of Commerce & Industry.

The following winners were selected as this year’s entrepreneurial standouts.

Business competition

First place, winning $20,000: Hydrolyst LLC,  a process to reduce the production cost and life span of electrocatalysts used in hydrogen fuel cells, founded by Kirstie Gildemeister and Kelsey Fitzgerald, Rapid City.

Second place, winning $10,000: Halogi Hot Sauce, a premium line of sauces, founded by Luke Davidson and Nick Curry of Brookings and White.

Tied for third place winning $4,000 each: Artic Sombrero, a unique lid designed to interface with 12-ounce canned beverages and replace the lid on a standard 30-ounce Yeti-style tumbler, and founded by Ron Heiman, Sioux Falls; and Sternum Protect, a device to assist with recovery after open chest surgeries, founded by Angel Rollag and Amanda Rollag, Sioux Falls.

Fifth place, winning $2,000: Shield Swift, a rapid deployable weather protection device for the motorcycle market, founded by Denise Robertson and Duane Langenfeld, Rapid City.

Sponsors of the Giant Vision Business Competition are Gov. Kristi Noem, Black Hills Energy, Christiansen Land & Cattle Ltd., Dacotah Bank, First Premier Bank/Premier Bankcard, MidAmerican Energy, Valley Queen Cheese Factory, Wheeler Manufacturing and Xcel Energy.

Student competition

This was the 15th year of a college student competition. Entries were received from across South Dakota. Following a thorough review of the original applications, nine finalists were selected to compete.  The winners of the student competition were:

First place, winning $5,000: Fomeno, a platform to connect thrift shoppers with online stores for specific items, founded by Brigit Blote and Payton Ryz, University of South Dakota.

Second place, winning $4,000: Prairie BioTechnology, extending the shelf life of fruit with a food preservative derived from an agricultural byproduct, founded by Matthew Cole, Logan Wolf, Nolan Lee and Jordan Traub-Jensen, South Dakota State University.

Third place, winning $3,000: Chi-X, biomaterials that address surgical and post-surgical bleeding, founded by Nghia Thai and Nhu Y Mai, South Dakota School of Mines & Technology.

Fourth place, winning $2,000: Lafdr, a “no photo” dating app matching users based on common interests, founded by Morgan Vagts and Debbie Liknes, South Dakota School of Mines & Technology.

Fifth place, winning $1,000, GreenLight Bionics, product development for treatment of amputees and impaired motor capability patients, founded by Marc-Antoine Niamba, Megan McCray and Alex Steinley, University of South Dakota.

Sponsors of the student competition are Gov. Kristi Noem, Citibank and South Dakota EPSCoR.

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 2021 Governor’s Giant Vision winners announced

The Governor’s Giant Vision competition recognized five startups with $40,000 in prize money.

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