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Finalists announced for BIG Idea Competition, awards ceremony is Dec. 10

By    -     November 26, 2025 in Education, News   Reading Time: 2 minutes

Finalists have been selected for the 2025 BIG Idea Competition.

The aim of the annual event is to get high school students to think about business opportunities. Students develop and pitch their business ideas as they vie for prizes totaling $55,000 in cash and scholarships to Northern State University, Dakota State University in Madison and the University of South Dakota in Vermillion.

There are South Dakota and out-of-state categories. All finalists will be interviewed before an awards ceremony on Wednesday, Dec. 10 in the Johnson Fine Arts Center at Northern State University. Out-of-state interviews are done virtually.

The in-state finalists are:

  • Elyana Roach of Aberdeen Roncalli High School for Shearing Excellence.
  • Bella Unser of Ipswich High School for B’s Boutiques.
  • Max Lauseng, Chris McCormick and Kolbe Mohling of Watertown High School for Sizzle Shakk.
  • Brynn Kindlespire of Tri-Valley High School for Bloom.
  • Mace McGregor and Bentley Miotke of Webster High School for Pretty Paws Staycation.
  • Dean Castellanom and Bennett Woolverton of Warner High School for Dakota Detailing.
  • Ashley Bubacz of Watertown High School for The Hair Lair.
  • Rylan Huggett of Webster High School for Set + Play.

Out-of-state finalists include:

  • Karthik Pasupuleti and Nitish Nattudurai of American High School in California for Nourishly.
  • Ayush Dadgale and Hasini Manne of Brookfield East High School in Wisconsin for WheyMaker.
  • Aadi Raut and Zihaan Wang of Green Hope High School in North Carolina for Psyche.
  • Arnav Rajeev of McNeil High School in Texas for SignaLink.
  • Shalmi Sen and Shresta Dadani of Coppell High School in Texas for PrepHeart.
  • Taylen Li, Mason Hu and Hugo Ho of Winston Churchill High School in Maryland of EcoGrid.
  • Aditya Herekar and Karan Verma of John P. Stevens High School in New Jersey for Naturista Coffee Pods.
  • Rithu Kannan of Independence High School in Texas for Pulse+.

First place in each category receives $1,000 cash and a $2,500 scholarship to Northern, Dakota State or USD. Second place is good for $500 and a $2,000 scholarship to any of the schools. Third-place winners earn $250 and a $1,000 scholarship to NSU, and fourth through eighth places get $100 and a $1,000 scholarship to Northern.

There are also four categories open to only South Dakota entrants — wellness, hometown business, agriculture innovation and the Maker’s Award. Each winner gets $500 and a $500 scholarship to Northern State.