HSNVC winning team to make cameo appearance at the NVC Finals
Shreyas Rao and Sohan De, winners of the 2026 High School New Venture Challengepowered by FirstBank, hold their check along with Adam Ingersoll, Market President, FirstBank Boulder County. Photo credit: Jack Moody
AquaPuckthe winning team from the 2026 High School New Venture Challenge (HSNVC)powered by FirstBankwill make a cameo appearance at the New Venture Challenge Finals on Wednesday, April 22, presenting to a live audience at the Boulder Theater.
AquaPuck was selected first out of the six finalist teams for an innovative idea to develop a "puck" that attaches to a water bottle and connects to an app via bluetooth to help users track and meet water consumption goals and prevent dehydration. AquaPuck has applied for a provisional patent and pledged to donate a percentage of their profits to The Water Project, a nonprofit organization bringing safe water to people in Kenya.
Ninety teams from 14 regional high schools competed in this years HSNVC, and nearly 60 judges participated across the three levels of competition. This is an incredible testament to the strong innovation and entrepreneurship community support of this pivotal program, said Leah Jean Shafer, program manager for CU Boulders Innovation & Entrepreneurship Initiative.
HSNVC is an exciting spin-off of CU Boulders nationally recognized New Venture Challenge, designed specifically for Colorado high school students in support of entrepreneurial learning. The six finalist teams represented the following schools: Denver Jewish Day School, Epic Campus Kent Denver School, Littleton High School, Stargate Charter School and VALEVenture Academy of Leadership and Entrepreneurship.