September 18, 2025
Every great business begins with an idea, and the Get Started: Business Idea Challenge helps turn those ideas into reality. This month’s event added a new twist — welcoming past winners back to compete for an additional $2,500 on top of the $500 microgrant they received in prior months. Here are the six companies that earned additional funding to advance their missions.
A La Card pairs the nostalgia of classic recipe cards with the convenience of modern grocery shopping. Each beautifully crafted card offers a kitchen-tested recipe and a QR code that opens a prefilled online grocery cart with every ingredient you need. Packed in a high-quality wooden box, each card features two recipes that share ingredients to simplify meal planning, save money, and reduce food waste.
With its initial funding, A La Card prototyped card designs, increased box inventory, and obtained a branding iron. Since participating in the June event, the founder has advanced product photography, built Instacart QR integration, and tested with early users.
Benchmark Body Metrics delivers a complete picture of health and performance through medical-grade testing using DEXA scans, metabolic analyzers, blood panels, and strength and mobility assessments. By turning precise data into actionable insights, the team helps clients lose weight, build muscle, and boost athletic performance with tailored strategies to measure, optimize, and achieve their goals.
Using the $500 earned during February’s event, Benchmark Body Metrics purchased a bike trainer — enabling cyclists to bring their own bikes in to perform VO2 max tests, which gauge cardiovascular efficiency.
Dyno Outfitters is Vernal’s premier gear rental shop, doubling as a guide service dedicated to the Ashley Gorge Via Ferrata. Meeting the Uintah Basin’s growing demand for outdoor adventure, Dyno Outfitters offers tours, equipment rentals, and retail gear — providing locals and visitors the expertise and support to enjoy a world-class climbing experience safely.
After receiving the $500 microgrant, Dyno Outfitters obtained a commercial liability insurance policy, an essential step that allowed it to operate guided via ferrata tours legally. This made it possible to begin bookings, train guides, and officially launch services for the 2025 season.
Hive Dynamics, a student-led startup, is developing Hornet — a reusable, autonomous AI-powered drone system built for large-scale defense missions. By pairing affordable hardware with advanced software, Hornet can deploy agile swarms that deliver cruise-missile-level impact at a fraction of the cost of other military systems.
Since participating in the August event, the company has nearly completed its prototype redesign and is preparing to begin flight testing by the end of September 2025.
Queen SNOWWORKS is redefining backcountry snowboarding with the fastest-transitioning hardboot binding on the market. The system integrates with standard splitboards and uses the same hardware for uphill and downhill. By shedding bulk without compromising quality, Queen SNOWWORKS delivers an intuitive, powerful ride that makes the backcountry more accessible.
Using its initial $500 funding, Queen SNOWWORKS built a low-fidelity prototype. This milestone informed R&D strategy and set the stage for refining the design and producing high-fidelity prototypes for backcountry testing this fall 2025.
RACKD Systems offers an out-of-the-box ski and snowboard rack that keeps gear safe in the bed of any truck — no installation or extra equipment required. Its rotating legs adjust to ensure a secure, seamless hold, protecting skis and boards from dings, scratched top sheets, and dulled edges on the way to and from the mountain.
Since obtaining funding in April, RACKD Systems has completed several product development milestones, including reducing the cost of goods. This allows it to be more competitive by creating plastic-molded parts rather than parts cut by a CNC system.
Apply for your chance to participate in the Get Started: Business Idea Challenge, or learn how to start your business and join Utah’s vibrant startup community.
The information in this article is current as of the publishing date and is intended for informational purposes only. This article does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal, tax, or business advice. Any resources and organizations mentioned, unless an entity of or a partner of the state of Utah, are not formally endorsed by the Startup State Initiative or state of Utah.