July 18, 2025
Every great business starts with an idea, and the Get Started: Business Idea Challenge is helping turn it into reality. Here’s a list of the July awardees who secured up to $500 in non-equity funding.
Etched Coaching empowers high-potential, under-recognized women to step into leadership roles with confidence and clarity. Often, women feel invisible in workplaces that fail to see, hear, or value them, driving many to leave corporate environments entirely. Etched Coaching challenges this reality by equipping women with the emotional intelligence and leadership skills to thrive and make a meaningful impact.
ForteBCI is creating a headband that lets users create music using only their thoughts. By detecting brain activity through sensors, it translates imagined musical pitches into sound with machine learning for a hands-free way to make music. Designed to empower individuals — especially those with physical or neurological limitations — ForteBCI opens new possibilities for creative expression, neurotherapy, and education.
LaunchWith is a nonprofit that helps students gain hands-on entrepreneurial experience by building teams or joining existing projects. It provides structured project management tools, mentorship, and a collaborative workspace to guide students through forming teams, building MVPs, and learning how real startups operate. By connecting people with ideas to strong mentors, and offering structure and support, LaunchWith helps turn promising ideas into reality.
Letters From Gisselle is a monthly correspondence set that eliminates the hassle of sourcing materials and makes letter writing easy, personal, and consistent. People who love sending letters can save time and money, benefitting from original stationery, envelopes, stamps, and pen pal matching. Letters From Gisselle simplifies and delivers a complete, ready-to-send kit each month, keeping the experience fresh and consistent.
Mad Moth Fitness is a collaborative health and wellness space bringing modern fitness solutions to rural communities. Founded by a certified trainer, it offers specialized strength and conditioning programs to students, expecting mothers, and athletes. With dynamic classes, personal training, and an emphasis on accessibility, Mad Moth empowers youth and the broader community to thrive physically and mentally.
Picklefab brings a fresh and feminine touch to the fastest-growing sport in America, creating pickleball gear that’s as stylish as it is functional. Designed with women in mind, Picklefab’s paddles feature smaller handles for a better fit and a gritty surface for enhanced performance, along with unique and colorful designs. Paired with sleek, practical bags, Picklefab fills a gap in a market dominated by masculine gear, allowing women to play with confidence, comfort, and flair.
Queen Snowcraft is redefining backcountry snowboarding with the lightest and fastest-transitioning hardboot splitboard binding on the market. The modular system integrates with standard splitboards and uses the same hardware for both uphill and downhill. By shedding weight and complexity, Queen Snowcraft delivers an intuitive, powerful ride that makes the backcountry more accessible for newcomers and more efficient for seasoned riders.
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.