Igniting Entrepreneurship of Students and Recent Alumni of Oregon Tech
Oregon Tech’s Catalyze Klamath Challenge has been a huge success for student competitors and the Klamath Falls community. Over the past nine years, student/alumni teams have competed for over $100,000 in prize money and services. The 2023 event was made possible through generous sponsorship and donations from AVISTA, the City of Klamath Falls, Klamath County, Klamath County Economic Development Association (KCEDA), Klamath IDEA, Oregon Small Business Development Center, Sky Lakes Office of Strategy & Innovation, VertueLab, and the Wendt Family Foundation.
Catalyze Klamath aims to support business ideas and/or fledgling entrepreneurial activity from any field of study that produces a new idea, product, or service that could become a thriving business in Klamath Falls and has the potential for job growth in rural Oregon.
2024-25 Schedule of Events
| Event | Date | Location | Additional Information |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kick-Off | Nov 20, 2024 5:00-6:00 pm | CEET Upper Lobby | This is a hosted event for students, faculty, staff, and community members to learn about the contest and begin to form teams |
| Pre-Registration Team Formation | Jan 22, 2025 5:00-6:00 pm | CEET 208 | This is a hosted event for all prospective contestants to meet and network with potential team members as well as register for the event |
| Catalyze Team Registration | Jan 24, 2025 | Team registration is due at 5:00pm | |
| Catalyze Team Meet and Greet | Feb 5, 2025 5:00-6:00 pm | CEET 208 | This is a hosted event for all teams to meet with the Catalyze Klamath mentor network and learn about available external resources |
| Preliminary Concept Submission | Feb 14, 2025 | Preliminary concept submission is due at 5:00pm | |
| Shark Tech Venture Pitch Contest | March 5, 2025 | CU Auditorium | This event will also serve to select finalists (if needed). Mandatory for all teams |
| Catalyze Klamath Falls Challenge Contest | April 24, 2025 | CU Auditorium | Teams compete in front of a panel of judges for the PRIZES! A list of judges, prizes and final details will be posted prior to the competition |
Winning teams are awarded cash prizes to invest in start-up costs and ignite project development, or to share among the Team.
Catalyze Winners
2024 Winner: FairPlay Challenge FairPlay Challenge offers escape room kits for educators in Klamath County and City School Districts. These kits create exciting challenges where students solve puzzles to escape. Designed for classrooms, they're easy to set-up, reuse, and customize. The goal of FairPlay Challenge escape room kits is to provide educators with interactive, engaging learning activities, guiding K-12 students through non-traditional subjects such as anti-bullying, drug and alcohol cessation, nutrition, and more. |
2024 Winner: Automatic Field Tourniquet Ancile Systems created the AFT (Automatic Tourniquet) to help people during emergencies. It's easier to use than traditional tourniquets because you just slide it on and press a button. Using advanced technology and blood flow data, the device automatically constricts until it stops the bleeding entirely. This simplicity makes it suitable for a wide range of users, including the elderly, children, and individuals with disabilities. |
Thank You Sponsors
In The News
But first, students participating in the Fourth annual Catalyze Klamath competition tested their project’s mettle with a panel of “Shark Tech” judges Wednesday.