Toni Akintola, a junior at the University of Notre Dame, is set to face off against the best student entrepreneurs in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) in pursuit of the ACC InVenture Prize. The competition will take place on Notre Dame's campus on April 2, 2025.

Click here to reserve tickets to the event.

Akintola, a computer science and economics major, is also an entrepreneur-in-residence at venture capital firm Neo. He will pitch Èxodo, a platform that helps connect migrant workers, blue-collar workers, and refugees to job opportunities that will allow them to improve life for themselves and their families.

Akintola began work on Èxodo during his second year at Notre Dame alongside Carlos Espinoza Banegas, a 2022 graduate of Notre Dame's Master of Entrepreneurship, Technology, and Innovation (ESTEEM) program.

When Akintola arrived at Notre Dame, he had a strong background in competitive speech and debate but was worried about the technical prowess required for working in the tech industry. He credits Notre Dame's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem with helping him develop mastery early on.

"I was a bit insecure because it didn't feel like I had any hard skills. And I'd always admired people who were technical and who understood math, science, and technology, and could use it to their advantage. And the IDEA Center and its programs were there to get me plugged in right away."

Like the popular television show Shark Tank, the ACC InVenture Prize features live feedback from an expert panel of judges. This year's expert judges include Sri Divakaruni, Vice President Of Global Business Development at Rhizome; Gaming and Web3 guru M. Cole Jones; and Adrienne Watson, Chief Scientific Officer at World Precision Instruments and founder of Therillume.

The event will be hosted by Faith Salie, an Emmy-winning contributor to CBS News Sunday Morning and a regular panelist on NPR’s Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me!

Although this year is Notre Dame's first opportunity to host the ACC InVenture Prize, Notre Dame teams have an established record of success in the competition. During last year’s competition, Notre Dame students Luke Blazek and Brian George brought home the People's Choice Award for Routora, a navigation and wayfinding app that prioritizes sustainable travel.

When asked what it means to compete as Notre Dame hosts the ACC InVenture Prize for the first time, Akintola emphasizes the future—not just for him and Èxodo but for entrepreneurship at Notre Dame.

"Notre Dame is a uniquely mission-driven place. But that doesn't mean our aspirations or innovations should be small," he says. "I don't see why we can't be the next Silicon Valley—the next hub for innovation and talent and young innovators who want to swing for the fences."

People’s Choice Voting for the 2025 ACC InVenture Prize opens on Monday, March 31 at 12:01 AM and closes after the last team presents — at approximately 7:45 PM on April 2. To cast your vote for Akintola, text ND to 415-965-7445.

Contact:

Brett Beasley / Research Content Strategy Program Director

Notre Dame Research / University of Notre Dame

bbeasle1@nd.edu / +1 574-631-8183

research.nd.edu / @UNDResearch

About Notre Dame Research:

The University of Notre Dame is a private research and teaching university inspired by its Catholic mission. Located in South Bend, Indiana, its researchers are advancing human understanding through research, scholarship, education, and creative endeavor in order to be a repository for knowledge and a powerful means for doing good in the world. For more information, please see research.nd.edu or @UNDResearch.