The first Lobo Venture Capital Cup concluded with an award ceremony on Apr. 26, granting up to $36,000 in prizes to top-performing student teams. The six-week competition allowed students to experience both building startups and acting as venture capital investors.
The event began with registration in late February, where students chose whether to participate as startup founders or venture capitalists. Teams worked with mentors from the community and industry who guided them through developing business strategies and investment approaches. These mentors also served as limited partners during the process.
During pitch day, startup teams presented their ideas and business models to the VC teams. The amount of funding they received from these student investors determined their prize money. Meanwhile, VC teams pitched their strategies to mentors for fund allocations before evaluating startups and making investment decisions. Cash prizes were awarded based on each team’s performance in either track.
Andoni Gajjo, an undergraduate at Anderson School of Management, created and organized the competition. “I loved seeing students from different majors coming together and building an idea with each person providing their own perspective. We ended up with so many different ideas that it was really astonishing to see,” said Andoni.
Rob DelCampo, senior executive director of Corporate and Community Engagement (CCE), supported the initiative after being approached by Andoni. “This competition empowers students to move beyond theory, develop critical skills like problem‑solving and teamwork, and see themselves as capable contributors to real change,” said DelCampo.
Six teams were recognized for excellence in startup pitches or investment strategy at the ceremony. Funding for the event came from the U.S. Small Business Administration.
Queue Skin—created by Rick Garcia and Loryn Montoya—received $4,700 for its concept and pitch performance among startups. “I chose to participate as a startup team because I had an idea for a company and also wanted to try something completely out of my comfort zone,” said Montoya, a third-year biology major.
Garcia added: “I have been wanting to do a pitch competition since fall 2025; however, up until now, I found the barrier to entry quite intimidating. The Lobo VC Cup showed me that the UNM and Albuquerque entrepreneurship community is very inviting, supportive, and motivating.”
G Ventures—Rocky Guerrero and Breanna Gutierrez—won first place among VCs with $10,000 awarded for strong analysis and vision. “My biggest takeaway from this competition was to put myself out there more… after the tournament I walked away with an extensive amount of knowledge,” said Gutierrez.
Guerrero reflected: “The most rewarding aspect of the competition was networking… including some of the mentors on the VC side.”
Looking ahead, Andoni hopes future competitions will expand further as he continues supporting new participants even after graduation.