Past StartUP! Year Winners

5th Annual Queens StartUP! Business Plan Competition Winners


1st Place Winner - $12,000

Doris Rivera Del Valle of Borough Excursions

Borough Excursions is a Queens-based tour company that will offer guests a new way to explore New York City through roads less traveled in each borough. There are many tour companies in New York City who take visitors to the usual hot spots including Rockefeller Center, Statue of Liberty and Central Park, but Borough Excursions will bring tourists to the outer boroughs and explore New York's hidden gems.


2nd Place Winner - $5,000

Sabine Toussaint of Treasure Trunx

Treasure Trunx Inc. is a new lingerie company that provides comfortable underwear for women of different proportions. This is an untapped niche market, specifically targeting women with a round derriere. Treasure Trunx will target an urban African American and Latina market, targeting women ages 16-50.


3rd Place Winner - $3,000

Rachel Thomas of Hope Tutoring

Hope Tutoring is an innovative tutoring service that focuses on helping students-at-risk of failing with a captivating game-based curriculum that makes the student smile as they learn. Tutoring, test preparation, and homework help sessions take place in the student's home or their local library. By combining a unique incentive program that includes fun field trips to cultural and community events with prizes, the student's desire to learn is enhanced through an exciting variety of experiences.


Merit Award Winners - $2,000

Carolyn Sevos from YouCake, Inc and Rashaun Donovan from Southside Warriors

YouCake, Inc is an online service for custom designing and personalizing cakes and cookies. YouCake toppers are 100% edible frosting sheets with printed images. YouCake enhances an existing popular consumer product into photo/picture cakes. A YouCake topper can be applied to any frosted cake, cookie, or cupcake to make a homemade or store bought dessert into a showstopper.

Southside Warriors Company provides services that unite physical fitness, martial arts, youth empowerment and hip-hop to push our youth and our communities to higher standards of physical, social and moral excellence. Southside Warriors has a dynamic physical training program engineered to bolster fitness, discipline, self-esteem and actualization for practitioners.