Students Turn Ideas Into Impact at the 2025 SMERD Pitch Competition

Peyton Lecher ’27 remembers the feeling of connection she felt the first time music changed her life. A concert, a community, and a U2 song that became “a bracelet I still wear every day” were the foundation for The Matilda Mission, the first-place venture in the The Pompea College of Business’ 2025 SMERD Pitch Competition, an annual competition for aspiring entrepreneurs at the University of New Haven. Both the first- and second-place winners also received prize funding ($6,000 and $4,000 respectively) to support the next stage of their entrepreneurial journeys.

“It all started with wanting to hold onto that magic,” she said.

For Peyton, a Music Industry major, the idea grew from a simple personal ritual into a mission grounded in empathy. She noticed how many people “hide their interests and emotions for fear of standing out or burdening others,” and she saw an opportunity to offer something meaningful.

As she refined her business idea, the competition became the first time she ever shared her story publicly Her business centers on custom-made bracelets and jewelry that reflect a personal connection to music and emotion, “to empower others and promote happiness by creating wearable reminders of what makes them happy.”

Building The Matilda Mission meant creating new business habits, especially when it came to finances and inventory. Peyton admitted that managing both personal and business expenses was a challenge early on, especially as she worked to establish her LLC.

“I learned about finances and inventory,” she said. “Writing down each purchase, tracking receipts, and keeping a record of every product sold helps me stay under budget.”

Keeping detailed documentation not only strengthened her operations, but it also helped her adapt quickly when something felt off. “It allows me to identify when something is missing or a bracelet is unaccounted for,” she said.

Participating in the SMERD Pitch Competition brought another kind of growth. Preparing her pitch pushed her to step back, streamline her ideas, and articulate her goals with precision.

“It helped me better communicate what my business is trying to do,” she said. “As a business owner, you’re always looking for opportunities to connect with people and grow.”

Looking ahead, Peyton is excited for her next step: expanding The Matilda Mission online. “My next step is to create an Etsy page,” she said, noting that a broader reach will allow her to connect with customers beyond Fairfield County. “I plan to apply the skills I’ve learned in marketing to design a page that’s inviting and showcases my story.”

Second-place winner Prashna Limbu ’26 M.S., a graduate student in Finance & Financial Analytics, can trace the origin of her business, Inklr, back to one quiet winter afternoon.

“I was staring at my resume and thinking about all the dashboards, models, and projects I’d created,” she said. “And then it hit me: why am I trying to show my skills on one sheet of paper when I’ve already built so much?”

What began as a personal frustration turned into a universal one. Prashna reached out to friends and family across Bhutan, Australia, and the UK, and nearly every person she spoke to shared the same challenge.

“Everyone told me they faced the same struggle,” she said. “It was such a basic problem that people often overlook.”

Inklr aims to change that as a unified platform where students, creators, and professionals can store work, build a portfolio, and even monetize their projects. “That’s how Inklr came to life,” she said.

As she built her idea, Prashna discovered a fundamental truth about entrepreneurship. “Innovation doesn’t always come from dramatic, flashy problems,” she said. “It often starts with small frustrations and finding a better way to fix them.”

Despite her strong analytical skillset, Prashna admitted that presenting ideas in front of others didn’t come naturally. “Talking to people takes a lot out of me,” she said. But the SMERD Pitch Competition challenged that.

“The competition showed me that entrepreneurship isn’t just about solving problems,” she said. “It’s also about sharing your vision in the simplest way possible.”

Now, Prashna is focused on building a fully functional prototype of Inklr and preparing it for testing across several countries before its official launch. Her goal is to scale through academic influencers, student clubs, and universities.

“One step at a time,” she said. “That persistence has made all the difference.”

And as she continues to grow her venture, she keeps one lesson close: “By learning to understand people better, I know I’ll uncover even more real problems and hopefully create meaningful solutions in the future.”