Encore CO2 and FarmSmarter.AI Named Top Winners at 2025 Nexus Technology Cup

More than $100,00 awarded to Louisiana’s leading innovators in business, higher education, and emerging talent from high schools

Baton Rouge, La. — Nexus Louisiana proudly announces the winners of the 2025 Nexus Technology Cup, a statewide innovation competition that awarded over $100,000 in non-dilutive funds to standout entrepreneurs, student-led ventures, and emerging high school innovators. Held at The Estuary in Baton Rouge, the multi-day event celebrated groundbreaking solutions in sustainability, artificial intelligence, and infrastructure security developed by teams from across the state.

Baton Rouge-based Encore CO₂, founded by Jordan Losavio and William McGehee, earned first place in the Open Track and was also honored with the Most Innovative Award, securing a combined total of $45,000. The company is leading efforts to build a circular carbon economy by transforming captured CO₂ into high-value consumer products—including pharmaceuticals, vitamins, clothing, shoes, and eyewear—while supporting zero-emission polymer manufacturing through the use of clean energy. Notably, Encore is using carbon emissions from a local brewery to produce the world’s first hard seltzer made from CO₂.

Second place in the Open Track was awarded to Unknown Cyber, a Lafayette-based team composed of professors from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, including Arun Lakhotia, James Hess, Lee Hubbard, Chris Thibodeaux, and Evan Vamperine. Their AI-driven platform provides genomic threat detection to help secure software supply chains and protect critical infrastructure with real-time, automated defense capabilities.

MilestoneMate, founded by Shay Claiborne of New Orleans, secured third place. The company’s digital platform supports early childhood development by helping parents and professionals track growth milestones, generate personalized recommendations, and streamline early intervention—all through a centralized, user-friendly experience.

Winners in the Open Track were selected from a group of 11 finalists, chosen from over 80 applicants. Judges for the competition included Ryan Williams, founder of Cadre and Baton Rouge native; Jason Varghese, designer and engineer at Amazon; and Karl Reid, PhD, author and executive director of the Engineering PLUS Alliance.

A standout moment of the event was the keynote fireside chat with Williams whose powerful insights on technology and entrepreneurship inspired attendees. Williams was also honored with the Visionary of the Year Award, recognizing his bold leadership in shaping the future of innovation and advancing inclusive access to opportunity.

In the College Track,FarmSmarter.AI, a student team from Louisiana State University, was awarded first place and a $15,000 prize for developing an AI-powered farming assistant that helps agricultural producers identify plants, diagnose issues, and make data-driven decisions. The team—Grant Muslow, Colin Raby, Julius Pallotta, and Cole Lacombe—was mentored by Dr. Fahimeh Abbasi of the Stephenson Department of Entrepreneurship and Information Systems at LSU.

Second place went to APNE, also from LSU, is a platform that uses artificial intelligence and human review to detect bias and misinformation in news media. The project was led by Mehrasa Amiri with support from faculty advisor Dr. Mahmood Jasim.

Third place went to Dristi, a mobile application developed by Unika Bista and Divya Shah at the University of Louisiana at Monroe (ULM), under the advisement of Dr. Prasanthi Sreekumari. The app uses AI to provide real-time scene descriptions for visually impaired users, increasing accessibility and independence.

The College Track featured teams from Grambling State University, University of New Orleans, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, ULM and LSU. Judges included Angie Jones, Global Vice President of Developer Relations at Block; Padma Vatsavai, President and CEO of Vinformatix; and Dianna Liu, President and Founder of Arix Technologies.

Two high school teams were also invited to showcase their innovations on stage and received $2,500 each in recognition of their achievements.

Hexlio, developed by Benjamin Namikas of Baton Rouge High School, is a productivity app that integrates task management and distraction-elimination tools to help users focus. The project was advised by Dr. Lai Cao.

POSEIDON, a fully custom-built robot designed by Ren Hopkins, Aiden Bass, and Brady Afeman of West Monroe High School. The robot was designed and engineered entirely by the students and demonstrates advanced automation and robotics skills. The team was supported by faculty advisors Alison Lovelady and Zachary Lovelady.

The 2025 Nexus Technology Cup reflects Louisiana’s growing innovation ecosystem, celebrating bold thinkers at every level—from high school to the professional startup world.

For more information about the Nexus Technology Cup, visit nexusla.org/technologycup.