The HBCU entrepreneurship community in Birmingham, AL, just received a funding boost.
Alabama leads the nation in the number of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), with 14 institutions statewide. Ten of those HBCUs participated in the 2026 HBCU Business Pitch Competition at the Magic City Classic, held Thursday, Oct. 29, at Topgolf Birmingham. The Alabama Collective co-hosted the event with digitalundivided. JPMorganChase Foundation, HBCU C.A.R.E.S., and Nebius served as sponsors.
In its fourth year, the competition welcomed students, faculty, and alums from 51 teams to pitch their business ventures at no cost, showcasing ideas at various stages of development — from early-stage concepts to launched businesses — for a chance to win a share of $20,000 in direct cash prizes. In addition, they benefited from real-time coaching and mentorship from leaders including Amanda Williams, managing director of Prosper HealthTech Accelerator powered by gener8tor; Jason Watters Sr., workforce development manager of Alabama Power (Southern Co.); and more.
“When you look across the different applications and the different business ideas that our students had, they were about community, our state. They were about, how do we solve challenges that are right here. If there’s any opportunity that we have to crowdsource information and to crowdsource solutions, why not do it now,” Charisse Stokes, Alabama Collective executive director, told AFROTECH™ in an interview.
“A lot of what we’ve been trying to do is get people to focus on the fact that HBCUs are economic drivers throughout the state of Alabama because we are so geographically dispersed across the entire state, realizing that those HBCU communities, they pump millions into our entire state,” she later added. “So if we are able to invest in programs like this, we’re investing in our ability to diversify the economy.”
Internably
The grand prize winner of the competition was Internably, founded by Bryson Hannah, a 21-year-old Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University (AAMU) student pursuing a degree in mechanical engineering and a soon-to-be transmission line design engineer. He founded the networking platform to connect student interns by city, company, and university to build community. Learning from his own experience as an intern with Alabama Power, he decided to build the community he wished he had at the time.
“I was going home every weekend, and I had a lovely apartment, and I realized that I didn’t have community. Founding Internably was my way to solve that problem, so that if you have someone that’s interning and they’re very ambitious, they can also have a community as well to grow alongside their career,” he said.
Hannah was awarded $4,000 as the grand prize winner and, separately, $1,000 in funding for the first round. The funding will support further app development ahead of an iOS launch in November and marketing efforts, including working with campus ambassadors across college campuses nationwide.
The two runners-up in the finale were Fuel Trip ($3,000), presented by AAMU senior mechanical engineering majors Munachimso Arubaleze, Danylah Branch, and Bukata Mubanga; and NexU ($2,000), presented by AAMU seniors Amarachi Ezekiel, a computer science major, and Omotolani Bello and Osionela Ogiogwa, both biology majors.
Pitch finale judges Leah Davis, Rep. Kenyatté Hassell, Modupe Rouse, and Johnathan Carter determined the winners using a scoring app created by Talladega College students and team Vara innovators Rhonoya Anderson and Kimone Orr.
The aforementioned student builders were joined by seven other teams who were awarded $1,000 for placing in the top 10. This included Yardly, a student-to-student housing marketplace that connects out-of-state and international students to unused student spaces, helping students earn or save money. Judges Kimberly Jackson, president and CEO of Women’s Foundation of Alabama, and Sony Bullock, CEO and network engineer at River Region Technical Solutions, selected them for the next round of pitching.
Funding will support web application development, legal fees, insurance, and marketing.
Other awardees include:
- Vara
- AccessBelt
- Unlimited Potential/ Mobile Therapy Office
- Nightshift
- Vent Avengers
- Be Verified
“We want to teach our students the importance of owning something, not just being in the room or having a seat at somebody’s table, but building their own,” Dr. Brittany A. Holloman, executive director and CEO of HBCU C.A.R.E.S., explained.
Additionally, 17 teams earned a $250 stipend through digitalundivided’s START program, which is a three-week virtual incubator for founders looking to get their business off the ground, supported by JPMorgan Chase Foundation. Teams received tools and guidance to strengthen their businesses in preparation for pitching.
“They may already use their side hustle, but to actually bring it to market, to actually bring the economic impact into the communities as well as for those students is partly why we partnered with Alabama Collective,” Leah D. Williams, digitalundivided CEO, told AFROTECH™.
