Tech leaders from MIT, Amazon and Block Inc. will judge the Nexus Technology Cup

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Some of the nation’s top technology leaders are heading to Baton Rouge this month to judge the inaugural Nexus Technology Cup, a statewide competition spotlighting emerging innovation in Louisiana.

The event, hosted by Nexus Louisiana and held June 17-19 at The Water Campus, will feature 21 finalist teams from across the state vying for $100,000 in cash prizes. They’ll be evaluated by a lineup of judges that includes deep influence at global tech companies and institutions:

  • Karl Reid, the former vice president at MIT, has also held executive roles at Northeastern University and the National Society of Black Engineers
  • Angie Jones is the global vice president of developer relations at Block Inc., home to Cash App, Square, and Tidal
  • Jason Varghese: Tech Leader and Cloud/Apps Architect for Amazon
  • Dianna Liu, founder and president of ARIX Technologies Inc., an advanced robotics and AI firm based in Houston that consults with the oil and gas, petrochemical, power and utilities industries
  • Padma Vatsavai, founder and CEO of Vinformatix, a Baton Rouge-based firm creating innovative software for medical, research, and public sector applications.

“For our inaugural event, it was critical to demonstrate Louisiana’s ability to attract national industry experts to coach our best and brightest,” said Nexus Louisiana President and CEO Tony Zanders in a prepared statement. “We also wanted the experience for our finalists to be impactful both personally and professionally. To do so, we recruited a panel of judges that reflected the diversity of our finalists. While growing as an entrepreneur is important, seeing people you can relate to who have done it is even more important.”

Of 74 applications, 44 teams advanced to the semi-finals, with 21 finalists selected to compete in the live demonstrations.

The June 18 session will highlight university and high school teams, including groups from LSU, Grambling State, and Baton Rouge Magnet High. On June 19, tech entrepreneurs from Baton Rouge, Lafayette, LaPlace, and New Orleans will demo their products, culminating with the announcement of the Most Innovative Award.