- \n
- Kathlyn Augustin <\/b>from Young Middle Magnet School <\/b>in Tampa, <\/b>with her business idea Forever Sleek<\/b>, a synthetic hair care business that sources banana tree fibers to replace other toxic alternatives.<\/li>\n
- Dane Blakeman <\/b>from Duncan U. Fletcher High School <\/b>in Neptune Beach, Florida, <\/b>with his business idea Blakeman Technologies<\/b>, which offers a controlled approach to cryopreservation using a patent-protected, phase-controlled additive that suppresses ice formation and enables stable deep supercooling. <\/li>\n
- Valerie Franklin<\/b> from Stone Mountain High School<\/b> in Stone Mountain, Georgia<\/b>, with her business idea Valeries Giggle Garden<\/b>, a licensed overnight daycare with structured routines and supervision.<\/li>\n
- Nikolett Aranyos<\/b> from New World School of the Arts<\/b> in Miami,<\/b> with her business idea Trust Point<\/b>, a global digital news platform that delivers verified, unbiased information with transparent sourcing and bias indicators.<\/li>\n
- Kayla Grant<\/b> and Mollie Obas<\/b> from Palm Beach Gardens High School <\/b>in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida,<\/b> with their business idea United Dance Company<\/b>, a performance-based dance studio that provides training and performance opportunities to every dancer including those with disabilities.<\/li>\n
- Kennedy Tai <\/b>and Nathaniel Swann<\/b> from Innovation High School <\/b>in Orlando, <\/b>with their business idea Genuine Touch<\/b>, providing customizable hygiene products to neurodivergent individuals.<\/li>\n
- Teyanah Laidley <\/b>from Poinciana High School <\/b>in Kissimmee, Florida, <\/b>with her business idea The Silicone Kitchen<\/b>, which sells fake food to restaurants and bakeries for display so that real food doesnt have to be wasted.<\/li>\n
- Brody Boccuzzi <\/b>from Spruce Creek High School <\/b>in Port Orange, Florida,<\/b> with his business idea NoScalp<\/b>, an anti-scalping software for entertainment and retail industries with bot behavior analysis, resale intent indicators, and volume threshold monitoring. <\/li>\n
- Lucas Solomon <\/b>from Fort Lauderdale High School <\/b>in Fort Lauderdale, Florida<\/b>, with his business idea RenewMed<\/b>, which provides refurbished medical equipment directly to consumers.<\/li>\n
- Ahmed Aoun <\/b>and Cole White <\/b>from Spruce Creek High School <\/b>in Port Orange, Florida<\/b>, with their business idea MintMelt, <\/b>a chewable toothpaste tablet for travelers, commuters, and anyone who needs oral care on the go. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
These teams will join top student entrepreneurs from across the country at the U.S. National Youth Entrepreneurship Showcase on Nov. 18, 2026, at the Marriott Marquis in New York City. The winning U.S. team will advance to the World Finals on Nov. 19 at 787 Seventh Avenue in New York City, competing against peers from more than 20 countries for the NFTE Showcase Champion title. <\/p>\n
The energy and ingenuity we saw across the Southeast showcases were extraordinary, said Chris Brignolle, NFTE Senior Executive Director, Southeast and Regional Support. This new showcase model is about more than competition. Its about creating meaningful opportunities for all students to engage, learn, and grow as entrepreneurs. These four teams rose to the top, but every student who participated gained skills that will serve them for life.<\/p>\n
In addition, NFTE Southeast recognized outstanding contributors who help make this work possible, including Southeast Individual Volunteer of the Year Chirag Patel of Cloud Software Group and Southeast Corporate Volunteer of the Year Comerica Bank. These honorees exemplify the commitment and collaboration that power NFTEs mission and expand opportunities for young people across the region.<\/p>\n
The Southeast Showcases were made possible thanks to the following event hosts: the Walt Disney World Swan Resort, Stetson Baptist Church, University of Central Florida Business Incubation Program Kissimmee, University of South Floridas Nault Center for Entrepreneurship, Gus A. Stavros Center for Free Enterprise and Economic Education at the University of South Floridas College of Education, Ernst & Young LLP (EY US), EverBank, and the Grant Cardone Foundation. The NFTE Southeast Showcases were presented by EY US, PayPal, the G-Unity Foundation, Santander, and Zuora.<\/p>\n
For media inquiries, contact Denise Berkhalter Miller, National Director of Communications, at <\/b>mediainquiries@nfte.com<\/b><\/a> or (917) 281-4362.<\/b><\/p>\n
About NFTE <\/b>
Networkfor Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE)brings the power of entrepreneurship education to learners, educators, and decision-makers so all young people can own theirfutures. A global nonprofit founded in 1987,NFTEleadsthe global movement forequitableaccess to entrepreneurship education.NFTE has educatednearly2millionlearners, delivering our programs in school, out of school, in-person, online, or through hybrid models. Visitnfte.com<\/a>to learn more.<\/p>\n\n Attachments<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n
- \n
- \n NFTE DeKalb County Youth Entrepreneurship Showcase Champion<\/a>\n<\/li>\n
- \n NFTE Duval County Youth Entrepreneurship Showcase Champion<\/a>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ml.globenewswire.com\/media\/YjAwZjUzOWEtNmNmOS00MDA1LTkxYzUtYmU2M2NiZDI2ZmUzLTUwMDEyMzk4MC0yMDI2LTA2LTAzLWVu\/tiny\/Network-for-Teaching-Entrepren.png\")
<\/p>\nDenise Berkhalter, APR\nNetwork for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE)\n917-281-4362\ndeniseb@nfte.com\n<\/pre>\n
A OESP<\/b> nao e(sao) responsavel(is) por erros, incorrecoes, atrasos ou quaisquer decisoes tomadas por seus clientes com base nos Conteudos ora disponibilizados, bem como tais Conteudos nao representam a opiniao da OESP<\/b> e sao de inteira responsabilidade da GlobeNewswire<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New York, NY, June 03, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) today announced the top student ventures from its Southeast Youth Entrepr","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-130801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-releases-geral"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluestudio.estadao.com.br\/agencia-de-comunicacao\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluestudio.estadao.com.br\/agencia-de-comunicacao\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluestudio.estadao.com.br\/agencia-de-comunicacao\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluestudio.estadao.com.br\/agencia-de-comunicacao\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluestudio.estadao.com.br\/agencia-de-comunicacao\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130801"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluestudio.estadao.com.br\/agencia-de-comunicacao\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130801\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluestudio.estadao.com.br\/agencia-de-comunicacao\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluestudio.estadao.com.br\/agencia-de-comunicacao\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluestudio.estadao.com.br\/agencia-de-comunicacao\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
- \n NFTE Duval County Youth Entrepreneurship Showcase Champion<\/a>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- Dane Blakeman <\/b>from Duncan U. Fletcher High School <\/b>in Neptune Beach, Florida, <\/b>with his business idea Blakeman Technologies<\/b>, which offers a controlled approach to cryopreservation using a patent-protected, phase-controlled additive that suppresses ice formation and enables stable deep supercooling. <\/li>\n