CrowdIt Awards Complimentary Crowdfunding Opportunity To Winner Of The Startup Drury Competition
CrowdIt has announced it will award Parker LiaBraaten , the winner of the 2013 Startup Drury Competition, a complimentary crowdfunding campaign on its site. LiaBraaten was the overall winner of Drury University’s inaugural startup competition with his company idea called “WaterWatch” soon to be showcased on CrowdIt’s site as part of the company’s June 4, 2013 launch challenge. Along with Liabraaten, participants in CrowdIt’s launch competition will have a chance to win an additional $10,000 of funding from the company.
“We are very honored that CrowdIt is allowing us to be a part of their launch competition, while also supporting the 
university’s inaugural Startup Drury competition,” said Dr. Kelley Still , executive director of the Edward Jones Center for Entrepreneurship. “The involvement from the local business community and student body was amazing – it’s a program we now hope proliferates into something greater than ever before imagined.”
LiaBraaten’s business idea earned him the “Broadest Appeal” recognition, which provides the opportunity to crowdfund his project for free on CrowdIt. CrowdIt CEO Jason Graf was one of five judges for the Startup Drury competition, along with other business leaders in the Springfield area.
“By keeping this competition open to students of all majors, the resulting engagement and quality of projects submitted further emphasizes the idea that people with all types of backgrounds share the desire to be entrepreneurs,” explained Graf. “Everyone has a desire to be successful and we hope competitions, like Startup Drury and tools like crowdfunding, help everyday people start something they’ve only ever dreamed about.”