Jaymin Patel and CelluDot: The Heartland Challenge

Jaymin Patel is an operations science analyst at ArcBest Technologies, a logistics provider in Fort Smith, Arkansas. He graduated last month from our Walton Executive MBA program. During his time as a student in the Walton EMBA program, Patel’s focus study area was entrepreneurship. He holds a Bachelor of Science in industrial engineering from the University of Arkansas. This past summer, Patel participated in the inaugural Heartland Challenge.

The Heartland Challenge is a competition for graduate students designed to mimic the process of raising capital for a high growth venture. This competition allows students to gain valuable experience and networking opportunities while developing and building new ventures and technologies. The Heartland Challenge is overseen by the Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas in partnership with the Arkansas Capital Corporation.  The first ever Heartland Challenge was held virtually this past summer.

Patel, along with team members, Gurshagan Kandhola and Joseph Batta-Mpouma, and team advisors, Sarah Goforth and Dr. Carol Reeves, brought CelluDot to the Heartland Challenge. CelluDot was created to addresses the growing problem of agrochemical drift. CelluDot uses a novel biopolymer adjuvant technology to keep pesticides and herbicides at the site of their intended use, which prevents farmers from suffering financial losses due to crop damage and reduces the negative implications of drift on human health and the environment. Patel explains the main difference between CelluDot and other products similar to it on the market, saying, “…it handles spray drift, but it really focuses on the issue of vapor drift, which is not being handled today.”

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the inaugural Heartland Challenge was held virtually via Zoom. The final round and the elevator pitch competition were live-streamed on YouTube and Facebook. Although challenges were to be expected with the move to an online format, Patel said the Heartland Challenge was a “really fun, well-organized event.” While his team missed out on the physical aspects of competition, such as connecting and socializing with the other teams, Patel and his team were able to pivot their approach and emerge successfully.

CelluDot placed first in the Heartland Challenge elevator pitch competition and third overall, awarding them $13,000. Patel and his team also competed in three other competitions this past year. They started their competition season at the University of Louisville’s Cardinal Challenge, which was the only competition they were able to attend in person. Patel and his team took what they learned at their first competition to “elevate themselves to then really compete for the podium at the next competitions.” And really compete, they did. Patel and CelluDot took home first place at their next competition, the 20th annual Arkansas Governor’s Cup. Most recently, CelluDot was a semifinalist at Rice University’s Rice Business Plan Competition.

CelluDot is currently undergoing small scale field trials to lead up to their nonprovisional patent filing in the next few months. Patel serves as the chief financial officer for CelluDot, and although he says things are quiet for him right now on the business and financial side of the company, once data collection is complete and their patent is filed; it will be, “full steam ahead trying to get CelluDot in the right hands to really tackle the issue of agrochemical drift that’s looming on the agriculture industry.”