FIT students took home top honors in the the International Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP) Student Pitch Competition and the New York State Business Plan Competition (NYSBPC) in Rochester, New York, giving them a launching pad for their creative entrepreneurial business ideas.
Jordan Gottfried, a Fashion Business Management rising junior, won first place in the International ACBSP Student Pitch Competition for her app idea called Circle, a safe platform for students sell or trade their clothes, furniture, and school supplies. Other platforms require users to meet up with strangers to buy and sell goods, but Circle limits users to those with email addresses from colleges.
Gottfried has been working on the sustainable idea for over a year and hopes to launch across New York City colleges by 2027.
“We’re trying to create a giant circular community and scale it across the country,” she says.
In addition to winning the overall international competition, Gottfried also received the Audience Choice Award. This is only FIT’s second year participating in this competition.
Gottfried and Yosra Belfaiz also competed and won special awards in the 2026 New York State Business Plan Competition (NYBPC), a statewide competition for college students. Gottfried won the Concept Stage award in the Software and Service Tech track for Circle.
Belfaiz, a Cosmetics and Fragrance Marketing rising senior, took third place in the Product and Hardware track for her idea called Yuse Lab, which would make fragrances accessible for consumers with physical disabilities. Through adaptive packaging technology, Yuse Lab gives consumers easier access to the products they love but have been unable to use.
“Beauty is for everyone,” Belfaiz says. “We can’t talk about beauty for everyone if we don’t actually make it for everyone.”
The 2026 NYBPC Finals brought together students, investors, and ecosystem leaders from across the state. This year, 728 students from 337 teams competed, representing the very best of student innovation across the state.
The faculty of FIT’s Entrepreneurship program organized the college’s participation and mentored students. Some entrants were enrolled in the department’s BS program, while others were completing the very popular minor in Creative Entrepreneurship or simply taking classes in the department to bolster their career readiness.
“Winning these awards provides FIT with external validation in the quality of the Entrepreneurship program among our peers and industry,” said William Reinisch, chair of the program.
“Our students perform at the highest level,” added Renée Leibler, assistant professor of Entrepreneurship. “We know we’re one of the best creative entrepreneurship schools, and that’s the kind of reputation we’re getting.”