Monica Weglarz Wins Best Early-Stage Startup Award at UPitch Competition

Recent NJIT alumna Monica Weglarz envisioned a company delivering fuel and mechanic services while you're at work, offered as an employee benefit, in turn earning her a $1,500 award for the best early-stage startup at the 2022 UPitch New Jersey business plan competition.

Weglarz said the research that she conducted, and the prize she earned, will help as she becomes a law student. She's studying for the Law School Admission Test this summer while working as a paralegal and has entrepreneurial ambitions.

She reached the competition, which is sponsored by Nokia Bell Labs, by winning NJIT's nomination contest in November. NJIT's Yashwee Kothari won the overall UPitch event last year.

"What makes my idea different from competitors is we partner with companies in the area and it's basically an employee benefit program. On the west coast there are a couple of companies, but they do not partner with local businesses."

Weglarz went into UPitch with a healthy amount of experience. She and her brother operate a high-end sneaker reselling store in Newport News, Va., and she earned a B.S. in business at NJIT, studying under entrepreneurship experts Cesar Bandera, Michael Ehrlich and Will Lutz. She was also an Albert Dorman Honors College student.

"Monica demonstrated the most important activity in modern entrepreneurship - empirically validating the business model," points out Bandera. "As innovation advances, reducing the uncertainty in an innovative

For current students interested in startup contests, "I would recommend being as creative as possible and thinking outside the box. I learned so much about myself. Definitely use your resources at school," she said.

Weglarz said the only thing she'd do differently is entering such competitions sooner. "I definitely recommend submitting an idea and trying," she said, "Because you never know where your proposal will take you."