COA student wins statewide business pitch competition

The recent graduate pitched her winning business plan for Buoy & Biscuit, an all-natural dog treat brand, to the Greenlight Maine judges in the televised finale, broadcast statewide June 20 and 21. Her product line aims to strengthen the connections between pets and families while promoting canine wellness. Watch the video at go.coa.edu/greenlightmaine

As a pre-veterinary student, Piliouras said she has special insights into both the unique nutritional needs of dogs and the important role that treats play in bonding between pets and their families.

“We are loving our dogs to death,” she told the judges, describing the obesity rates among pets. “One of the things we tend to overfeed are treats.” Buoy & Biscuit, she said, intends to capture part of the $11 billion pet treats market with low-calorie, healthy options.

The competition winnings will help Piliouras set up the business, place her products into local markets, optimize production, and test recipes tailored to specific canine conditions, she said. She plans a gap year in Maine to work on the brand before embarking on veterinary school.

“Andie exemplifies the best of a COA education, where academics from across campus collide to create new innovations,” said Sharpe-McNally Chair of Green and Socially Responsible Business Jay Friedlander. “A passionate veterinary student should also embrace sustainable entrepreneurship, as Andie has done; it expands the bounds of learning.”

Piliouras, who is from Madison, Wisconsin, has used COA’s human ecology curriculum to create a pre-veterinary track. Her coursework has included zoology, wildlife ecology, and chemistry, and she has spent significant time working with COA Allied Whale on marine mammal strandings and photo identification. During her senior year she joined an online course on canine science and medicine with the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine, which deepened her work on Buoy & Biscuit. She cites her coworkers’ dogs as being excellent test subjects for her treats.

Buoy & Biscuit bested two other teams in the Season 11 finale. Coming in second place and winning a $7,500 award was MVP Development, founded by Cayo Novaes, Gabriel Guizelini Fortuna, and Vitor C. Povoa from Thomas College. They pitched an all-in-one athlete development platform, providing players with highly customized development plans while helping coaches efficiently manage and individualize athlete training schedules.

In third place was Topa Energy Storage. Founder Charlie Parkes of Colby College took home $5,000 toward his clean energy infrastructure startup, which addresses modern grid challenges by offering efficient, scalable energy storage solutions designed to maximize renewable power deployment.

Buoy & Biscuit’s win marks the second appearance of a COA team on Greenlight Maine. In Season 6 of the College Edition, Patrick Caron ’23 pitched Move Free, a mission‑driven lifestyle brand, advancing to the finals and earning a $5,000 award. COA students have also excelled in other statewide innovation competitions: In 2017, Anita Van Dam ’18 reached the finals of the University of Maine Business Challenge with [Re]produce, a startup aimed at reducing food waste by creating markets for cosmetically imperfect or surplus farm vegetables.

Greenlight Maine Productions creates programming that promotes and awards funding to entrepreneurs and innovators in Maine. By highlighting Maine's diverse business community, the statewide collaboration of entrepreneurial catalysts and corporate leaders is designed to promote and mentor the development and growth of scalable and innovative companies. Through televised pitch competitions—including both the traditional series and the College Edition—Greenlight Maine connects startups with valuable exposure, networking, and thousands of dollars in cash prizes to invest in their future.