Student Wins Largest Cash Prize at Multi-Collegiate Startup Pitch Event
Jessica Woyton ‘24, a Biomedical Engineering student entrepreneur from Wentworth Institute of Technology, emerged as the standout winner at the inaugural Pitch-a-thon, a startup competition launched by Northeastern University where top entrepreneurial students representing 11 esteemed colleges and universities pitched their businesses in three minutes or less.
Taking the stage as the final participant, Woyton presented her company, WTG Biotech. Co-founded with two other Wentworth students—Heather Torella-McLoughlin ’24 and Gabriel Gomez ’24—WTG Biotech creates medical products that help post-surgical care patients heal quickly and with dignity. Presenting a compelling problem and impressive market opportunity, Woyton walked away with the top cash prize of $5,000, beating other startups from institutions including Babson College and Harvard University.
Woyton’s journey began during her first year at Wentworth when a personal experience deeply impacted her perspective. Witnessing the struggles of a friend's mother, who endured complications after a double mastectomy, Woyton was moved to act. The constant moving around impeded the healing process, leaving the wounds deformed and causing significant distress.
“I [wished] I could give her that confidence back and . . . make her feel like she’s back to normal, that it’s not letting the cancer disrupt her daily life,” said Woyton in Wentworth’s 2024 President’s Report.
Motivated by the desire to alleviate such suffering, Jessica embarked on a mission to develop a solution. With Torella-McLoughlin and Gomez, the three students set out to create a product that could revolutionize post-surgical care. Thus, WTG Biotech was born, with a vision to enhance the recovery experience for patients undergoing surgical procedures. Conceptualized as a first-year class project, the team continued their work on it and joined the Accelerate Co-op for Entrepreneurs (ACE), a unique program at Wentworth where students get paid to launch and build businesses during their co-op.
The cornerstone of their innovation is WoundGuard, a pioneering product designed to isolate wounds and prevent tearing, particularly after surgery. What started as a rudimentary prototype evolved into a sophisticated solution with the potential to transform the standard of care in wound management.
Woyton’s journey is testament to the power of determination, empathy, and ingenuity that students exemplify at Wentworth who are continuously working to solve real-world problems through entrepreneurial thinking and hands-on learning.