Every year, Biola’s Office of Innovation holds their annual Pitch competition for students to submit ideas for a startup and have a chance to win a stipend to help them start their business. At the 2025 competition on Nov. 10th, 35 different pitches were presented to a panel of judges who deliberated the merits of each team’s 1-minute proposal until selecting GAConstructs as the winner.
GAConstructs is a dorm essentials startup run by siblings Gabriel and Abby Carrillo. They specialize in creating 3D-printed items students can utilize to improve their organizational needs including bed hooks, cup holders, headphone stands, and even a book shelf. Their goal is to provide products that can help decrease distractions, as well as increasing productivity and healthy habits.
“I wanted to utilize more space in my room because I had a lot of stuff, “ stated Gabriel. “These hooks [that I printed] help me organize on my bed by hanging jackets and towels. It was really helpful and I figured other students might want these kinds of designs too.”
Gabriel and Abby explained that one of the judges’ criteria for the competition was based on the product’s clear market viability. This is essentially the outlook on whether their product fits a real need students have. When rooming with other students, you often face the challenge of limited space. GAConstructs turns this challenge into an opportunity to offer more storage and functionality to the limited spaces available.
Abby includes a big reason their pitch did better was because it was already in motion and well known.
“I remember that they specifically said what they liked about us after we had won,” stated Abby, “was that we had already begun selling and that students were already interested in what we were doing and supporting us.”
They shared their goals for the future, focusing on their short-term goal of connecting with more of Biola’s community and their long-term goal of being able to sell their products at the Biola bookstore. In connecting with the community, they hope to see GAConstructs grow to ultimately being able to provide resources and services to students everywhere. They shared a form students can use to review their products, sharing feedback to better improve their products for current and future students.
