Senior Madison Franklin took her idea, ElevAIte, a wellness app for people with chronic illness to the final presentation stage of the European Innovation Academy in Porto, Portugal. Photo courtesy of Madison Franklin ’26
This was personal for Madison Franklin.
A senior at Eckerd College from Bellevue, Michigan, who is majoring in marketing with minors in communication and international business, Madison found herself this summer on a stage facing hundreds of investors, keynote speakers and students at the European Innovation Academy in Porto, Portugal. She was part of an intensive three-week program where students from colleges and universities around the world form teams to develop a product in a startup environment.
To prepare herself, Madison had taken one of Eckerd’s Spring-into-Summer courses and pitched her idea to Sandra Graça, DBA, professor of international business and marketing. Graça was dazzled.
“My idea was an app to help people with chronic illnesses cook, connect, work out and create a happier, healthier life for themselves with personalized guidance tailored specifically to each person,” Madison explains. “I brought my idea to EIA, where I joined with four other teammates who were passionate about my idea and wanted to help make it come to life.
“Our business is ElevAIte, an AI-generated health coach for people with chronic illnesses. The idea of ElevAIte came from my struggles with an autoimmune disease I was diagnosed with 10 years ago. I struggled with food, fitness and isolation. I was on numerous diets while seeing a dietician at such a young age, which was very stressful. Stress is a trigger to my condition. I have also been told I need to stay active with aerobic exercises to prevent my condition from getting worse or developing another autoimmune disease.
Madison Franklin took Professor of International Business and Marketing Sandra Graça’s Spring into Summer class to prepare for the competition.
“There was so much information coming my way from dieticians, doctors, dermatologists, influencers and others with similar conditions, it caused stress and decision fatigue,” Madison adds. “What I learned is every chronic condition is different and every plan should be too. By using AI in our app, ElevAIte has the ability to personalize the customer’s experience with each interaction by asking questions about allergies, preferences, conditions, symptoms, body type, goals and lifestyle.
Students from around the world attend the EIA to compete. They form teams by hearing their fellow students pitch their ideas and choosing who they would like to work with.
“The app will suggest recipes and workout suggestions tailored to each individual, with a community group feature so our users never feel alone.”
Her presentation drew more than generous applause. Each year, about 80 teams of students take part in the program, and at its conclusion, investors select the 10 teams with the best startup ideas. Every year since 2018, Eckerd College has made the list. Madison and her team kept the Eckerd streak alive.
“They call us small but mighty,” says Graça, who attended the presentation. “It’s quite an honor to be selected. The top 10 teams get to pitch their idea onstage to the investors. After Madi’s presentation, people came up to her and the team and said her pitch was so compelling they had tears in their eyes.”
The goal, Graça explains, “is for students to learn how to be entrepreneurs, to understand a problem that needs to be solved—and teach them how to monetize the solution, launch the business, find customers and do basic business finance. It also requires that they pitch the idea to investors. They’re coached by mentors from many different industries, from Amazon to Google, and the networking is invaluable.
“This is one of the most valuable experiences students at Eckerd can have,” Graça adds. “And you don’t have to be a business major. Madi is a natural-born entrepreneur who has the talent, ambition, passion and desire to take an idea to a real business solution. She’s going to go far.”
Madison says forming her team is one of the most important parts of the competition.
A first-generation college student, Madison always had an entrepreneurial spirit and juggled many side hustles from a young age. One of her first was selling painted rocks in elementary school, and by high school, she was working as a makeup artist. Her biggest challenge so far? Those three weeks in Portugal.
“I learned to push the boundaries to reach my potential,” she says. “I don’t think I realized I was capable of working 12 hours a day on the same project. And there were struggles trying to get the right people who shared my passion. I put my blood, sweat and tears into this project.
“But we all worked together and everyone on the team had the same calling,” she adds. “We want to help people.”
Madison had received funding from Eckerd, but she paid for most of the trip herself, with help from her parents. “My parents worked side jobs selling bread, crafts, jewelry and working construction jobs on the weekends to help me,” she says. “I worked seven days a week leading up to the trip. I’m a server and a bartender at the Treasure Island Beach Resort, and I also work at a spa.”
Her plans for after graduation in December?
“I want a fulfilling job that gives me purpose,” she answers. “I want a career that gives me the same feeling I had when I interned for the Children’s Dream Fund.”
