Carbon Cash is an app designed to help students track their electrical energy usage and reward them while they do it. On Jan. 21, Carbon Cash was named one of the finalists as part of the Entrepreneurial Eight of the South by Southwest Interactive , a partner of Student Startup Madness.

The business’s team, consisting of history junior Bernie Eisbrenner, accounting junior Patrick Schmitz and computer science senior Jon Bauer, will go on to compete in the Texas South by Southwest competition in March. There, they will pitch their business against the other top eight startups in the nation.

“To be considered one of the best startups in the country is exhilarating,” Eisbrenner said.

The app will be available on the Carbon Cash website sometime in February.

Although they did not make it into the finals, startup teams Folyo and Rootloop still have plans to be up and running within the next few months.

Folyo serves as a social e-commerce platform that will make it easier for students to sell their artwork, said Victoria Bujny, an advertising and public relations senior and startup member.

Folyo was started by Bujny, computer science and engineering senior Caitlin McDonald and studio art senior Ashley Brimley.

They hope to expand and sell artwork for student artists across the nation by mid-April.

“This is a way to show (students) that there are people who appreciate and need art,” Bujny said.

Rootloop is a social media platform to record, share and listen to music. The site is slated to be operational by late April, said packaging senior and team member Tom Flack.

The team is made up of Flack, MSU alumnus Tyler Humphrey, College for Creative Studies student Ben Kramp and Marquette University alumnus Jeff Slavens.

“What makes Rootloop special (compared to similar websites) is that it’s the only place where you can do all three in one place,” Flack said.