Univestal wins Rep. Veronica Escobar’s 2025 Congressional App Challenge in Texas’s 16th District
Rep. Veronica Escobar has named Nathan Egbuna of Phillips Academy as the winner of the 2025 Congressional App Challenge in Texas’s 16th District. Their app Univestal is an educational paper trading platform designed to help teenagers learn how to invest in stocks and cryptocurrencies using real-time market data, without risking real money.
When asked what inspired the creation of Univestal, Nathan Egbuna said, “The idea for Univestal started from a casual conversation with a few friends about finance. Investing came up, and a lot of them had questions or misunderstandings about how it actually worked. That conversation stuck with me, and I decided to try building an app to teach them the basics. something simple, interactive, and non-intimidating.
“As I shared the idea with more friends and peers, I saw how widespread the lack of financial literacy was, especially when it came to investing. That’s when I decided to polish the app and turn it into something more scalable and accessible for anyone new to investing.
“I’ve always been passionate about using tech to solve real problems, and this felt like the perfect intersection of what I care about: building tools and helping my generation grow more confident in their financial thinking. The goal isn’t just to simulate investing, it’s to reshape how teens think about money, risk, and long-term financial well-being.
“To help bring the app to life, I was accepted into a nonprofit called Cider, which supports teen developers by covering the cost of Apple Developer accounts. That helped me move the app beyond just an idea into something people could actually use. Univestal isn’t just about making investing approachable; it’s about empowering the next generation to take control of their financial future.”
The 2025 Congressional App Challenge marked another record-setting year for the program. A total of 394 Members of the U.S. House of Representatives hosted App Challenges in their congressional districts, the highest level of participation in the program’s history. More than 13,800 students from across the country participated, submitting over 4,600 original apps focused on real-world challenges ranging from health and accessibility to education, sustainability, and civic engagement.
The Congressional App Challenge is an official initiative of the U.S. House of Representatives that encourages middle school and high school students to learn to code, explore computer science, and build practical technology solutions for their communities. Each participating Member of Congress selects a winning app from their district, and winning teams are invited to showcase their projects to Members of Congress, staff, and industry leaders at the annual #HouseOfCode celebration on Capitol Hill.
The Challenge is proudly bipartisan and reflects a shared commitment to expanding access to STEM education and preparing the next generation of American innovators for the future workforce. The program is a public-private partnership made possible through funding from the Broadcom Foundation, AWS, Infosys Foundation USA, theCoderSchool, Apple, and others.
The 2026 Congressional App Challenge will launch in May, and eligible students can pre-register for the competition now.