On April 26 of this year, four teams of Fairfield University students will be given the opportunity to receive seed money from investors for their own personal start-up companies. This opportunity comes courtesy of the StartUp Showcase, an annual entrepreneurship competition.
This event features four distinct teams: Belle, EZ Bikes, UNetwork and Land Maverick.
Belle is a clothing line that is breaking the barriers of fashion and social issues. By creating a clothing line to empower female adolescents, they hope to work through these issues. This startup is dedicated to making young women feel comfortable in their clothes. Additionally, a portion of the profits will be donated to counseling services for women. Belle’s Community is classified as a B-Corporation, a for-profit business dedicated to social issues.
EZ Bikes has set out to address the issue of transportation on college campuses. The bike features an electric motor, but also has pedals for manual transportation. With a versatile set of features, these bikes might also find a home in busy city streets where a normal sized automobile is just not ideal.
UNetwork was designed by three team members and aims to connect past, present and future students. Essentially, it is supposed to help students network better.
Lastly, Land Maverick is a soil-sampling robot. Designed for the agricultural industry, Land Maverick is a small robot which intends to make life easier for those in the industry. This robot aims to eliminate some of the trial and error in farming and aid farmers in understanding what a plant needs to increase crop yield.
Additionally, two teams who gave their pitches in the qualifying round will join the aforementioned teams in developing their business plans. These two companies include Alpine, a grocery shopping app, and Bliss, a company that has plans to utilize technology to better help hospital patients manage their pain.
“This is a chance for the business side of you, the genius side of you, the entrepreneur side of you, to come out and flourish,” commented Mark Ligas Ph.D., interim dean of the Dolan School of Business.
The night will also include a guest performance by last year’s winning team, Tempas, to discuss the progress they have made over the past year and unveil a prototype for their mobile app.
These teams will compete in front of a live audience and panel of potential investors who are either alumni or local business professionals. The ultimate goal for these teams? To win the seed money for their business.
The event on April 26 will be held at the Regina A. Quick Center and attendance is free and open to the public.
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