The No. 1 college for undergraduate entrepreneurship programs is commemorating its centennial.
Babson College kicked off the celebration Thursday with its Summer Venture Showcase, a non-competitive pitch event where 14 teams talked up their startups—enterprises like a text-message-based learning platform, a Google Chrome extension that encourages workers to take "mindful breaks," and a smart armband that helps basketball players improve their form.
The startup founders, all undergraduate and graduate students at Babson College, had spent the last 10 weeks working on their businesses, developing monetization plans, building out advisory boards, and getting mentorship and legal advice through Babson College's Summer Venture Program.
"They've been eating, sleeping, and breathing their startup ventures for the past two months," program director Bob Stringer said.
This is Stringer's first year as director. He is the founding general partner of Sherbrooke Capital, LLC, a $100 million venture capital firm. He has also been an organizational consultant and faculty lecturer at Babson and Harvard Business School, and he has written five books, including "Motivation and Organizational Climate" and "Culture.com: How the Best Startups Make it Happen."
But for Stringer, Thursday was all about the student founders he'd been guiding all summer. Those founders had the chance to take the stage at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston on Atlantic Avenue on Thursday afternoon.
Read about the ventures below. Descriptions provided by Babson College.
Arist: Arist works with organizations and individuals to create and deploy text message courses, making learning dramatically more accessible, effective, and affordable. Founded by Ryan Laverty ’20, Michael Ioffe ’21, Joe Passanante, Maxine Anderson ’22
CollegeSpot: CollegeSpot is a platform that helps high school students to prepare themselves to build their college applications. Founded by Alisson Amaral ’21
Daybreak: Daybreak integrates on-demand mindful breaks into work schedules to alleviate stress and increase productivity. Founded by Caleb Wursten ’19, Ultan O’Callaghan
Dottie: Dottie is a device that helps people with memory loss remember their important items when they leave their home to maintain their independence. Founded by Meagan Priest MS’19, Oscar Flores MS’19
Growth Cave: Growth Cave helps businesses sell more of their products and services online with Facebook Ads. Founded by Lucas Lee-Tyson ’20
Hoamsy: Hoamsy is developing a better connected apartment rental ecosystem beginning with leveraging crowd-sourced profiles and existing connections to build trust while finding roommates. Founded by Richard O’Brien MBA’20, Ivan Melnikov
Integrate: Integrate helps Chinese students gain confidence and communication skills to better interact with Americans. Founded by Wendi Kan ’22
Maja: Maja makes "super-shots" using blends of super-foods and functional ingredients such as CBD. Founded by Trevor Grode ’19, Ryan MacDonell ’20, Jack Rokous ’20, Roberto Salinas ’19
Porte Bags: Porte Bags designs the most travel friendly makeup carriers with customizable dividers, leak proof protection, and a beautiful design and materials. Founded by Elia Innamorati ’20
Yad: Yad empowers people with disabilities by showcasing their artwork on unique products such as cushions, mugs, and towels. Founded by Deborah Cohen ’19
rostock: rostock is a digital media services and software platform that helps brands leverage user-generated content (UGC) to make their marketing more authentic and meaningful. Founded by Alex Kennedy MBA’20, Chris St. Jean ’20, Zach Cutler MBA’20
TopForm: TopForm helps youth basketball players improve their shot through wearable technology and instantaneous feedback. Founded by Mike Carlson MS’19, Peter-Paul Grootens MS’19, Isaac Lewis MS’19
Zapp Financial Technology Company: Zapp Financial Technology Company eliminates the hassle of dealing with coins through the use of QR codes during the point of purchase. Founded by Joshua Hong ’21
