We are very proud to have sponsored the second Startup Weekend at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth this fall. The event ran from November 13 to the 15th, giving contestants three days to present their ideas, create a prototype for their projects, and pitch them to a panel of judges. Many great ideas were presented over the weekend, and even though the event is over, this is only the beginning for many of the participating entrepreneurs.
“The biggest opportunity that we have is that there’s a real interest amongst UMass Dartmouth students in entrepreneurship and starting businesses”-Tobias Stapleton
Last year’s competitions were part of the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth’s increased focus on promoting entrepreneurship in southeastern MA. “The biggest opportunity that we have is that there’s a real interest amongst UMass Dartmouth students in entrepreneurship and starting businesses,” said Tobias “Toby” Stapleton, Director of UMass Dartmouth’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Angappa “Guna” Gunasekaran, the Dean of the Charlton College of Business, told us that the event was meant to create “an ecosystem for fostering entrepreneurship culture.”
We were pleasantly surprised by the number of non-business majors that we met at the Startup Weekend. Many of the event’s sponsors and mentors expressed that entrepreneurs can come from any background. “It’s for anyone that has an idea,” said Nuno Couto, our founder, who acted as a mentor that weekend. Cayla Mackey, the University Initiative Director at the Social Enterprise Greenhouse, explained that “entrepreneurship is a mindset,” rather than a career choice exclusive to business students. Stapleton told us that the event organizers planned to attract a diverse array of contestants from different backgrounds and disciplines from the beginning.
The event was specifically focused on social entrepreneurship, tasking contestants with pitching ideas that would provide some form of benefit to society.
UMass Dartmouth’s collaboration with the Startup Weekend event series was not only aimed at getting students interested in startups; the event was specifically focused on social entrepreneurship, tasking contestants with pitching ideas that would provide some form of benefit to society instead of purely for financial gain. Many of the teams based their projects around issues that had affected them personally. Jean Pierre and Eduardo Carlin, members of the Prospectors Pulse team, were drawn to their project because of their experiences as university students dealing with student loans. Their idea was to create a system to help students evaluate their academic accomplishments and provide tips on how to better improve their resumes. “What got the team 100% on board was seeing students going into debt and not being able to get a return on the investment of their college education,” Jean explained. Similarly, Thang Luong, a graduate student at UMass Dartmouth working towards a Master’s in Business Administration, explained that he was drawn to his team’s project because of his frustrations with finding health care while living in the United States under a student visa. His team designed a mobile app to help users keep in touch with doctors and find new doctors that accept their insurance.
The team behind the P.R.I.D.E. app (People Responsibility Innovation Development Engagement) were inspired by their home city of Fall River. “It’s about connecting people in communities to uplift their sense of pride,” said Cory DeMedeiros, a Sociology student working on the team. “Fall River doesn’t have a good perception; maybe putting a number behind it could bring awareness to people that are in power and really help them realize that there are things that need to be fixed.”
Smart Case’s design is meant to give users a sense of security, especially in circumstances when the user is unable to call or text.
After a jam-packed three days of hard work, one team of aspiring entrepreneurs was awarded the grand prize of 6 months of office space at the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, accessories from the Charlton College of Business, and mentorship opportunities with Mr. Couto. The winning project, called Smart Case, presented a smartphone case equipped with a button on the back that could be pressed to send the user’s GPS coordinates and a message to their closest friends and family in case of emergency. “Life is hard to predict, and sometimes you feel unsafe,” the team explained in a video presentation. Smart Case’s design is meant to give users a sense of security, especially in circumstances when the user is unable to call or text. Since their win at the Startup Weekend last fall, the Smart Case team went on to win the Global Startup Battle 2015’s Innovation Track award. The Global Startup Battle challenges thousands of entrepreneurs from all around the world to create the next big thing. We’re very proud of the Smart Case team, as well as every other team at the Startup Weekend, and wish them all the best of luck as they bring their projects to fruition.
Additional awards were also given out at the Startup Weekend, including the best-dressed team and a Social Track award from the Social Enterprise Greenhouse. The Social Track was awarded to Team Enable for their pitch for an application and website designed to help people with disabilities connect with healthcare professionals to get assistance from home.
Thanks to the success of last year’s Startup Weekends, UMass Dartmouth plans to continue hosting similar competitions going forward. “I think it was right to do two events back to back. I think right now there’s an appetite to do these more frequently,” said Stapleton. Although no plans for another Startup Weekend at UMass Dartmouth are set in stone as of yet, we are looking forward to supporting these types of events in the future. “Whatever it is that they’re going to do, I’ll be involved,” said Couto.
If you’d like to get involved any upcoming Startup events at UMass Dartmouth, keep any eye out on the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship’s Facebook page for upcoming dates and additional information.
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