Twenty-six Grove City College students are participating in the 2015-16 VentureLab, an early-stage business and social enterprise idea lab, sponsored by The Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation at the College, which provides seed grants, coaching, mentorship, and guidance to student entrepreneurs.
Twenty-four teams applied and made their case for funding to purchase supplies or professional services that will help test the viability of their ideas. Nine teams, each with a variety of business ideas, were selected. They are:
• Future Investment (Social): Elisabeth O’Brien ’16 and Hannah Vaccaro ’18 (a personal finance learning platform for teens)
• Holiday Ham and Turkey (Social): Turner Dalmaso ’18 and Travis Yohey ’18 (a commercial livestock farm in Rwanda that will support locals and spread the Gospel)
• Foodini (Commercial): Sam Kibler ’16, Aaron Rosenberger ’16, Seth Loew ‘16, and Mike Kytka ’16 (the new “Uber for food”)
• Immerse (Commercial): Ben Tobias ‘19 and Logan Hammerschmitt ’16, Charlie Mathews ’16, and Dan Mitchell ’16 (a virtual reality technology service)
• LightBrush (Commercial): Nathan Bergey ’16, Drew Risinger ’16, Devin Bergey ’16, Megan Lynskey ’16, and Micah Koegler ’16 (an app-controlled light painting tool)
• Restored Living (Commercial with a Social Mission): Amy Rumbaugh ’16 (offering upcycled furniture and educational opportunities to exploited women)
• Scribble Scrubs (Commercial with a Social Mission): Megan Smith ’17 and Dale Reese ’17 (a custom scrub cap company that supports hospitalized children)
• Still Life Cubes (Commercial): Zachary Unkenholz ’18 (a subscription service for still-life artists)
• Streamline (Commercial with a Social Mission): Christina Vilbert ’17, David Kirk ’17, Bryan Denny ’17, Brooke Dymski ’17, and Jamieson Weaver ’17 (an online political news source for millennials)
The mission of the VentureLab, in its fourth year at the College, is to help the campus community explore and develop new ventures based on their own original concepts. The lab serves as a valuable starting point for innovation and enables aspiring student entrepreneurs to gauge the feasibility of their ideas. Selected student teams may apply for seed grants by making a business case for the funds which includes a breakdown of the use of funds and milestones to be achieved. Additional rounds of funding may be requested if measureable progress is shown and students will be encouraged to bootstrap and operate as leanly as possible.
Yvonne English ’97, executive director of The Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation and Guest Lecturer of Entrepreneurship, Dr. Timothy S. Mech, professor of Business/Finance and Entrepreneurship, and Tim Sweet ’85, chair of the Department of Entrepreneurship and assistant professor of Entrepreneurship, are serving as coaches to the student teams.
Student teams will present their VentureLab projects at the Grove City College Entrepreneurship & Innovation Showcase 2016 held in Sticht Lecture Hall, Hall of Arts & Letters, at 11 a.m. April 16. The event is free and open to the campus and community.
To learn more about Grove City College’s entrepreneurship program, visit www.gccentrepreneurship.com.