A pair of Grove City College students who teamed up with two recent alums earned a $10,000 grant for their startup podcast platform during the Ben Franklin Virtual TechCelerator Graduation & Championships on March 23.
Senior Entrepreneurship majors Cameron Suorsa ’21 of Slippery Rock and Eric Dudgeon ’21 of Pittsburgh are working with alumni Meredith Egeland ’19 and Jonathan Brutt ’17 to develop a venture called sidekickk. It is a tech platform that gives podcasters the resources and tools they need to launch and manage their shows from scheduling to distribution.
Through Ben Franklin’s 10-week Business Startup Boot Camp for emerging tech-entrepreneurs, they had access to business mentoring, entrepreneurial coaching and an innovative forum to work up a pitch presentation that earned the team $10,000 to help get the business started. The sidekickk team was the only one in the program that included students.
“We were involved in the Ben Franklin TechCelerator Program for 10 weeks, all the while focusing on being full-time students,” Dudgeon said. “We’ve made incredible progress since week one and we’re so glad we got to experience this two-and-a-half-month journey. The sidekickk team is very appreciative of this opportunity and we are eager to continue growing this venture.”
“We couldn’t have made it this far if it wasn’t for our mentors from Ben Franklin and the guidance from Professor Yvonne J. English ’97 and Professor Kenneth E. Smith ’84,” Suorsa said, crediting Entrepreneurship faculty.
Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Central & Northern PA provides startup funding and business support services to tech-based startups and small manufacturers located in Pennsylvania.
For more about Entrepreneurship at Grove City College, visit gccentrepreneurship.com.