Northeastern’s Entrepreneurs Club helped make some students’ business dreams come true at their fourth ever Demo Day last Thursday. The club hosts the Husky Startup Challenge (HSC) each semester to give students the opportunity to develop their own business ventures.
This year saw a spectacular turnout with over 300 attendees, including President Aoun. Over $5,000 was awarded to multiple groups, which will be used to finance the proposed enterprises.
1st place was awarded to freshman Preston Turk, whose Lens Caddy allows photographers to safely carry multiple camera lenses.
Her Campus Northeastern is proud to say that staffer Hana Nobel’s hip-hop ice cream truck, Scoop There it Is won 2nd place and $1,500! The “Scoopers” also won 10 hours of free legal advice that they plan to use to get started..and then hope to buy a truck soon after. They’ll be demoing in the Boston community this summer and applying for permits and licenses for next year. The group served “Milli Vanilla” and “PB and Jay-Z” ice creams at the event.
HardBoil, the vision of Marty Chang, took home the 3rd place prize. Chang’s idea is a software tool that helps IT companies build applications
The audience favorite prize went to Sweet Therapy, a medically themed bakery delivery service that brings homemade cupcakes right to students’ doors to treat and cure the woes that commonly plague college students.
This year’s event highlighted what most Huskies already knew: Northeastern’s campus boasts some of the most inventive and driven young entrepreneurs in the country. In a matter of a few months, 18 teams turned basic ideas into full-fledged business opportunities. Representatives from TechStars, General Catalyst, Young Impact, CampusLive, and more acted as judges for the evening.
Now HSC contestants will be applying to IDEA: Northeastern’s Venture Accelerator, which provides mentorships, access to legal and accounting services, and up to $10,000 monthly in grant funding.
Greg Skloot, president of the Entrepreneurs Club, commented on the amazing quality of the event and teams this year. “I thought the winners did great, as did all of the 18 teams. They came into the program with just ideas, and through a semester of hard work turned those ideas into real businesses.”
Congratulations to all the HSC competitors and the winners! Keep a lookout for these companies as they expand their services to the Northeastern community and beyond!
Photos courtesy of: Dan McCarthy