Babson is synonymous with entrepreneurship. The College is ranked No. 1 for entrepreneurship by U.S. News and World Report and entrepreneurship runs through the veins of the College’s community. Students brainstorm business ideas in residence halls, faculty teaches real-world entrepreneurial experiences in the classroom, and there is an energy of innovation and excitement in all things Babson.
Businesses run by Babson students, alumni, and community members are thriving domestically and internationally. Here are a few highlights from Seattle, Boston, and Miami. On both coasts, Babson entrepreneurs are participating in competitive accelerators and scaling their businesses to increase their impact.
MassChallenge and HUBWeek: Demo Day
HUBWeek is an annual event that brings together innovators from around the world to Boston. Representing every industry, these impact-oriented artists, academics, entrepreneurs, researchers, executives, makers, and up-and-comers all come together to build our future out of curiosity.
Demo Day, a highlight of the week, showcases startups from leading incubators, accelerators, institutions—and beyond—from dozens of sectors. Eight Babson entrepreneurs made the semifinals of Demo Day’s pitch competition. Waku, founded by Juan Giraldo MBA ’18, made it to the finals and pitched for the grand prize.
Semifinalists included Artyfactos, Angela Sanchez MBA ’11; Briggs Hard Seltzer, Michael Kurson ’19; The Contribune, David Miller ’16; DetraPel, David Zamarin ’19; Magnomer, Ravish Majithia MBA ’18; VINCI Vr, Eagle Wu ’19; and Vitalfit Nutrition, Alfred Schofield MSEL ’16 and Cameron Fischer MSEL ’16.
In addition to the Babson alumni and student businesses featured at Demo Day, Babson’s Women Innovating Now (WIN) Lab®, a venture accelerator for women entrepreneurs, had four semifinalists and one finalist. Semifinalists included Artyfactos, mentioned above; BondVoyage; FriendlyU; and finalist Aisling Organics, founded by Krysta Lewis, also named one of Entrepreneur’s Most Influential Entrepreneurs of 2018.
cleancult, founded by Ryan Lupberger ’18, and Magnomer were among the MassChallenge Top 2018 Startups in Boston; in addition they were each awarded $50,000 Gold Prizes at the finale event. MassChallenge is a global network of zero-equity startup accelerators committed to strengthening the global innovation ecosystem by supporting high-potential startups across all industries, from anywhere in the world.
Alexa Accelerator, Powered by Techstars
Alexa Accelerator, powered by Techstars, is a program designed to support early-stage startups that use voice technology to deliver transformative customer and business experiences. The Seattle-based accelerator selects nine startups from hundreds of applications from 44 countries around the world. Unruly Studios, founded by Bryanne Leeming MBA ’16, was selected to be a part of this year’s cohort.
Leeming also received the $25,000 prize from the Small Biz Salute Pitch Off contest hosted by The UPS Store and Inc. magazine. After more than 2,000 individuals responded to a nationwide call for online pitch submissions, the top three finalists competed at the live Pitch Off event in Detroit.
WIN Lab® in Miami and Boston
Babson College’s WIN Lab has announced its 2018–2019 cohorts for Miami and Boston. The five-month long accelerator, created by the Center for Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership at Babson College, was developed six years ago to offer an accelerator specifically for female founders of startups at the College and in the city of Boston. WIN Lab now has two locations: Miami WIN Lab and Boston WIN Lab.
Eighteen female founders in Miami and 19 founders in Boston will be launching, growing, and scaling their businesses. This is possible with support from one-on-one coaching and access to experts in the local startup ecosystems. Since 2013, the founders of WIN Lab have raised more than $10 million in gross capital. They are continuing to make an impact in industries ranging from FinTech to food to fashion.
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