MSEL Graduates Take Their Startup to an International Stage
For clinicians in health care, their personal protective equipment is a last line of defense against infection. Their gowns, gloves, and masks help to keep them safe.
That can’t happen, however, if the PPE doesn’t fit properly. Unfortunately, that’s a far too common problem, as PPE often is designed for male bodies and might not fit right when worn by women.
Wanting to change that, a group of Babson MSEL students founded Blueline, a venture aiming to provide adaptable PPE made for women. “Women are not small men,” says Barbara Pinto MSEL’24, one of the four students in the MSEL—Master of Science in Management in Entrepreneurial Leadership—program involved in the venture.
The four students developed Blueline as part of the Leading Entrepreneurial Action Project (LEAP), a central component of the MSEL degree in which students spend a year working toward producing a venture that is launch ready. The venture was also part of Babson’s Women Innovating Now (WIN) Lab venture accelerator in the spring.
The students may have graduated in May, but they have no intention of leaving behind Blueline and the issue it seeks to solve. “This is a problem,” says Marial Leonidakis MSEL’24, part of the Blueline team along with Pinto, Yelitza Bravo MSEL’24, and Bille Sheikh MSEL’24. “Why wouldn’t we seek to solve it if we can?”
While Blueline may still be in its early stages, the venture celebrated a significant accomplishment last month when it competed in the prestigious and highly competitive Hult Prize. Every year, roughly 10,000 ventures apply to enter the entrepreneurship competition, which seeks to address pressing social issues, and the Blueline team was invited to pitch at a Hult Prize summit in Monterrey, Mexico.
“For us to make it to Monterrey was a blessing,” Sheikh says. “It meant a lot to me.”
Surrounded by Entrepreneurs
The Hult Prize only accepts a small percentage of applicants to compete for its $1 million prize, and the Blueline team received the news that they were accepted into the competition on the school year’s very last day of classes.
To winnow down the field of competitors, the Hult Prize holds in-person summits in cities around the world. With the support of Babson and its professors, the Blueline team made its way to the summit in Monterrey.
“To see entrepreneurs taking action—I don’t think there is anything more inspiring.”
Barbara Pinto MSEL’24
In Monterrey, a city nestled among mountains in northern Mexico, the Blueline group was joined by 60 other startups focusing on a host of social issues, including hunger, malnourishment, and food and water waste. It was an energetic gathering, filled with entrepreneurs from many countries seeking to make a difference.
“Everyone had a purpose,” says Pinto, who beyond her efforts with Blueline is currently working on her startup, NestSaude, a digital healthcare platform, in the Summer Venture Program. “To see entrepreneurs taking action—I don’t think there is anything more inspiring.”
Leonidakis enjoyed being surrounded by so many like-minded people. “It can be lonely being an entrepreneur,” she says. “To have so many people around you fighting for something they believe in was comforting, and it was super motivating. You feel less alone. You see you’re not the only one fighting for something.”
What Comes Next
In the end, Blueline wasn’t chosen to be among the dozen startups moving onto the Hult Prize competition’s next phase, which is a residency in a London accelerator. The experience, however, left its mark on the Blueline team.
“Having Blueline compete in Monterrey was a significant experience for me,” Bravo says. “It reinforced the importance of our work and highlighted the potential we have to create meaningful change.”
The experience also reinforced the importance of their new Babson degrees. “The skills, knowledge, and mindset fostered at Babson,” Bravo says, “empowered us to approach problems creatively, work effectively as a team, and confidently present our venture on an international stage.”
As for what’s next for Blueline, the startup has a prototype of a medical gown in the works, though the team members currently are taking a break from the venture as they settle into their lives after graduation. They hope to pick it back up again in the near future. “The idea is to bootstrap as much as possible,” Leonidakis says, “and see if this implementable on a wider scale.”
Posted in Entrepreneurial Leadership
