By Sierra LaDuke
Last week, SEED SPOT had the privilege of hosting 16 entrepreneurs and their 11 ventures for a five day intensive Boot Camp. While here, the innovators further constructed their ideas while receiving advice from experts, guidance from mentors, along with a new professional network.
At the end of the week, each venture was allotted three minutes to give their pitches to fellow entrepreneurs and their families. It was exciting to see each of them bring problems to the table, with “outside-the-box” solutions.
Below is a brief summary of all 11 pitches in the order that they were presented.
- Entrepreneur: Varun Palivela
Venture: UnWire
Concept: An app for a social network that allows people to form sports teams and games for recreational play.
Social impact: Provides fun opportunities to be physically active and elevates new friendships amongst adults.
- Entrepreneur: Kyla Federowicz
Venture: Launched Lab
Concept: An online platform for small business owners to access education and resources.
Social impact: Helps new business owners stay afloat during the fragile beginning stages, which protects employees and strengthens the economy.
3) Entrepreneur: Peter Ward
Venture: Alternate Virtual
Concept: A business centered around selling devices that create simulations to
escape reality.
Social Impact: The business profits will go toward funding business education for veterans who wish to become self-employed.
4) Entrepreneur: Brad Tarris
Venture: BE Helper
Concept: A smartphone app that determines sources that are inhibiting energy efficiency in a building.
Social Impact: This knowledge could positively affect the environment by preventing the usage of unnecessary energy.
5) Entrepreneur: Debbie Baldemor
Venture: LifeLab
Concept: Patients can receive a higher quality and more personal form of care through an online community.
Social Impact: The creation of a medically-based community would allow people to empower one another to become healthier.
6) Entrepreneur: Mikala Edwards
Venture: Conquerors
Concept: A community for breast cancer survivors to connect with one another and
participate in group exercise and receive wellness coaching.
Social Impact: Mikala plans to strengthen the population of breast cancer survivors by giving them resources to make them feel like the conquerors that they are.
7) Entrepreneurs: Patty and Damon Patmon
Venture: Next Generation Project
Concept: An enrichment course and mentorship program that provides students with support needed to perform well in school.
Social Impact: Their project could positively influence young people who lack resources and support at home to succeed academically.
8) Entrepreneur: Brandon Chasse
Venture: Resilient Edge
Concept: A program that uses Heartmath Technology to reduce stress amongst employees.
Social Impact: Brandon’s program is meant to improve the well-being of the millions of people who report being stressed because of their job.
9) Entrepreneur: Miguel Opena (accompanied by his family)
Venture: THX PHX
Concept: A program that teaches young, at-risk people how to code by bringing computers and teachers directly to foster homes, homeless shelters, and Title One Schools.
Social Impact: There will soon be millions of coding jobs left unfulfilled. Preparing the youth now to be successful in such a fast-growing market will give them the opportunity to advance economically.
10) Entrepreneur: Kristi Scorza-Sobieski
Venture: Uplift PNG
Concept: Provide donors with a simple interface to donate to the non-government organizations that contribute to bettering the conditions in New Guinea.
Social Impact: A website that makes donating to nonprofits more accessible to the public will increase the likelihood of gathering financial support for the people of an impoverished nation.
11) Entrepreneur: Mechelle Freeman
Venture: TrackGirlz
Concept: Provide a platform that exposes and celebrates females who are successful track athletes and inspires young women who are currently pursuing the
sport themselves.
Social Impact: There is currently a lack of recognition of female athletes in this sport and research shows that girls who have mentors and role-models to look up to are more successful.
C’Pher Gresham, the SEED SPOT Director of Entrepreneur Initiatives spent a lot of time with the boot-campers and had this to say about his experience:
“I’m absolutely inspired and impressed by each venture’s dedication to making the world a better place. Working directly with the entrepreneurs gives me an immense amount of hope that the world will be left in a better place than we found it. The entrepreneurs that attended the boot camp not only have huge hearts, but also have the tenacity and acumen to build a solid business.”
