Startup Spotlight shines on student entrepreneurs

May 7, 2007 by Bob Monsour (permalink)   

Startup SpotlightTwelve entrepreneurial ideas competed for the attention of five judges in the first ever Startup Spotlight. The event, run by students, showcased student ideas from across the campus. After all was said and done, the judges awarded top honors to Rethos, a web-based business that fosters social entrepreneurship, and the brainchild of Alexander Salzman '07. Second and third place honors were awarded to EcoVolve, presented by Jason Aramburu '07, and Greekr, presented by Eric Keller GS, respectively.

The winner receives entry into the DFJ East Coast Venture Challenge, a business plan competition open to students at all the Ivy League schools, NYU, and Carnegie Mellon University. Teams will compete at Columbia Business School on Monday, May 21st for $250,000 in seed stage funding. Second and third place winners in the Startup Spotlight are eligible for selection as wild card entries into the event.

The event, inspired by the Innovation Forum held earlier in the year, was conceived, developed, and produced by Joseph Perla '09 just 23 days earlier, an entrepreneurial endeavor in itself. In his opening remarks at the event, Perla described part of his motivation. "When I first came up with the idea for the Startup Spotlight, I had asked a few people for their thoughts. Most of them said that there wasn't enough time. That made me even more determined to make it happen."

The format for the event was a series of 4-minute pitches, performed on a stage in McCormick 101. "Pitchers" were not allowed to use powerpoint slides, putting all the pressure on the presenter's ability to convince the judges of the feasibility of their idea.

Winners and Judges

(left to right) Tom Vander Schaaff (Edison Venture Fund), Bill Bridgers (Zon Capital Partners), Eric Keller GS (Greekr, 3rd place), John Parker (Rho Ventures), Jason Aramburu '07 (EcoVolve, 2nd place), Ken Kay (Jumpstart NJ Angel Network), Alexander Salzman '07 (Rethos, 1st place), Joe Falkenstein (NJTC Venture Fund). Photo by Steven M. Schultz

The panel of five judges, four venture capitalists and an angel investor, were impressed with the range and talent of the group. "For a group of mostly undergraduate students, I was quite impressed with the depth of their ideas and their ability to communicate them effectively to us", said Ken Kay, chair of the Jumpstart New Jersey Angel Network.

The complete list of participants and the names of their companies follows (in the order of presentation):

  • AeroTunes: Bryan Cattle '07 & David Levine '07
  • Virtual Tailor: Janice Dru '07
  • ENTITY: Veneka Chagwedera '09 & Sara Chen '08
  • EcoVolve: Jason Aramburu '07
  • FreeWater: Justin Seidenfeld '09 & Rob Barnett '09
  • Ad Roots: Mason Simon '09
  • Green Books: James Hudson '10
  • Bahrain Education Bank: Ahmed Abdulla '09
  • Magiql: Greg Detre GS
  • Synthothink: David Levit '10
  • Greekr: Eric Keller GS
  • Rethos: Alexander Salzman '07