A GLIMPSE INTO THE FUTURE
The ecosystem surrounding campuses also gave student founders a leg up. And you won’t find a better spot to launch a student business than Silicon Valley – the world’s largest startup hub according to Startup Genome. Home to Sand Hill Road, the largest concentration of venture capitalists, Silicon Valley startups attracted $44 billion dollars in early-stage funding from 2020-2022, along with spinning out 251 unicorns during the same period. Smack dab in the middle of it is Santa Clara University’s Leavey School. Make no mistake: the founders of DUTCH took advantage of every imaginable edge.
“In my freshman year I was able to go to the Start World Cup in San Francisco with Gema, where we were able to talk to a multitude of venture capitalists as well as CEOs of competitive startups,” the trio wrote. “It was an amazing opportunity. I was able to talk one-on-one with investors and the CEOs in a wide range of fields. For example, we met Jim Anderson, who was invested in a lot of companies like Netflix and other companies, and it was interesting to pick his brain about what leads to successful companies. The experience of being in Silicon Valley and being able to go to all these opportunities definitely helped us get to the place where we are today.”
Question is, where will they be tomorrow? For now, the future is promising and the dreams are brash. Just ask Minno co-founder Alex Barr, who has over $150,000 to support their venture and hopes to become “the Google of financial information.” MeetYourClass co-founder Jonah Liss says they have launched an admissions pilot program with a Nebraska university. For them, success would be partnering with the majority of American universites to boost graduation and student satisfaction rates. And Emory University’s Patrick Latting plans to fulfill the dream of every entrepreneur: Sell his creation.
“I want to do this over and over again; I would prefer not to stay married to one business.”
MOST DISRUPTIVE BUSINESS SCHOOL STARTUPS OF 2023
| Startup | Business School | Founders | Industry | Funding |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Computers For People, Inc. | Babson College | Dylan Zajac | Non-Profit | $1,415,174 |
| Astra Wellbeing | Boston University (Questrom) | Johar Singh, Josh Bruehwiler, Taha Moukara, | Healthcare | $50,000 |
| Scribble AI | U.C.-Berkeley (Haas) | Jayaditya Sethi, Ethan Jagoda, Sahil Mehta | Generative AI, Business-to-Consumer | $15,000 |
| Clutch | Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper) | Isaiah Rodgers | Automotive Services | $10,000 |
| Crossroads | Cornell University (Dyson) | Mary Addison, Andrew Darby, Emily Domek, Anna Haraka, Matthew Kahn, Tri Vu Kieu, Micah Schuchman, Tyler Senzon, Erik Tekenbroek, Joy Xu | Custom Merchandise | $12,000 |
| Minno | Cornell University (School of Hotel Administration) | Alex Barr, Jude Rizzo | Financial Information | $250,000+ |
| BidBee | Emory University (Goizueta) | Patrick Latting | Event Management Software | $6,000 |
| Orbit | Georgetown University (McDonough) | Steven Pang, Colton El-Habr | Biotechnology | $550,000 |
| PrivyTrack | University of Illinois (Gies) | Shriya Srikanth | FemTech | $10,000 |
| Elevate | Indiana University (Kelley) | Casey Curtis | Building Management Analytics | $25,000 |
| MeetYourClass | University of Michigan (Ross) | Jonah Liss, Blake Mischley, Kaleb Schmottlach, Jon Millar | Higher Education, Social Networks | $120,000 |
| Nivoso | University of Minnesota (Carlson) | Max Minakov | Robotics | $57,700 |
| Tadpole | Northeastern University (D’Amore McKim) | Andrew Shenouda | EdTech | $30,000 |
| DUTCH | Santa Clara University (Leavey) | Sabrina Gonzalez, Gema Sanchez, Jodi Chui | Bill Splitting Technology | NA |
| LectureLogger | Southern Methodist University (Cox) | Jude Lugo | Educational Technology | $7,000 |
| Clips AI | University of Texas (McCombs) | Armel Talla, Benjamin Smidt, Vedant Nair, Johann Ramirez | Software as a Service (Video & AI) | $25,000 |
| Waterwatch | Texas Christian University (Neeley) | Forrest Williams | Safety | NA |
| Handle Delivery | USC (Marshall) | Chase Robbins, Mia McCarthy | Retail / Ecommerce | $1,600,000 |
| UpDonor | USC (Marshall) | Matthew Grant | Software and IT, Nonprofit | $2,000 |
| Risk Technologies | Villanova University | Luiz Andrade | Software/Website and Financial Management | $20,000 |
| RoomMe | University of Virginia (McIntire) | Sebastian Oliver, Brian Bernard, Dmitry Telemtayev | Mobile Applications, Property Technology | $17,000 |
| Apollo Music | Washington University (Olin) | Tony Sims II | Music/Tech/AI | $25,000 |
| StockSwap | Washington University (Olin) | Blake Berg | Fintech/Gaming | $350,000 |
| Nirby | Wharton School (University of Pennsylvania) | Piotr Lazarek | Agriculture | $87,000 |
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