Applications are now being accepted through March 15 for the Hunter Brooks Watson Spirit of Entrepreneurship Award.  The competition features $10,000 in funding and is open to all full and part-time undergraduate and graduate students at Syracuse University.  The event will be held virtually Friday afternoon, March 26 in conjunction with the RvD iPrize.  Apply here through the common app.

The Hunter Brooks Watson Spirit of Entrepreneurship Awards were created to recognize students who have demonstrated a real passion and enthusiasm for entrepreneurship and are actively pursuing a venture idea.  Judging criteria for the awards include:

• Passion and spirit
• Intrinsic drive that pushed the entrepreneurs to pursue this venture, and the likeliness that the team will pursue the venture
• Level of cooperation and camaraderie between the team members
• Innovative idea and a clear plan of the continuation of the venture
• Engagement during Q&A, showing rapport as well as technical competence

The awards, funded through a generous gift to the iSchool from the Hunter Brooks Watson Memorial Fund, help to celebrate the life of Hunter Brooks Watson.  Hunter was a Syracuse student studying Information Management at the iSchool who tragically lost his life as a passenger in a distracted driver automobile accident in 2016. Hunter demonstrated a strong gift and enthusiasm in music – having a music video reach millions of hits, computer technology, performance art and entrepreneurship.

“Hunter’s interest and ability to foresee the developing trends of his age can be found in the many kids like Hunter,” said his father Jerry Watson. “This fund seeks to support with their ideas, enthusiasm and dreams.”

The Fund was established to help students who display immense passion and drive for their venture and ideas, demonstrating the entrepreneurial spirit of Hunter Brooks Watson. The awards recognize students who have passionate interests in areas comparable to those that motivated Hunter, but who may not have the financial means to bring their ideas to life.

See the previous Syracuse University winners here:

Learn more about the program here:  https://launchpad.syr.edu/hunter-brooks-watson/

To apply, teams must upload a one-page executive summary and answer a brief questionnaire on the common app.  They will then receive important updates and information, invitations to pitch practice workshops and other tools to help prepare for the competition. Workshops will be coordinated by the Blackstone LaunchPad & Techstars in Bird Library. 

Managing this year’s program and mentoring applicants is Emma Rothman who was named 2020 – 2021 Hunter Brooks Watson Scholar at the LaunchPad.  Contact her at:  etrothma@syr.edu

Additional information is also available at LaunchPad@syr.edu 

Applications are being accepted now through March 15 for the School of Information Studies’ (iSchool) Raymond von Dran (RvD) iPrize pitch competition and the Hunter Brooks Watson Spirit of Entrepreneurship Award.  The concurrent competitions are open to all full and part-time undergraduate and graduate students at Syracuse University.  The event will be held virtually Friday afternoon, March 26.  Apply here through the common app.

The event is also the regional qualifier competition for Compete CNY, the New York Business Plan Competition (NYBPC), which is open to student teams from across Central New York.  Registration for the RvD iPrize automatically enters students into the NYBPC competition, to be held virtually on May 7.

The competitions are coordinated for the iSchool by the Blackstone LaunchPad & Techstars at Syracuse University Libraries.

The RvD Fund is named after former iSchool dean Raymond Von Dran, who served from 1995 until his passing in 2007. Von Dran was a longtime academic entrepreneur and staunch supporter of student innovation. He started several innovative programs in higher education. To honor his memory and ensure that her husband’s infectious spirit for innovation continued, his wife Gisela generously created the RvD Fund. Prizes totaling  $40,000 will be awarded to top performing Syracuse University students across categories through the RvD Fund, and an additional $10,000 will be awarded to Syracuse University student teams through the Hunter Brooks Watson Spirit of Entrepreneurship Award. All monies will be awarded as non-dilutive seed funding, so students will not give up any equity in their proposed business venture.

The RvD iPrize and Compete CNY competitions will compete in six virtual break out rooms based on categories selected in early May by the NYBPC steering committee.  Students can pitch their ideas for products, services, technologies or creative ventures as either for-profit or non-profit impact enterprises.  Teams must upload a one-page executive summary and answer a brief questionnaire which will help indicate which category they will be grouped with. 

After completing the common app, campus teams will receive important updates and information, invitations to pitch practice workshops and other tools to help prepare for the competition. Workshops will be coordinated by the Blackstone LaunchPad & Techstars in Bird Library.

Participating teams will be asked to provide their pitch decks in advance of the competition. The top Central New York student teams will be selected by a panel of independent judges to move on to a chance for more funding at the statewide virtual finals coordinated by the Capital Foundation of New York with the Upstate Capital Association of New York.

iSchool alumni who won the RvD iPrize and went on to launch successful companies include Josh Aviv ’15 G’17, Josh Jackson ’17 G ’19 and Ryan Taggart ‘21. 

After winning the RvD iPrize, Aviv then captured the grand prize at the NYBPC and used his winnings to help launch SparkCharge, a platform that is bringing portable ultrafast chargers to the electric vehicle market.  He has since raised nearly $5 million in funding, including a $1 million deal he secured on Shark Tank in fall of 2020.  He is now manufacturing, and has operations in both Boston and Buffalo, with sales operations in cities around the country.

Jackson used his RvD iPrize winnings to help launch Promptous, a tech platform that makes it easy for companies to save on dental benefits through seamless self-funding.  The Promptous team has also raised funds and launched into the market.  It has offices in Long Island and Syracuse.

 Taggart used RvD iPrize winnings to develop Itemize, an app to keep track of items for insurance purposes.  He continues to work on his venture while pursuing a career as a cloud applications consultant for Oracle.

For more information or to schedule coaching, e-mail LaunchPad@syr.edu 

This is National Entrepreneurship Week, a non-partisan, congressionally chartered initiative that takes place the third week of February each year. The goal of the week is to educate, engage, and build equitable access to America’s Entrepreneurship Ecosystem, and celebrate entrepreneurship as a tool to help grow businesses and local communities.  The LaunchPad at Syracuse University joins #NatlEshipWeek in celebrating the voices of aspiring innovators who are creating a new generation of leadership.  Join us in celebrating community-builders who are empowering the inclusive voices of America’s Entrepreneurship Ecosystem.  Become a member of our network to help you on your own entrepreneurship journey and enjoy free #NatlEshipWeek events all week here.

The Blackstone Charitable Foundation announced this week that it will expand its LaunchPad program to support underrepresented students and communities, focusing on colleges and universities that have a majority diverse population or are serving under-resourced communities. With a $40 million commitment, LaunchPad will increase its network to 75 campuses over the next five years working with UNCF (the United Negro College Fund), the largest scholarship provider for students of color. 

There are currently 30 universities in the network with the recent addition of six additional campuses in the University of Texas system, funded through a $5 million commitment to reach designated Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs).  This doubles the number of HSIs in the LaunchPad network and further underscores the commitment to increasing inclusion in student entrepreneurship.

This represents a rapid expansion of the network. In fall 2020, there were 24 campuses in the network, including Syracuse University. With the expansion comes an evolution of mission — from helping start and scale student startups, to also focusing on the development of creative and analytical skills sets to help students succeed in life.

Drawing on insights from ten years of experience, Blackstone LaunchPad will also develop new offerings to bring its critical entrepreneurship training to a broader set of students and offer an expanded set of programs for entrepreneurial skill-building – like building business acumen and problem solving –  to support career mobility in 21st century jobs.

Amy Stursberg, Executive Director of the Blackstone Charitable Foundation, said, “In the last ten years of LaunchPad, we have seen a growing need for inclusion in student entrepreneurship. As we continue to build on our commitment to diversity and equity, we hope to support a new generation of entrepreneurs and provide resources for students to thrive in today’s workforce.”

Dr. Michael Lomax, President and CEO of UNCF, said: “Our partnership with Blackstone underscores the firm’s commitment to genuinely expanding its offerings to reach more diverse students. We have been impressed with their expansion plans and hope to grow this partnership to continue making LaunchPad more inclusive.”

UNCF is the nation’s largest and most effective minority education organization. To serve youth, the community and the nation, UNCF supports students’ education and development through scholarships and other programs, supports and strengthens its 37 member colleges and universities and advocates for the importance of minority education and college readiness. UNCF institutions and other historically black colleges and universities are highly effective, awarding 17 percent of African American baccalaureate degrees. UNCF administers more than 400 programs, including scholarship, internship and fellowship, mentoring, summer enrichment and curriculum and faculty development programs. Today, UNCF supports more than 60,000 students at over 1,100 colleges and universities across the country. Its logo features the UNCF torch of leadership in education and its widely recognized motto, ‟A mind is a terrible thing to waste.” ^® 

Learn more at UNCF.org or for continuous updates and news, follow UNCF on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @UNCF.

Read more about the LaunchPad network expansion here.

More than $125,000 is up for grabs at spring business plan competitions at Syracuse University.  Applications are now open with deadlines coming up in March.  Have you submitted yet? Don’t miss your chance to win funding for your big idea. Check here for key dates and application links for each event. 

• March 15, 2021, Applications due for Raymond von Dran (RvD) iPrize (with teams automatically entered into the Hunter Brooks Watson Spirit of Entrepreneurship Awards, as well as Compete CNY, the regional qualifier for the New York Business Plan Competition).  Apply here.
• March 19, 2021, Applications due for Panasci Business Plan Competition. Apply through the Whitman School of Management and learn more on the competition website.
• March 26, 2021, RvD iPrize, Hunter Brooks Watson Spirit of Entrepreneurship Awards and Compete CNY competitions. 
• April 5, 2021, Applications due for Intelligence ++ Competition. Apply here.
• April 23 – 24, 2021, Panasci Business Plan competition, Whitman School of Management
• April 16, 2021, Intelligence ++ competition
• May 7, 2021, New York Business Plan Competition (top winners of the RvD iPrize competition move on to the state event)

About the competitions:

• Raymond von Dran (RvD) iPrize:  Open to all graduate and undergraduate students working on venture ideas for products, services, technologies and social impact ventures.  Sponsored by the iSchool, the competition typically features a prize package of more than $40,000.  The competition is also part of Compete CNY, the regional qualifier for the New York State Business Plan Competition.  It is coordinated by the LaunchPad in partnership with the iSchool.
• Hunter Brooks Watson Spirit of Entrepreneurship Awards:  Open to undergraduate and graduate students at Syracuse competing in the iPrize, the competition features a prize package of $10,000 from the Hunter Brooks Watson Memorial Fund (Hunter’s Fund) in memory of Hunter Brooks Watson, a Syracuse University iSchool student who passed away in a 2016 distracted driving accident. This competition is concurrent with the RvD iPrize and is coordinated by the LaunchPad.
• Compete CNY and New York Business Plan Competition:  Contestants in the RvD iPrize are automatically entered into this regional qualifier for the New York Business Competition.  The qualifier runs concurrently with the RvD iPrize. Open to all undergraduate and graduate students at New York State Universities.  Check for details on this year’s competition here.  It is coordinated by the LaunchPad.
• Panasci Business Plan Competition:  Sponsored by the Martin J. Whitman School of Management and open to all graduate and undergraduate students, typically with a prize package of more than $40,000.  This is a separate application through the Whitman School, so check for details on the competition website.
• Intelligence ++ Competition: Supported by a generous gift to SU Libraries by Gianfranco Zaccai ’70 H’09 and the Zaccai Foundation for Augmented Intelligence (Intelligence++), this challenge is focused on inclusive entrepreneurship and design. It is open to all undergraduate and graduate students from all disciplines, with a $30,000 prize package. Interdisciplinary teams are encouraged to submit proposals for products, services or technologies that address problems or create new opportunities for individuals with intellectual disabilities and their families. It is offered through a partnership between the LaunchPad, the Taishoff Center for Inclusive Higher Education (InclusiveU) and the  College of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA). This is a separate application from the common app, so apply for this competition here.

The LaunchPad team at SU Libraries can assist teams that are interested in competing.  To schedule a meeting to discuss your idea, get matched with a peer mentor, or participate in pitch workshops, please e-mail LaunchPad@syr.edu

Applications are now open for the New York Business Plan (NYBPC), an annual competition that brings together hundreds of startups from colleges and universities across New York State to compete for prize money and recognition. Many companies go on to generate revenue, create jobs, and deliver valuable goods and services. Get all the competition details all in one place and sign up here.

NYBPC is hosting a workshop on March 4, 2021 for teams interested in competing in the annual competition which is open to student teams from colleges across the state.  The workshop is part of Mentorship+, a statewide program that connects student entrepreneurs with experienced business professionals for advice and support.  

The LaunchPad at Syracuse University hosts Compete CNY, the regional qualifier for the state competition.  The campus qualifier event is being held in conjunction with the RvD iPrize on March 16.  The top teams from each of the 10 regions in New York state advance to the final round of the statewide competition.   Apply here for the campus qualifier.

Check out the NYBPC webpage to learn more about the statewide competition, eligibility and this year’s prize package.

NYBPC helps student entrepreneurs commercialize new technologies and expand student connections to the business community. Syracuse University has had two grand prize winners, Luis Romo, founder of Purple Sun and Josh Aviv, founder of SparkCharge.  In addition, Syracuse University has had many first-place winners in various tracks, as well as MWBE winners. 

The impact the program has been over the last 12 years speaks for itself:

• Over $150M+ invested, including follow-on funding for 100+ startups
• Hundreds of innovative solutions and patented technologies created
• Nearly 50% MWBE student participation every year
• New this year – ongoing mentorship program for all entrepreneurs coupled with educational workshops

Learn more here:  https://www.capitalfoundation.org/nybpc

The LaunchPad is still accepting applications to a new Syracuse University Libraries Innovation Fund.  Funding is available to graduate and undergraduate students, with applications accepted on an open rolling basis based on funding availability.  Merit/milestone-based grants of up to $2,500 per award may be awarded per application, with deliverables due within six months of the award.  Applications from student startups should focus on a specifically defined need over a clear timeframe, with identified outcomes that will help move a startup idea closer to proof of concept.

Permitted uses of funds are for tangible needs related to the development of a product, service or technology, regulatory or compliance consulting, prototyping costs (including purchase of materials and fabrication), professional (legal and accounting) services related to incorporation, direct costs associated with IP protection, legal costs for specialized contract work, third party testing and certification, or other costs deemed critical per the review committee comprised of members of Syracuse University’s innovation ecosystem.

Costs such as marketing, sales, business development, advertising, travel or ongoing costs such as website hosting and cloud services are not eligible. The fund does not support salaries for team members.

Students or teams may apply multiple times for evolving needs, but no individual student or team may receive more than $5,000 through the program.  Awards are limited to one per team per semester.  The team leader must be a full-time student, undergraduate, or graduate level, who is currently enrolled in and pursuing a degree program at Syracuse University. Students may be a member of only one team.

Applicants must complete an application form and submit a one-page business executive summary. The application and grant distribution process are being managed by the LaunchPad at SU Libraries. For more information and application materials, please e-mail:  LaunchPad@syr.edu

The Innovation Fund is open to LaunchPad members.  If you are not yet a member, please join here.

Learn more about the Innovation Fund here.

Applications are now open for undergraduate students for several Syracuse Office of Undergraduate Research and Creative Engagement (SOURCE)  grants.  Opportunities include Summer Grants (up to $2,800) for summer 2021 and SOURCE Academic Year Grants (up to $5,000) for 2021-2022.  Additionally, participants in the Renée Crown University Honors Program are also eligible to apply for Honors program awards to cover the cost of their thesis research and creative projects, as well as pre-thesis research related activities. Honors Program Award applications (up to $5,000) for 2021-2022 share a common app.  A required Intent to Apply is due February 18 and complete applications are due by March 4, 2021. Be sure to read the on-line guide to understand the process and eligibility. The Intent to Apply link is here,

SOURCE provides expanded funding opportunities and support for diverse undergraduate engagement in faculty-guided scholarly research and creative inquiry across all disciplines and programs at Syracuse University. The Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) defines undergraduate research as “an inquiry or investigation conducted by an undergraduate student that makes an original intellectual or creative contribution to the discipline.”

In keeping with the University’s Academic Strategic Plan, the SOURCE Grant Program supports student discovery, innovation, and success, and a commitment to diversity and inclusion, enhancing the climate of research, creativity and scholarship for all our undergraduates. SOURCE funding supports undergraduate work in basic, translational and applied sciences, the arts, media, technology, social sciences, engineering, liberal arts, humanities, and all professional schools.

Award applicants will be selected on a competitive basis to pursue a mentored experience under the guidance of Syracuse University faculty. The funding supports travel, supplies and materials, summer support, and other research expenses. Criteria for selection include academic, creative or professional strength and significance of the proposed project; level of the student’s skills to complete the project as demonstrated by the academic record and faculty mentor recommendation; feasibility of the proposed project; quality of writing in the narrative proposal.

Prior to applying, interested applicants must contact their potential faculty mentor to discuss the project plans and confirm that the faculty member is willing to provide mentorship for the period in question. A brief letter of support from that mentor is required as part of the application process. Proposals must also include a detailed description of the project, grounded in the academic, creative or professional field, a work plan, indicating the activities that will support the proposed research or creative work, as well as a budget, the timeline of activities, and the plan for dissemination of results.

Undergraduate students funded by this program are expected to:

• Conduct original research or creative work, under the direction of a faculty mentor;
• Commit at least 20 hours per week during the summer months, for a total of 200 hours for summer awards, or commit at least 10 hours per week for a total of 400 hours for academic year awards;
• Participate in one research skills workshop and one diversity and inclusion in research workshop offered by the SOURCE;
• Submit monthly progress reports, verified by faculty mentors, including hours committed and tasks completed;
• Present their work either on- or off-campus;
• Submit a final report.

Questions? Contact ugresearch@syr.edu

The deadline is approaching for applications to the 2021 Collaboration for Unprecedented Success and Excellence (CUSE) Grant Program. Information sessions held earlier this month were recorded and may be found on the CUSE Grant Program web page. Office hours are available February 17 and 24 for one-on-one consultation with CUSE Grants program manager Christina Leigh Docteur.  Registration is required and can be made here. Proposals are due March 1. Find more information here.

Jack Kuveke and Dan Vykhopen just raised $3 million in the last few months for their startup from some of the best investors in the world. They’ll do absolutely everything possible to help you raise your seed round too.  They are part of our LaunchPad alumni crew and co-founders of Huddle. Their bootcamp is bringing in some special guests including top VC partners and founders who raised more than $300 million plus.  They’ll help you create a fundraising strategy, hone your pitch, make the right intros and launch.  Here’s the hitch:  They’ll only accept ten teams and founders they believe in. Trust us when we say you want to be one of them.  Watch the bootcamp video, then learn more and apply here by Monday, February 22.  (PS – Huddle is also hiring!)