The Syracuse Office of Undergraduate Research and Creative Engagement (SOURCE) is now accepting applications for undergraduate grants of up to $5,000 for research projects or creative works.  October 1, 2020 is the deadline for an Intent to Apply form and October 15, 2020 is the deadline to complete the application form for Spring 2021 grants.  Applications are open to all undergraduate students from all disciplines working with a faculty mentor.  The SOURCE office is located on the second floor of Bird Library for questions or assistance.  Concurrently, applications are also open for Honors Program Awards of up to $5,000 for the 2020-2021 academic year, with the same deadlines through the same application portal. Click here for more information..

The overview below is extracted and condensed from this webpage.  Please visit it for complete details about funding programs.

The 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 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. 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.

Syracuse University student innovators can apply to three prestigious national and global competitions this fall with combined cash prizes of nearly $500,000. Applications are now open for the Lemelson-MIT Student Prize for top inventors, the Queen’s Entrepreneur’s Competition considered the premier student entrepreneurship competition in Canada, and the Baylor New Venture Competition, one of the largest student competitions in the country, with a prize package of $250,000. Deadlines are coming up soon, so keep reading for more details. The LaunchPad team is available to help you with your application and to get you ready to compete on the global stage.

Syracuse students are invited to compete in the upcoming 2021 Lemelson-MIT Student Prize with application deadline of September 25, 2020. The competition recognizes students at any U.S. college or university who have tested prototypes of technology-based inventions in healthcare, food/water and agriculture, transportation and mobility, and consumer devices and products. Teams of undergraduate students must apply with one invention and individual graduate students must apply with two or more inventions. Inventions are not limited to class projects or thesis work, and any side/personal projects could also be considered. Patents are encouraged but not required. In each of the four categories, undergraduate team winners are awarded $10k and graduate student winners are awarded $15k. In addition, winners receive a national media campaign and exposure to investment and business communities.

The online initial application has minimal requirements and is due by September 25, 2020. Students should review the Application Info Packet for complete details about the application process and eligibility requirements.

Students must have a tested prototype of a technology-based invention that fits into one of the four prize categories:

• “Cure it!” for inventions that involve healthcare
• “Eat it!” for inventions that involve food/water or agriculture
• “Move it!” for inventions that involve transportation or mobility
• “Use it!” for inventions that involve consumer devices or products

All 2021 Student Prize applicants must be full-time, matriculated, degree-seeking students in the fall semester of 2020 at any U.S. college or university.

Winners will be notified in late February 2021 and awards will be made at EurekaFest, held in 2021 (dates TBD).

Janell Ciemiecki, Awards Program Administrator, Lemelson-MIT Program, MIT School of Engineering is happy to set up a phone call or Zoom with any interested students who would like to discuss the competition further.  Her contact info is janellc@mit.edu or 617-258-5798.

The Queen’s Entrepreneurs’ Competition (QEC) invites applications from Syracuse University undergraduate student innovators. With $80,000 in prizes, The New York Times calls it “one of the longest-running and best-known undergraduate business plan competitions in the world.”

The QEC is student-run and judged by executives from companies such as Google, CIBC, and Accenture. Located in the heart of Toronto, Ontario, the competition attracts attendees from some of the largest investment firms and corporations. The competition is open to all undergraduate students with an entrepreneurial business. It is considered Canada’s premier undergraduate student competition.

Every year, the competition receives applications internationally, from undergraduate students at schools such as Harvard, Yale, University of Waterloo, The University of Hong Kong, and The National University of Singapore.  This year, event organizers are personally inviting students from Syracuse University to apply to QEC. The competition covers all industries and is an exceptional opportunity to kickstart and develop an entrepreneurial initiative.  It runs from January 14-16, 2021.

To apply, submit a 3-5 page business plan, and an optional 5 minute recorded presentation vvia e-mail to submissions@theqec.com  Early bird submission is October 9 and the regular deadline is October 23.  Judges will select 15 teams to pitch in a final round to business leaders and investors for the prize packages.

For more information, visit theqec.com and if you have questions, feel free to contact Jake Rakusin, The Queen’s Entrepreneurs’ Competition, 647-982-9880 / jake.rakusin@theqec.com

Syracuse University students are invited to compete in the $250,000 Baylor New Venture Competition.  Applications are now open for the tenth annual Baylor New Venture Competition at Baylor University’s Foster Campus for Business and Innovation. This business plan and elevator pitch competition showcases collegiate entrepreneurs from across the globe. The competition provides participants with personal and professional development through industry-specific mentorship towards sustainable business plans, exclusive access to accomplished experts and fellow innovators, and a chance to compete for over $250,000 in cash prizes and vital resources.

The competition is open to all university students and recent alumni. There is no limit to the number of teams from a single university that may apply. To be eligible for the competition, teams must: have two to four members; be current students (undergraduate or graduate) or have graduated May 2019 or later; have at least one member that is a current full-time university undergraduate or graduate student anywhere in the world; have team members that hold fundamental, equity-holding positions within the company and have a combined ownership of at least 25% of the founder’s equity in the company.

For further information on team eligibility, visit the 2021 Official Guidebook for details.

Apply on-line here.  Applications are being accepted through November 1 with the following schedule:

• September 1, 2020, Entry Period Opens
• November 1, 2020, Executive Summary Deadline (11:59 p.m. Central Time)
• December 4, 2020, Announcement of Top 50 Teams Advancing
• January 4, 2021, Business Plan Submission Deadline (11:59 p.m. Central Time)
• February 5, 2021, Announcement of Top 10 Finalist Teams
• March 25-27, 2021, Baylor New Venture Competition at Baylor University

Questions about the competition can be addressed here and more information can be found here.

Work with Syracuse University’s business, management, and entrepreneurship librarian, Stephanie McReynolds, to learn how to research your customers, competition, and market.  McReynolds will once again host Business Research Office Hours for Syracuse innovators and entrepreneurs by appointment. Learn how to identify relevant industry (NAICS) codes and how to use those codes to find industry reports and create lists of companies in business research databases. Discover article search strategies and find information through business article databases, such as ABI/INFORM and Business Source Elite.

McReynolds has put together a handy guide to help guide your secondary research and guide your work with her and has created an instructive video tutorial that entrepreneurship students may find to be helpful.  See the tutorial here:  https://researchguides.library.syr.edu/c.php?g=258145&p=1723993#s-lg-box-24840829

Work with McReynolds to understand where your business idea fits into the existing industry landscape and explore business information guides here:  https://researchguides.library.syr.edu/business.  On that guide, you will also find the link to schedule an appointment for a research consultation with McReynolds, as well as her contact information, or you can schedule an appointment with her by Zoom on this quick link: click here.

Among the on-line tools you can find help utilizing:

Resources to Identify Industry Codes to Find Industry Reports and Industry Financials:

• Identify relevant industry codes (NAICS and SIC codes)
• Use the industry codes to discover industry reports in business research databases, such as:
  • Business Insights: Essentials
  • IBISWorld
  • Mergent Intellect (First Research module)
• Use the industry codes to find industry financials in business research databases, such as:
  • Bizminer
  • Mergent Intellect (Key Business Ratios module)

Resources to Explore Industry Data and Reports Provided by the U.S. Government:

• Browse government websites, such as the following:
  • Bureau of Economic Analysis
    • BEA Industry Facts page
    • Data by Topic page
  • Small Business Administration:
    • Market research and competitive analysis page
    • Office of Advocacy Research and Statistics page
  • United States Census Bureau
    • American FactFinder (main portal to United States Census data)
    • Business & Industry page

Resources to Identify and Connect with Industry Associations:

• Identify relevant industry associations (such as the National Coffee Association) with business research databases, such as
  • Business Insights: Essentials
  • Mergent Intellect (First Research module)
  • Plunkett Research Online
• Browse industry association websites and connect on social media to find relevant industry statistics, reports, and insights
• Consider joining a reputable relevant industry association, if the benefits of membership would help you to achieve your business goals

Resources to do Company Research

Create Lists of Companies with Industry Codes:

• Use relevant NAICS or SIC codes to create lists of companies in business databases, such as:
  • Mergent Intellect
  • ReferenceUSA : Business
  • Nexis Uni

Resources for Research on Specific Companies:

• Find company financials, executive contact info, annual reports, SWOT analyses, and more in business databases such as:
  • Business Insights: Essentials
  • Mergent Online
  • PrivCo
  • Westlaw Campus Research

Resources for Market Research

Learn about the existing research and data on your potential customers and market outlook.

Resources to Find Demographics and Reports on Consumer Behavior and Market Outlook:

• Explore government websites, such as the following:
  • American FactFinder (main portal to United States Census data)
  • Bureau of Economic Analysis (Consumer Spending page)
  • Bureau of Labor Statistics:
    • American Time Use Survey page
    • Consumer Expenditures page
  • Search business research databases such as:
    • Business Insights: Essentials (Market Share Reports module)
    • eMarketer
    • com Academic
    • Mergent Intellect (Demographics module and Consumer Data module)
    • Mintel Reports
    • MRI University Reporter
    • Richard K. Miller & Associates Publications
    • SimplyAnalytics

Resources to Find Information from Articles and News

Learn even more about your industry, market, and competitors through articles in news and trade publications, as well as academic journals and popular magazines.

• Search business article databases, such as:
  • ABI/INFORM Collection
  • Business Source Elite
• Expand your search by exploring multidisciplinary databases, such as ProQuest
• Keep current with what is going on in your industry and related news by setting up a Feed Reader

Emma Rothman ’21 has been selected as the Syracuse University Hunter Brooks Watson Scholar for the 2020 – 2021  academic year.  The role is funded through a generous gift to Syracuse University Libraries from the Hunter Brooks Watson Memorial Fund to honor the life, passion, and entrepreneurial spirit of Hunter Brooks Watson, a rising junior at Syracuse University majoring in Information Management and Technology, who died tragically in 2016 in a distracted driving car accident.

Inspired by Syracuse University’s Remembrance Scholar program, the Hunter Brooks Watson Scholar is a way to honor the life and entrepreneurial spirit of Hunter Brooks Watson who was a passionate entrepreneur interested in music — playing multiple instruments, performing, recording and producing music videos — as well as sports, and technology. He was especially interested in the emerging field of big data and had been working on new ventures related to predictive data.

The LaunchPad coordinates the Hunter Brooks Watson Scholar program and the Hunter Brooks Watson Spirit of Entrepreneurship Awards for Syracuse University.

Rothman, a food studies major in the Falk College, served as the Hunter Brooks Watson Scholar in fall 2019 and was previously both a LaunchPad Global Media Fellow and the LaunchPad’s Engagement Scholar (in partnership with the Maxwell School’s Citizenship and Community Engagement program). This year she also has the distinction of being selected a Rubin Family Innovation Mentor, providing peer mentorship to Syracuse University startups, particularly those with a social impact.  She helped organize and run last year’s Impact Prize competition hosted by the Syracuse LaunchPad.

Emma was selected in spring 2020 for the DIS Study Abroad in Scandinavia / Semester at DIS Copenhagen, recognizing her passion and expertise in the areas of sustainability, food security, and food access, as well as her work fostering social impact ventures. DIS is a non-profit study abroad foundation based in Denmark with locations in Copenhagen and Stockholm. The program offers high-impact learning experiences for upperclassmen through an intellectually challenging curriculum.

She is also a Falk College Ambassador and has been very active in area community-based food initiatives during her four years at Syracuse University.

Rothman has been passionate about community engagement since she was 12 years old, saying “I have been passionate about leaving my community in better standing than when I entered it. Each day I hope to become more involved with opportunities that inspire, interest and motivate me. In the future I hope to serve my community through food, nutrition and public health education programs for children.”

In 2013, Rothman and her family established a nonprofit called Hearts for Emma, which supports families of children with heart disease and heart transplantation in crisis; as well as, promotes educational initiatives relating to heart transplantation, and organ, tissue and corneal donation. In the summer of 2014, Rothman co-designed (with the New Jersey Sharing Network) the High School Heroes Curriculum, “You Have the Power to Save Lives,” which is required by New Jersey state law that all public high schools teach about organ and tissue donation in physical education class. Since the launch of the campaign, over 60,000 high school students have seen this presentation in four years. In addition to supporting the Hero Act, Hearts for Emma funds two college scholarships to promote organ, tissue and cornea donation on college campuses across the United States.

In addition to creating high school organ, tissue and cornea donation and transplantation educational materials, Hearts for Emma also funds annual scholarships to a Pediatric Cardiac Critical Care Nurse, Child Life Specialist, or Nurse Practitioner at New York-Presbyterian/Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital’s. This past summer, Hearts for Emma expanded to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia—many of the ongoing family support initiatives started at NewYork-Presbyterian/Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital will now benefit families in crisis on the Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Unit at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Working on these initiatives with the Hearts for Emma Board of Trustees, Rothman understands the value of community building and connection. She is passionate about leaving her community in better standings than when she entered it by being a leader in raising awareness and encouraging the discussion about the need for organ, tissue and blood donation through collaborating with ­educators, students, faith-based leaders, first responders and other community members to help spread the life-saving message of  the importance and vital need for organ and tissue donation.

Rothman is very touched and honored to have been selected as a Hunter Brooks Watson Scholar. “I am so excited to work with, and be surrounded by, so many entrepreneurs and like-minded thinkers,” said Rothman. “I look forward to helping build a community of innovators who share a vision of making a difference.”

Rothman will be working with the LaunchPad to help peer mentor other students who are in the process of developing their own ideas for ventures, along with helping prepare them for awards programs and competitions. 

In addition, she will be helping run the Hunter Brooks Watson Spirit of Entrepreneurship Awards at Syracuse University an annual spring competition that is part of the Raymond von Dran iPrize competition.  The awards are made possible through the support of the Hunter Brooks Watson Memorial Fund to recognize Syracuse University students who have demonstrated a passion and enthusiasm for their ventures or ideas. Four awards of $2,500 each are presented during the annual spring competition to teams or individuals who best demonstrate: passion and spirit; intrinsic drive; level of cooperation and candor between the team members; innovative idea; clear plan as to the continuation of the venture; proficiency and personality that exemplifies charisma and competence.

Kelsey Davis ’19 (Newhouse) and ‘G 20 (Whitman) and Brendan O’Keefe ’20, co-founders of CLLCTVE, graduated from Syracuse and headed to the prestigious and highly competitive Techstars Los Angeles Accelerator program this summer. The student startup earned distinction as part of the Syracuse University Blackstone LaunchPad and Techstars program, and is now scaling its digital platform connecting college creatives with brands targeting Gen-Z.  The team moved to LA this summer, while still maintaining a strong relationship with the Syracuse community.

Ten ventures were selected for the Techstars LA 2020 program which kicked off in mid-July.  “While we received hundreds of applications from across the world and chose these companies while socially distanced, we have stuck with our commitment to invest in and support the best companies in the greater LA region,” said Anna Barber, managing director ofTechstars Los Angeles Accelerator. Nine of the 10 companies in this year’s program are headquartered in Los Angeles, with the final company joining us from New York.”

This makes it even more notable for CLLCTVE to be selected for the Techstars LA program.

“For this year’s class we selected 10 resilient companies that can grow in an economic downturn and thrive in a world where social distancing remains the reality,” added Barber.  “We chose teams that have grit, curiosity, a learning mindset and a deep commitment to positive impact by way of a bold vision. The enduring motif of Techstars LA is that personal growth drives company growth — and all of this year’s founders have shown the willingness to rise to the occasion that 2020 has presented by embracing growth and change.” 

The ten teams are tackling teletherapy for intersectional communities, cancer care coordination, remote evaluation of ADHD and learning differences,  breast milk testing to optimize infant nutrition, an esports analytics platform, a leading marketplace for podcasting services, a marketplace for college creatives to connect with brands, the leading fashion and beauty marketplace by Latinx, for Latinx, a AI-powered insights platform for remote communication at work and a centralized data platform for real estate operators. 

“The Techstars LA 2020 selected class also represents our ongoing commitment to investing in diverse teams, with nine of the companies including women, Black or Latinx founders, six in the CEO seat,” noted Barber.  “This year, we have seven mixed gender founding teams, which is pretty unusual, and we are looking forward to seeing how this affects the class dynamic. Research shows that mixed gender teams perform better overall when compared to all-male teams specifically.”

The Techstars LA Class of 2020 includes:

• Ayana Therapy, which provides online therapy for minorities with an emphasis on intersectionality;
• CLLCTVE, a platform connecting college creatives with brands targeting Gen-Z consumers;
• JoyHub, an enterprise software platform that integrates multifamily operator systems into a single, centralized data platform;
• Lactation Lab, which provides breast milk analysis and personalized recommendations for mothers to optimize their child’s health and nutrition;
• Pod People, a full-service podcast production and staffing agency with a network of over 700 audio professionals across the globe;
• Preveta, which is transforming cancer care by arming clinicians with data and insights to improve outcomes, and blazing a trail for providers to deliver value-based care;
• Shop Latinx, the leading fashion and beauty lifestyle brand with products designed by and for the Latinx community;
• Sike Insights, which powers remote teams to work better together, with its first product, Kona, an AI-powered Slackbot that helps communicate;
• StatsHelix, a B2B gametech company focused on esports and streaming;
• Thrive Education, which provides remote tele-assessments for learning differences (LDs) such as dyslexia, ADHD, and autism.

Acceptance into a Techstars accelerator means:

• Access to Techstars resources for life;
• Acceleration in a 90-day Techstars mentorship-driven accelerator program with personal mentorship and office space;
• Lifetime access to the Techstars worldwide network of entrepreneurs, including more than 10,000 mentors, 10,000 investors, 1,600 alumni companies, and over 200 staff members;
• Access to over $400k of cash equivalent hosting, accounting, and legal support—plus other credits and perks worth more than $1M;
• Demo Day exposure and other investor connections.

Upon acceptance to a Techstars Accelerator, Techstars contributes $20,000, which is commonly used as a stipend to support living expenses during the 90-day acclerator program, and in return receives a small equity of the company. In addition, all accepted companies are offered a $100,000 convertible note. Historically, on average, Techstars companies go on to raise more than $2M of outside capital after the program.

This fall, buildings around the country are facing the challenge of re-opening in a pandemic. Density, the standard platform for counting people, has successfully closed $51 million in Series C funding to help safely manage that process. The new funding round was led by Kleiner Perkins and includes 01 Advisors, Upfront Ventures, Founders Fund, Ludlow Ventures, Launch, LPC Ventures, DTA in participation with Alex Rodriguez, Julia and Kevin Hartz, Cyan and Scott Banister, and others.  Density launched in 2014 in the Tech Garden in downtown Syracuse, and now has offices in San Francisco, New York City, and a new manufacturing center in Syracuse.  Five of the co-founders are Syracuse University alumni, including Andrew Farah ’09 (Writing) and G’11 (iSchool), Steve VonDeak G’08 (College of Law) who is a Syracuse University LaunchPad Alumni Entrepreneur in Residence, Ben Redfield ’12 (iSchool), Brian Weinreich, ’10 (Psychology and Biology) and Robert Grazioli ’11 (iSchool). Jordan Messina, also a co-founder, grew up in Syracuse and attended Binghamton University.  

Prior to this round, Density had raised $23 million bringing total funding to date to $74 million.

Read more about Density and the deal here in at Venture Beat.  Read the full news story in BUSINESS WIRE here.

“Thirty-two million Americans are unemployed and nearly half of the workforce can’t work from home. The world is trying to reopen. In many places essential businesses are required to remain open. Companies are just trying to do this safely,” said Farah. “Our team is working around the clock to handle unprecedented demand from offices, manufacturers, grocery stores, industrial plants, governments. They’re relying on Density to rationalize real estate and keep people safe.”  Density counts people in any space anonymously, accurately, and in real-time to help businesses safely reopen their offices and measure ROI of real-estate portfolios.  Clients include Pinterest, Booz Allen Hamilton, Hello Fresh, and Resorts World Casino, many of which are using Safe by Density to managing reopening.  

With this round of funding, Density will accelerate investment in software and product, expand its sales team, and scale their platform, adding positions around customer success, sales, infrastructure, ops, manufacturing, engineering, and core product. Density is hiring.

How it started:  A blog post by Andrew Farah for Kleiner Perkins

Density planted seeds at the Tech Garden in Downtown Syracuse, where many of its founders had previously worked at various student startups and had been involved in the Syracuse University Student Sandbox program. “When we first conceived of Density six years ago, we just wanted to know if there was a line at our favorite coffee shop, Café Kubal in Syracuse” said co-founder Andrew Farah in a blog post for Kleiner Perkins   “We thought it was odd there was an API for inclement weather but there wasn’t an API for how many people were in a space. We reasoned, if a solution didn’t already exist — which surely it must — it shouldn’t be more than a weekend project. How hard could it be to count people?”

Farah goes on to note, “We were optimistic and wrong by about three years. As we tried to solve our own problem, we learned two important lessons. First, people are weird. They do things you wouldn’t expect — they bump into each other, take phone calls, and they bring a lot of stuff with them: bags and boxes, bicycles and baskets, tv’s and trash cans, chairs, carts, iPads, lunch, even other people sometimes. This makes counting them unfathomably complex. You can’t fault commodity products for being bad at the analysis. People are just really weird.”

Second, he says, “We learned we weren’t alone. We met hundreds and now thousands of others trying to answer the same question — how many people used my office, bank, lounge, desk, space,floor, building, campus… city. If only we knew, we could reduce waste and energy use, improve access and productivity, clean the spaces that need it and skip the ones that don’t. If only we knew, we could A/B test physical space or even use less concrete! If only we knew how the world was used, we could measure how it works, identify its inefficiencies, and remake it.”

Farah explains, “Until recently, we had been helping hundreds of companies do just this — quantify how buildings were used so they could design them more effectively. Today, things have changed. We’ve been asked to help those same companies and hundreds more reopen their buildings and businesses safely. We’re helping them avoid leases they don’t need in order to prioritize payroll. We’re working to keep meat processing plants, distribution centers, manufacturers, offices, universities, even an entire village in Ohio open and safe.”

He notes that “The built world was modernizing before the pandemic. It will continue to modernize well after it’s over. In the meantime, we’re proud to say we’re not going anywhere and we’re eager to help.”

About Density:

Density measures how people use space in real-time without invading privacy. Using proprietary depth sensors and deep learning algorithms, the platform accurately and anonymously counts people in real time. Organizations use Density to improve efficiency and enhance occupant experience in buildings, workplaces, and real estate. Unlike a camera, Density’s platform doesn’t capture personally identifiable information and is purpose-built for accurately measuring how people use physical space. Together, Density’s customers manage over 1 billion square feet of real estate.

For more information, visit www.density.io and follow @densityio.

Nine Techstars accelerators have opened applications for programs that will take place during the first four months of 2021.  Applications close on October 11, 2020. The list includes:

• Techstars Anywhere Accelerator 
• Techstars Austin Accelerator
• Techstars Bangalore Accelerator
• Techstars Berlin Accelerator
• Techstars Boulder Accelerator
• Cox Enterprises Social Impact Accelerator powered by Techstars
• Techstars Hub71 Accelerator
• Techstars Seattle Accelerator
• Techstars Smart Mobility Accelerator

These accelerators join these other Techstars programs currently accepting applications:

• Eastern Pacific Accelerator Powered by Techstars
• Equinor & Techstars Energy Accelerator
• New York Barclays Accelerator, powered by Techstars
• STANLEY + Techstars Accelerator
• Techstars Boston Accelerator
• Techstars Chicago Accelerator
• Techstars Workforce Development Accelerator

If you have an idea with traction and are Interested in joining a Techstars accelerator to gain funding, mentorship and access to the Techstars worldwide network, please connect with the Syracuse LaunchPad to learn more and see if you are ready before applying to Techstars on line.  It is also highly recommended to attend a Techstars Meet and Greet event to learn about each program or request private one-on-one office hours to discuss your startup. 

Three Syracuse University LaunchPad ventures have graduated into Techstars accelerators:

• Josh Aviv, SparkCharge, was part of the Techstars Boston Accelerator
• AJ Damiano and Michael Paris, PowerSpike, were part of the Techstars Atlanta Accelerator
• Kelsey Davis and Brendan O’Keeffe, CLLCTVE, are currently part of the Techstars LA Accelerator

Syracuse startups are invited to Venture Deals 2020 with Brad Feld, Co-Founder and Managing Director at Foundry Group and Jason Mendelson, Co-Founder and Managing Director at Foundry Group.  The free seven-week program presented by Kauffman Fellows and Techstars starts September 13 and is now open for enrollment.  Sign up here.  The unique course demystifies venture capital deals and startup financing to give both first-time and experienced entrepreneurs a definitive guide to secure funding. Taught by renowned venture capitalists Brad Feld and Jason Mendelson, authors of Venture Deals, the course reveals the secrets behind how venture financings really work. Feld, a well-known speaker and author of several books in the Startup Revolution series, began financing technology startups in the early 1990s, first as an angel and later as an institutional investor. He was one of the co-founders of Techsters.

In the class forums, you will have exclusive opportunities to ask Brad Feld detailed questions about specific investment strategies. In addition, you can engage Feld and Mendelson and other celebrated investors in live video chats held during the seven-week course. You will make connections and collaborate with an international network of entrepreneurs and classmates, learn strategies that will help you take your pitch or deal to the next level. Whether you’re looking for financing for your venture, or looking to fund an entrepreneur, you’ll get smarter about the process by taking Venture Deals.

This course will enable you to:

• Participate in live chats with the instructors and celebrated VCs Brad Feld and Jason Mendelson
• Network with entrepreneurs and financiers from around the world with whom you will work with on real projects
• Get a firm grasp of how venture capital deals and other financings come together
• Find the right VC for your company
• Learn strategies for getting the best deal possible
• Learn how to structure financings using term sheets, capitalization tables, and syndication all with the goal of minimizing risks

You will work in virtual teams and gain leadership and assessment skills you can apply to your own fundraising strategies for your business. Designed by experienced venture capitalists for new and professional entrepreneurs, the seven week curriculum will improve your ability to consummate a transaction in venture capital financing while avoiding common mistakes.

In addition to professionals wanting to enter the venture capital field and entrepreneurs looking to raise venture capital funding, this course also benefits anyone who wants to learn more about financing, including lawyers, accountants, angel investors, bankers, policy makers, regulators and educators.

This online class will be team oriented and practice based. Videos and readings reveal the players behind venture transactions; how VC funds work; how both VC’s and entrepreneurs can and should structure the deal, as well as what needs to be done post-investment. Much of your learning will take place as you work with your virtual teams to secure the best terms for a venture capital funding for your startup.

Workload is approximately 4-6 hours per week. 

Syllabus

Week 1 – Introduction of key players/Form or join a team

Week 2 – Fundraising/Finding the Right VC

Week 3 – Capitalization Tables/Convertible Debt

Week 4 – Term Sheets: Economics & Control

Week 5 – Term Sheets Part Two

Week 6 – Negotiations

Week 7 – Letter of Intent/Getting Acquired

The Instructors:

Brad Feld has been an early-stage investor and entrepreneur for over 30 years. Prior to cofounding Foundry Group, he cofounded Mobius Venture Capital and, prior to that, founded Intensity Ventures. Brad is also a cofounder of Techstars and cohosts the Give First podcast. Brad is a writer and speaker on the topics of venture capital investing and entrepreneurship. He’s written a number of books as part of the Startup Revolution series and coauthored Venture Deals: Be Smarter Than Your Lawyer and Venture Capitalist. He blogs regularly at Feld Thoughts.

Jason Mendelson is a former venture capitalist, co-founder of a technology company, lawyer and software engineer.  Jason was a Founding Partner of Foundry Group, a Boulder-Colorado based venture capital firm that focuses on making technology investments and identifying and supporting the next generation of venture fund managers. In addition, Jason was a co-founder of SRS Acquiom and a Managing Director and General Counsel for Mobius Venture Capital. Prior to this, Jason was an attorney with Cooley. Early in his career, Jason was a software engineer at Accenture. Now Jason spends his time as an up-and-coming musician and as an adjunct professor at the University of Colorado Law School.  Jason was co-founder of Defy Ventures Colorado and is on the board of the Leeds Business School at CU, as well. Jason holds a B.A. in Economics, and a J.D. from the University of Michigan.

Kauffman Fellows and Techstars:

Kauffman Fellows is the largest and most connected network of venture capital investors and innovation leaders in the world. With 589 Fellows operating in 46 different countries, it is anchored by a two-year program designed to radically accelerate innovator success through self-reflection, peer learning, mentoring, and a structured curriculum. Today the Kauffman Fellows Network, including mentors and faculty, consists of over 1000 of the most prominent VC firms and investors globally. Kauffman Fellows’ goal is to enable and grow entrepreneurial ecosystems throughout the world, leveraging the best minds and characteristics of the leading investors in venture capital industry.

Techstars is a global ecosystem that empowers entrepreneurs to bring new technologies to market wherever they choose to live. With dozens of mentorship-driven accelerator programs and thousands of startup programs worldwide, Techstars exists to support the world’s most promising entrepreneurs throughout their lifelong journey, from inspiration to IPO. Techstars provides access to tens of thousands of community leaders, founders, mentors, investors, and corporate partners, allowing entrepreneurs to accelerate the pace of innovation and Do More Faster™. Techstars supports every stage of the entrepreneurial journey – from early stage grassroots community development to more formal opportunities that provide education, experience, acceleration, funding, and beyond.

Syracuse LaunchPad founders Dave Fox ’19 iSchool and Nick Barba ’20 Whitman (co-founders of Smarta) and Sam Hollander ’22 Whitman and Newhouse (founder of FSCL) recently completed the first-ever LaunchPad Fellowship offered by the Blackstone LaunchPad & Techstars network.  The program provided tools and content, along with access to experienced founders and mentors.  They were selected to be part of a cohort of 10 top teams from across the 32-campus global network for the eight-week program.  Read what they accomplished here.

Here are some quick success stats for the LaunchPad Fellowship program:

• 86% said they achieved the goals they originally set at the beginning of the Fellowship, or achieved goals adjusted following a pivot;
• The 10 startup teams conducted more than 385 critical customer discovery interviews;
• 9 teams completed a prototype, MVP, or proof-of-concept, or began product trials;
• 8 teams added co-founders or team members;
• 5 teams created or significantly overhauled their investor deck, based on recommendations from mentors;
• 6 teams reported seed investment or sponsored research agreements totaling more than $150,000;
• 80% of entrepreneurs met regularly with their campus directors, for a total of 247 meetings.

Read the full story here: https://www.techstars.com/newsroom/launchpad-fellowship-student-entrepreneurs-achieve-summer-success-in-8-weeks

Rubin Family Innovation Mentor Sam Holland ’22 was featured recently in an article by Future Founders on his plan to help make education more accessible. “Many entrepreneurs begin their journey in pursuit of profit,” according to the article.  “But for some, starting a business is about so much more than money. For these socially-conscious entrepreneurs, it’s about leaving the world a better place than they found it.”  The article showcased three founders participating in the LaunchPad Summer Startup Fellowship, including Hollander, and chatted with them on their vision of a better world with education that’s more accessible to all.

The article profiled the venture that Hollander is building, FSCL, which stands for stands for Financial Services for College Lending. “Our mission is to provide simple, affordable, and flexible solutions for financing college through alternative finance vehicles, namely income sharing agreements,” says Hollander in the article.

 Future Founders asked about the catalyst behind launching FSCL and Hollander noted, “I came across an article one day on income share agreements, and how they are the next ‘up and coming’ thing in financing higher education. I immediately fell in love with the concept and decided that I wanted to take one out for myself. But after some initial research, I quickly learned that current income share agreements are available to less than 1% of the student population here in the U.S.”

 Hollander went on to explain why he believes there needs to be a new financing vehicle for higher education.  “Many of my peers can leave college with $250k in debt yet might only be expected to make $30k/year with their first job. This is a huge mismatch between the price people pay for education and the value they take. We’re trying to better align the price and value, because not everyone can afford to take on such massive debt. We see today that students, many of whom don’t have established credit, have a very hard time securing student loans, which can make it hard or impossible to afford the full cost of attendance. We’re building a platform that takes a holistic-review approach to lending decisions, allowing for students to get funding based on factors other than just credit history.  There needs to be a second option for students, and it’s one we’re trying to create.”

Future Founders wrapped up the interview by asking how the Blackstone LaunchPad and Techstars helped power his growth as an entrepreneur.  “I wouldn’t be close to where I am without the LaunchPad,” said Hollander.  “Our campus director at Syracuse University Linda Hartsock has provided us with an incredible platform to learn from other people’s successes and failures. Launchpad had created a community on our campus – one that is run by like-minded individuals, and that has allowed me to learn and grow tremendously.”

Future Founders programs have served over 35,000 youth since 2005 and its cohorts of national millennial founders have generated $32.8M in revenue, secured $34.9M in capital and created 543 jobs in the last four years alone. Learn more about Future Founders here.

Read the full article featuring Sam Hollander here.