Six different businesses get thousands of dollars in free advice from Colgate University alumni mentors
(Hamilton, NY – June 2013) The ENY fund was created and initially funded by Dan Rosensweig. Dan is the former COO of Yahoo and current CEO of Chegg. The goal of the ENY Fund is to help action-oriented teams bring their ventures to commercial viability.
The winners of the fund, and a six-week stay in an incubator in the Village of Hamilton are:
ProtoExchange:protoexchange.com
Founders:
James Placa ’07
Jonathan Placa (jeplaca@protoexchange.com)
ProtoExchange invites you to take part in the next industrial revolution by decentralizing manufacturing through 3D printing. The 3D printing revolution is here. What isn’t here is an understanding of what can be accomplished. ProtoExchange will create a bridge between modellers and manufacturers to exchange services. Want something printed? Head to the exchange.
Real Abroad:realabroad.com
Founder:
Jack Henley ’12 (jack.d.henley@gmail.com)
Ensure students have real experiences aboard. To help ensure real experiences, they created a platform just for students to share their experiences. The information in real abroad will decrease the anxiety that comes from studying and traveling abroad or in the United States.
Shindig: tasteshindig.com, app for your smart phone.
Founder:
Harry Raymond ’11 (harry@tasteshindig.com)
Shindig began with the simple question, ‘What was the name of that drink?’ Three buddies created Shindig a drink discovery app for your smartphone to answer the question. The Pandora of drink apps, Shindig offers the ability to remember your drinks, and help you discover something new. Shindig encourages everyday drink exploration.
Good Nature Brewing: goodnaturebrewing.com
Founders:
Carrie Blackmore ’08 (carrie@goodnaturebrewing.com)
Matt Whalen
A small, independently owned microbrewery located in Hamilton, Good Nature Brewing aims to contribute to a socially, economically, and ecologically thriving community by supporting and promoting independent businesses and family farms. They also make great beers by drawing on the age-old craft, of brewing in Central New York.
GateSwap: gateswap.com
Founders:
Rob Carroll ’15 rcarroll@colgate.edu
Gabe Zetter ’15 gzetter@colgate.edu
GateSwap is a safe and secure community buy, sell and trade everything from goods to rides to the airport. GateSwap will develop a stronger campus community through the promotion of sustainable behavior and the reuse of pre-owned belongings. It will also help students, staff and faculty sell their stuff.
Recipe into Reality: recipeintoreality.com
Founders:
Yuni Sameshima ’13, CEO (Yuni@recipeintoreality.com)
Joey Petracca ’13, COO (Joey@recipeintoreality.com)
Recipe Into Reality is for people with a love for food and a need for efficiency. Recipe into Reality lets you browse your favorite recipe websites, save recipes on an account and order those ingredients and other groceries online for pickup or delivery. Browse your favorite recipe site or blog, put on your chef’s hat, and get ready to turn that online recipe into a reality. Recipe into Reality is open for business and is already helping people in the Chenango valley make dinners.
Wills Hapworth, one of the founders of the Thought Into Action program at Colgate said this about the ENY fund.
“The beauty of the fund is that it’s given TIA entrepreneurs the ability to go the next step. They wouldn’t be ready for that step if not for tireless work leading up to funding.”
“These were not just good pitches that impressed the judges, which in our opinion is just another exercise in writing a good term paper, these are teams that have already stumbled and learned what being an entrepreneur is really about.”
“They carry with them all those experiences and that’s what the fund is really investing in, their character.”
“By the time they came to pitch for the fund, they ALREADY had clear ideas about their capital needs, resource needs, and business strategies, so it was explicitly clear what the funding was going toward.”
“TIA, ENY and Colgate Entrepreneurship is a robust offering that is the result of grassroots work, from bottom up, developing great entrepreneurial characters and then building programs around them to help realize their goals and dreams.”
RIR
“I think the biggest thing, is that by winning the ENY fund, we got exposure and were able to secure another $15,000 in angel funding,” said Petracca.
Shindig
“It wasn’t about the money for us. The reason we were so excited to come up here is because of the mentorship and the access to alumni. They’ve been invaluable in giving us advice and steering us in the right direction” Raymond said. “We also got an app review on a prestigious site with the help of alumni.”
ProtoExchange
“It’s really accelerated our development,” said Jonathan Placa.
Gateswap
“It’s provided us with a capital need. If there’s one thing we’ve found out is how much money it takes to make these things a reality,” said Zetter. “It’s gotten us off the ground and helped us do the things we need to do.”
“One of the most valuable aspects of ENY has been providing a workplace.” Carroll said.
“It’s a cool environment they’ve created, and it’s helped us carry out our vision,” Zetter said.