Wow, what a summer! This was definitely one to remember. We started by quickly moving all our programs and events online due to COVID-19. But our students persevered. They entrepreneured at home while taking advantage of our many virtual opportunities.
Congratulations to all our student entrepreneurs navigating this challenging period, and thank you to all our student leaders and community partners who rose to the challenge. Together, we can overcome anything.
This summer, we hosted 64 events for student entrepreneurs. These included one-on-one Hours with Expert sessions, virtual hangouts, Workshops, social media challenges, info sessions, and more. We also had seven startup teams and eight students participate in our summer Company Launch cohort.
The startup teams in the Company Launch program this summer included Artciel, Camille Bagnani Photography, Interwoven, Parq, Perfect Fitment, TrailRax, and Trimble Tech. They concluded the summer program with a pitch to report their progress and efforts to manage the COVID-19 pandemic.
For example, Camille Bagnani Photography spent the summer honing its business model, building a brand, and focusing on business clients. Trimble Tech researched an innovative way to harvest useable materials from air pollution, focusing on turning reclaimed carbon into diamonds. Interwoven adapted to a virtual work environment using Trello and furthered its concept for a game that merges the best of board and video games. And Artciel advanced its business model for providing wall printing technology and design solutions.
These startups and many more demonstrated their entrepreneurial grit as they faced many unforeseen challenges due to the pandemic. Your efforts have been inspiring and will take you far.
If you missed our Workshops this summer, you can find summaries in the tips & tricks section of our online newsroom. Our experts lead discussions on topics including law, accounting, marketing, pitching to investors, and revenue models.
We still have a few events and activities planned for the rest of the summer, including info sessions and one last contest in our series of social media challenges. We also welcome all University of Utah students to all our events planned for the fall semester. We have a lot of great things in the works. We will be posting information about those events soon. Stay tuned.
To get involved, find all upcoming events in our online calendar, and browse our directory of programs. For more information about upcoming events, make sure to subscribe for updates.
Photo caption: Our staff and community experts gather via Zoom for a final pitch event for the summer Company Launch startup teams.
