Meet the 25 startup teams in our Company Launch program at Lassonde Studios for summer 2022. Find a complete list below. They are working in areas ranging from convenience stores to DJ services.
Company Launch offers these startups office space at Lassonde Studios, cohort gatherings, workshops, staff coaches, professional consultants, and more. All students at the University of Utah are welcome to apply to join the program. Startups are admitted every semester.
The program is managed by the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute and sponsored by Zions Bank.
Learn more and apply to join the program at lassonde.utah.edu/launch.
Summer 2022 Startup Teams
2-Go Instant Mart – 2-Go Instant Mart is a mini convenience store that will carry snacks and instant meals from Asian brands for students and faculty to have. It will provide a quick snack or meal inspired by Asian convenience stores. It will bring international students a feeling of home and others a great experience.
Argus Entertainment – Argus Entertainment provides DJ and audiovisual production services to the Wasatch Front and beyond, primarily serving weddings, school dances, and private events. Launched in 2020 amidst a global pandemic, Argus Entertainment understands the ever-changing needs of the event production industry and is constantly evolving to meet those needs. From intimate 30-guest weddings to 6,000-person concerts, Argus Entertainment handles audiovisual needs in a variety of sectors and capacities.
BADXBASIC – BADXBASIC is a sustainable women’s clothing brand that aims to focus on circular fashion. An increase in the second-hand market and a high demand for customized apparel lead the founder to create this brand. They are focusing on sourcing sustainably by using repurposed fabrics and materials to create their product. The main purpose of their brand is to mitigate fast-fashion, bring more attention and discussions related to environmental issues and topics and provide the best quality apparel to fit the lifestyle of an everyday woman.
Balmont – Balmont Ave. is a fashion brand derived from past and present experiences. Influences from my community and family are portraited and incorporated in my work. Balmont cultivates timeless economical clothing that is sold at a nominal price.
Carpe Zen Productions – A production, content, and marketing studio.
Cecilia – The founder is an artist at heart. They have done music, theater, script writing, photography, directing, graphic design, and more. Two of the biggest problems they’ve had as an artist is finding local, and connecting with creatives of different disciplines that are in their area. Cecilia is an app that they are currently designing to better connect artists with work, as well as help network artists with other artists. On the buying end, finding an artist is needlessly complicated. A buyer must go through personal connections to find the specific talent they need or they have to do endless research to find an artist. Unlike existing services, Cecilia is not a transactional site but rather a community of artists and clients.
Cortex Evolution – This company’s mission is to create a community where people passionate about self-improvement learn from an expert and from each other how to better learn, think, and act. They cultivate greater personal growth, life success, and happiness. They are pioneering new methods to make personal development systematic, effective, and enjoyable for two audience segments: (1) people sick of unproven, ineffective “self-help” strategies and (2) People sick of trying to do it alone, which is often lonely and ineffective.
Foam – The DoorDash for your laundry, Foam is an innovative, direct-to-consumer laundry service for students living on campus. Their mission is to make laundry as straightforward and stress-free as possible, all while disrupting the traditional “communal laundry” facilities found in high-density living areas.
Foodsrush – Foodrush is solving food waste and provides a benefit to both stores and consumers. Instead of sold throwing their unsold food, they can sell it to consumers at a cheaper rate. Stores are able to earn additional income from that food which would otherwise be thrown away. On the other hand, consumers are able to acquire that food at a discounted rate. It eliminates food waste, both stores and consumers have a win-win situation.
FullFeel – An online marketplace for homemade food that allows people to turn their home into a food business.
Innovation Central – Innovation Central is developing cutting-edge outdoor solutions. Currently, they are developing a hammock incorporating an air pad to insulate campers.
Kurl Up – Kurl Up is a sulfate-free, multicultural, and vegan hair care brand for people with very curly hair. Curly consumers have seriously lacked substantial haircare in the past. Hair care has advanced a lot but leaves curly hair out of the conversation even though second-hand data shows curly consumers are willing to spend twice as much as people with straight hair. Kurl Up is giving curly consumers more ethical options with fair trade ingredients, vegan and cruelty free formulations and we strive to drive costs down to be more affordable.
Little Wanderers – Little Wanderers Studios is an entertainment company focused on making quality video games that break existing conventions as well as creating memorable, intimate, and thought-provoking experiences. They hope that through their games they can engage players on a deeper level and inspire them to innovate and seize their own opportunities to uplift and educate others.
Mura – Mura is a smart, science-based productivity wellness planner designed (primarily) for students. Driven by artificial intelligence and machine learning technology, Mura brings together functionality from a calendar, planner, task app (to-do list), habit tracker, project management app, goalkeeper, wellness log, and meditation hub all in one modern, digital platform. Coming soon to mobile.
Namadik Living – Namadik Living is a centralized platform of furnished apartments across the United States enabling tenants to live anywhere for any duration of time within the network. Future tenants joining the network will be able to view available listings, apply, and book apartments within minutes. Tenants in the network enjoy the benefits of fully furnished apartments, and an unparalleled ability to move seamlessly across the country under the same lease.
Organic Vestitus – Organic Vestitus is an organic lifestyle brand offering hemp apparel. It will be apparel that will differentiate from the current bland products in the current hemp-clothing industry. It will be guided toward raising awareness about global climate and ways hemp can benefit the environment, all while wearing a more durable and odor resistant hemp shirt rather than other fabrics in the market.
Pupil – Pupil is an online and in-classroom system that enables professors to have their lectures automatically recorded and uploaded to a secure location based on their class schedules. In turn, this gives students convenient online access to all of their class lecture recordings. This is accomplished through an intelligent recording device in each classroom that is connected to a Pupil scheduling server. Currently, pupil is developing the recording device (the Recorder) and has approval from several professors to begin real-time testing.
Rentie – Rentie is a platform that allows users to easily search for available places for rent, using crowdsourced data to map the market rate and the quality of the landlord or management company. Rentie believes that tenants have the right to know what they are getting into before signing a lease. By using crowd-sourced data to create a review system reporting on individuals’ experiences with specific property management and properties, renters are able to see the full picture, before it’s too late.
REP – REP will offer consumers a multi-gym application-based pass to access a large variety and quantity of independently owned gyms. Offering users a choice of unique atmospheres, special equipment, and conveniently available locations in every corner of each city REP is present. REP is a hyper-scalable, low-maintenance, and low-cost business model. Paired within the REP app will be niche social media for fitness, allowing influencers, gym goers, supplement companies, and more to connect with a target audience and a community that shares common goals.
Revive – Plastic waste is continuously collecting in landfills. Much of this waste can be reduced by taking advantage of reusable products, such as silverware. Revive is working on creating reusable utensil sets that attach to everyday items to encourage the elimination of single use plastic. The hope is that their containers will be easily portable, and therefore on hand for everyday use.
SadieB Personal Care – SadieB is a personal care company for GenZ girls with a social mission of empowering girls through products that focus on their abilities, accomplishments, and goodness rather than the look they are trying to achieve. They will launch with shampoos, conditioners, body washes and body sprays. SadieB is founded, led, and operated by girls with a girl’s point of view. Through products, opportunities and voice, their purpose is to empower every girl to be an unstoppable force for good. With products like the Athlete, Go-getter, Adventurer, and Creator, girls can focus on their goals.
Savorit – Savorit is home-cooking reimagined. They take the work out of finding new creative recipes, getting groceries, and cooking meal. They solve all the pain-points of cooking by offering an app that lets you choose your cooking preferences, use a Tinder-style swiping method to find new recipes and pick up groceries without wandering through the store. It offers similar services to HelloFresh, but at a cheaper price-point.
Trips –Trips is a clothing brand that aim to provide the fashion industry with authentic art and design on quality garments that undercut the market prices set by brands that dominate the fashion industry. A huge aspect that provides value to the customer is the original art the founder creates, their story, and the hard work that goes into the clothing company. Everything they have done for the company has been self-taught, from graphic design to website and social media management and advertising.
Vexed – Vexed is a production company that strives to create ski films that blend sport and art together. Vexed is more than a company but a movement. Vexed was founded by Casey Segal and Adam Berton, two skiers who found that skiing can be a form of self-expression. They have now made three ski films that have had live audiences as big as 400 people and have packed theaters. Their mission is to ski for expression and for creativity, creating films that can be emotionally touching.
whop – whop stands for “we heart our pets.” This is a unique service that will provide quality, mindful, and sustainable products that are hand selected to cater to each pet’s personality. whop will prioritize working with small and local businesses that align with our values over bigger companies. They are striving to create a business that customers feel good about and are building a community of pet lovers rather than focusing on maximizing profit.
