During the fall 2015 semester the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute’s Get Seeded program provided 30 student teams the funding necessary to turn their ideas into successful businesses. These teams were awarded a total of $42,000 in grant money to help develop their ideas.
“Initially it seemed too good to be true, I was very excited to learn of the Get Seeded program,” said Jared Pieper, a student who was awarded money to develop an innovative skateboard which is capable of folding in half. “The program literally gives money to students to help build their businesses. I am not familiar with any other academic programs that offer such an extraordinary opportunity to aspiring entrepreneurs.”
The Get Seeded program is funded by Zions Bank and managed in partnership with the U’s StaC program.
Among the ideas funded were advanced crop monitoring devices, a telemedicine platform and a variety of medical devices. The Get Seeded program encourages students from all Utah schools and disciplines to apply.
When invited to pitch, students have several minutes to present their ideas to an audience. The pitch is followed by a Q&A from the audience. Then the audience votes on which ideas should receive funding.
The Get Seeded program is a program for students managed by students. The program values diverse opinions and perspectives, so any student can participate as a judge. Managers feel strongly that a diverse range of perspectives is the best strategy for distributing the funds in the most effective manner.
Ryan Ferrin, an MBA student and the director of the program, explained: “Because we have such a wide variety of ideas presented, everything from medical devices to electronic toys, it is extremely valuable to have a judging team with various backgrounds. We encourage students to share their knowledge of industries and technologies in order to assist in the evaluation of ideas.”
If you have an idea, would like to judge, or would like assistance developing an idea, please reach out to the Get Seeded program. It is continually looking for great student ideas to fund.
Learn more at: lassonde.utah.edu/getseeded
Here are the projects that got funded in fall 2016:
Round 1
- Charging your Car & Charging the Grid, $1,632.67 – A bidirectional electric charging system for electric vehicles.
- Eleora Publishing (Partner Publishing), $1,600 – A low-cost book publishing platform.
- Tier 1.5 by supportML, $250 – A machine learning for tech support system.
- DxExpress $2,340.55 – DxExpress is a suite of simple-to-use tools that enable mHealth devices to be evaluated, validated and deployed for patients to use.
- Epilog: A New Tool for Reverse-Engineering Biology, $3,496 – A more efficient genetic engineering process.
- Movie Music Album Distribution, $200 – A service that produces and distributes high-quality music videos.
- Voluntine, $250 – A website for connecting volunteers to projects.
- Hola Mundo, $400 – A video game that teaches foreign languages.
- SenseTech, $2,050 – An advanced sensor-based crop monitoring device.
- Chameleon Car, $728 – A sensor-based educational toy car with the capability to change to any color that it touches and recites the color aloud.
Round 2
- Bambu, $1,000 – An extendable more secure bike lock.
- iMRI Bed Attachment, $1,800 – An iMRI bed attachment used to position the head of a patient undergoing neurological surgeries.
- Field Vision Systems, $1,491.87 – A lidar-based crop monitoring device.
- C.U.T Board, $600 – A skateboard capable of folding in half allowing for easy transportation and storage.
- SmartStream: Audio Webcasting Mixer, $1,500.00 – An advanced compact device for streaming audio to internet-based platforms.
- Thermal Management System for Li-ion Batteries, $1,600 – A product that is designed to mitigate heat issues that arise when lithium ion batteries are in use
- Sybo Technology, $3,262 – A surgical room robotic light that is controlled by lasers mounted on a physicians glasses.
- Internet Translation, $420 – An application that connects freelance language translators with customers needing translations.
- Low Cost Funeral Home, $504.44 – A low-cost funeral home.
- Chameleon Car, $781 – A sensor-based educational toy car with the capability to change to any color that it touches and recites the color aloud.
Round 3
- Colife Care, $200 – A platform for reducing medical costs for patients.
- Uclash, $970 – An online high school debate training platform.
- DxExpress, $3,250 – DxExpress is a suite of simple-to-use tools that enable mHealth devices to be evaluated, validated and deployed for patients to use.
- Lone Peak Headset, $1,200 – A headset that rock climbers can use to communicate with one another.
- “Because One Boy Prayed” Children’s Book, $700 – A religious-themed children’s book.
- Smart Stream, $1,800 – An advanced compact device for streaming audio to internet-based platforms.
- Rush, $3,500 – A platform for selling ultra-reduced price airline tickets to individuals with short notice and little choice in determining the destination.
- Little Engineers, $976 – An organization that teaches young students basic engineering concepts through direct instruction.
- Hola Mundo, $700 – A video game that teaches foreign languages.
- Material Replacement for Dialysis, $2,500 – A dialysis tube that greatly reduces medical complications.
