Invite creativity to dinner: New company customizes disposable dinnerware for parties, special events
June 25, 2014
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Signature Settings, which was co-founded by a team of Purdue University alumni, provides a platform to personalize upscale plastic plates and serving trays. (Photo provided by Signature Settings) |
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Signature Settings Inc., a startup co-founded by a team of recent Purdue University alumni, provides a platform to personalize upscale plastic plates and serving trays.
"Our design process turns the mundane space at the table into a canvas from which our clients can create custom masterpieces," said Stephen R. Christopher, co-founder of Signature Settings and a recent graduate of Krannert School of Management at Purdue. "Our customization process gives people the ability to add their own message and logos on dinnerware for personal special events like weddings or to help a company build their brand at a corporate event."
Christopher and co-founder Zach McCall participated in the 2014 Burton D. Morgan Business Plan Competition and were among five finalists out of more than 60 contestants.
"What makes us unique from other customization companies truly has to be the way in which our customers create their personalized products. Start with a basic product, add your image or logo, a personal message or use any of our library artwork," he said. "You see the whole process in real-time and there aren't any restrictions on where you can or can't put your design. We want to provide an outlet for that creativity at the events our consumers are hosting."
The company's turn-key Web platform includes customizable products as well as more than 400 stock items, including plates, serving trays, drink-ware, flatware and earth-friendly products.
Signature Settings is receiving assistance through the Purdue Foundry, an entrepreneurship and commercialization hub in Discovery Park's Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship
"We participated in the LaunchBox sessions at the Purdue Foundry," he said. "The team at the Foundry have been incredibly effective in both teaching and demonstrating what it takes to be successful in a startup in areas such as target market analysis and identification, financial modeling, and investor presentation preparation."
The Purdue Foundry is managed by the Purdue Research Foundation, which received the 2014 Incubator Network of the Year by the National Business Incubator Association for its work in entrepreneurship. For more information about funding and investment opportunities in startups based on a Purdue innovation, contact the Purdue Foundry at foundry@prf.org.
Writer: Vibha Salgamay, 765-588-5619, vsalgamay@prf.org
Purdue Research Foundation contact: Cynthia Sequin, 765-588-3340, casequin@prf.org
Source: Stephen R. Christopher, 314-458-4777, Stephen@signaturesettings.com
