Purdue startup competition offers funding to student entrepreneurs
February 6, 2014
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Nearly $15,000 will be given to Purdue University student entrepreneurs who place in the top spots of the eight-week startup competition The Boiler: Purdue Mini-Accelerator Competition.
Participants also will receive professional advice and guidance on startup creation and development from entrepreneurial experts and mentors and the Purdue Foundry.
The program is presented by the Purdue Foundry, a startup resource center, and the Anvil, a student-operated business incubator, and will take place in phases from Feb. 24 through April 18.
"Startup founders and teams will have to apply by Feb. 14. The best applications are then selected to pitch to get in the accelerator, and of those pitches the five teams will go through an accelerated version of the Foundry's LaunchBox Program," said Mike Asem, co-founder of the Anvil. "The top three teams will go through deeper mentorship and pitch on Demo Day to judges, investors and others for prize money and potential investment."
The accelerated version of the LaunchBox Program will take place from Feb. 24 through March 13. The second phase will be from March 24 through April 16, and the competition will finish on Demo Day, April 18.
The five teams accepted through the initial pitch round each receive $500 upon acceptance. The three teams that move on to the second phase receive $1,000, and on Demo Day first-, second- and third-place teams will receive $5,000, $3,000 and $1,000, respectively, and free and discounted professional services will be offered to first and second place. Asem said the competition provides an opportunity for entrepreneurs to systematically work though their idea.
"This competition will impact the Purdue entrepreneurial community in a positive way," he said. "It will provide talented students who have an idea with a vehicle in which they can validate the idea, understand what makes it a viable business opportunity, earn seed funding, get actual traction as a business, and pitch to investors for a chance to take it even further."
The Purdue entrepreneurial community has other upcoming events including a visit on Feb. 17 from Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit, speaking about entrepreneurship. For information on Ohanian's presentation visit Alexis Ohanian – Without Their Permission.
Writer: Andrew Gunter, 765-588-3341, marketing@prf.org
Contact: Cynthia Sequin, 765-588-3340, casequin@prf.org
