In need of a prototype? The University of Dayton Innovation Center has your back. Read below for more info in the guest post from Emily Cory, director of the university’s Leonardo Enterprises.
— — —
One of the biggest challenges for many entrepreneurs is designing and prototyping new products. It can be difficult to find a trusted partner who can deliver quality engineering services on a startup budget.
Since 1996, the Innovation Center at the University of Dayton School of Engineering has provided design, prototyping, testing and research on nearly 1,500 industry client projects through the Design and Innovation Clinic. In the Clinic, multidisciplinary teams of 3 to 5 seniors from across mechanical, aerospace, industrial, electrical, computer engineering and engineering technologies are mentored by faculty to meet their client’s needs. This can include designing, prototyping and testing new products, improving existing product lines, solving manufacturing challenges, and more.
The Clinic provides critical experiential learning to these students, who are on the cusp of entering the workforce, by allowing them to define and meet technical deliverables on a real timeline for a real client, practice professional communication and exercise their engineering expertise. Clinic clients receive high value engineering solutions to advance their business at a relatively low risk and low cost compared to more traditional routes.
While many of the more than 250 clients in the Innovation Center are large industrial, medical and manufacturing companies, a significant number are also startups looking to leverage the tremendous value of working with student teams. In fact, the Innovation Center has recently partnered with The Entrepreneurs Center (TEC) to provide Design and Innovation Clinic services to clients participating in TEC’s Entrepreneurial Services Provider Program.
Design and Innovation Clinic Project Details:
What you get –
What you provide –
Design and Innovation Clinic projects run on a semester basis, and the deadline for Fall 2019 project submissions is August 1. For more information or to sponsor a project in the Innovation Center, please contact: Rebecca Blust, Professor and Director, at 937-229-2851 or [email protected].
Foodpreneur Rachel Blanks, founder of Simply Savory by Rachel, a line of seasoning mixes, took home both the judges’ and the community prize at the first #PitchIn neighborhood pitch event Monday night at Wiley’s Comedy Club.
#PitchIn is a collaborative effort between The Entrepreneurs Center, Dayton Tech Guide and the Miami Valley Small Business Development Center to partner with neighborhood associations and community organizations to highlight and support entrepreneurs and entrepreneurially-minded individuals within their neighborhoods.
Monday’s event, the first evening social event of Techstars Startup Week Dayton 2019, was held in partnership with the Oregon District Business Association. It was sponsored by Canary Consulting and Gottschlich & Portune, LLP.
Three individuals pitched.
Rachel Blanks designs her line of small-batch seasoning blends, Simply Savory by Rachel, for the average at-home cook — someone who wants to put delicious, hot food on the table without worrying about lacking a culinary education. Right now, you can find her blends on the shelves of TheZe DealZ. She pitched to use the funds to purchase a wax-sealing machine that will keep her blends fresher longer, and to do some marketing work to improve her labels.
Rachel took home both prizes Monday night. Judges from The Entrepreneurs Center, Canary Consulting and the Miami Valley Small Business Development Center picked the winner of the $500 prize. Attendees donated $80 to the community pool, and voted for that winner.
“Winning tonight is not just about the funds, though they’re great. It’s about the confirmation, feedback, motivation to continue,” Rachel said. “I got contacts, information to grow my business. My tank was at a quarter, but now it’s overflowing, I’ve got fuel to keep going.”
Also pitching Monday were Kate Edmondson & Jes McMillan, cofounders of tend&flourish, a collective of beauty, art & wellness businesses run by women that is located at 1906 Brown Street in Dayton. They pitched for signage for their building, which is hard to find.
Last but not least, Brett Duncan pitched Recovery Uprising, a business focused on reaching individuals struggling with mental health and substance abuse. Brett hopes to bring a film called Crazywise to Dayton. The documentary film follows the journey of two Americans diagnosed with mental health as they explore mental health offerings and gaps in services across the US and the world. Brett hopes to grow Recovery Uprising into a sustainable nonprofit.
The goal is for #PitchIn to be a monthly series that rotates through different Dayton-area neighborhoods and communities.
“It used to be that entrepreneurs had to come to us to get the help the needed,” The Entrepreneurs Center President Scott Koorndyk said. “But that leaves too many people with great ideas on the sidelines, not knowing about the services we offer. This way, we’re coming to the neighborhoods to see what they’ve got, and how we can partner and broaden the support for entrepreneurs, no matter where they are.”
Want your community to be the next to host #PitchIn? Contact Kim Frazier at [email protected].
Kidpreneurs will take center stage at a bonus partner event that will close out this week’s Techstars Startup Week Dayton schedule — the Kidpreneur Summit & Business Fair, hosted by the National Association of Kidpreneurs.
The Kidpreneur Summit will kick off at noon, Saturday, June 8, at The Entrepreneurs Center, located at 714 E. Monument Ave., Dayton.
Bring your kids to meet and mingle with these featured speakers & panelists:
• Amara Leggett — Amara Leggett is motivational speaker, coach and author of “The Strategic Mind of a Young Legend.” Amara graduated from college at age 16. She has been featured in The Root, The Columbus Dispatch and Role Model Magazine and recently received a Social Justice Award for her advocacy work in Columbus. From teen blogger to 18-year-old entrepreneur, she has built a brand around accomplishing success at any age.
• Michael Mitchell — 12-year-old Michael Mitchell, a fifth grade student at Richard Allen Prep, is a baker with dreams of being an engineer. He began baking cupcakes two years ago to help his mother. He continues today at Michael’s Sweet Shop partly because he loves to see people smile when they get his cupcakes. His favorite flavor cupcake to bake is strawberry.
• Te’Lario Watkins — Te’Lario Watkins II is an 11-year old mushroom farmer. He began his mushroom business, Tiger Mushroom Farms, after a Cub Scout project he took on at age 7. Te’Lario began selling his mushrooms at local farmers markets, restaurants and small grocery stores. He has been featured in local & national publications and stages, including the nationally-syndicated Steve Harvey Show. Te’Lario’s inspirational story even reached Nigeria when he was asked to speak on a panel via Skype to help an author launch her book on entrepreneurship.
One of Te’Lario’s missions is to end hunger. Te’Lario has connected with several local food banks and donates harvest from his garden. Te’Lario volunteers with Food Rescue US, which picks up unsold food from restaurants and delivers it to local food banks & food pantries. Te’Lario has saved over 5,000 meals. Te’Lario’s Eagle Scout Project will be to save 1 million pounds of food from being wasted.
• Alanna Wall — Alanna J. Wall, born in 2000, is founder of Polished Girlz. Alanna wanted to combine her love of drawing and nail design and share that passion with young women who were hospitalized, but was told she was too young to volunteer. So she started her own organization. That organization, which started with one girl and her mom, has grown to mobilize hundreds of registered volunteers that have served thousands of children. Polished Girlz will be a featured organization at the United Nations presentation on America’s service organizations.
To attend the Kidpreneur Summit & Business Fair, register here.
We’re excited for the pitches we’re going to see Thursday night at Early Risers: Startup Week edition!
On Thursday, June 6 from 5-7p, 10 Dayton-region startups — five tech & five non-tech — will pitch for YOUR support at The Steam Plant. You’ll meet:
• Bridget Flaherty, founder of LORE. LORE leads businesses and individuals to craft stories people will remember to help strengthen company culture, connect deeply with customers, and nail the speech.
• Elizabeth Beil, founder of Elizabeth Beil Nutrition. Elizabeth Beil Nutrition works with individuals and companies to help achieve health and wellness goals while utilizing the tools of mindfulness and a non-judgement approach.
• Vaniti Byrd, founder of Baba Love Organics. Baba Love Organics develops plant based beauty and body care products we replace commercial based products used daily by offering clean staples such as soap and body butters.
• Dave Malseed & Ryan Jankord, cofounders of Adyptation. Adyptation is bringing a new voice to remote patient monitoring for the chronically ill with a 365 day biometric monitoring and analytics approach.
• Jacquelyn Avnaim, founder of Gypsum & Blossom Tea Scones. Gypsum & Blossom tea scones is devoted to offering the refinement & tranquility of afternoon tea scones through its gourmet flavor infusions, using quality ingredients and making this experience more accessible to our community as a whole. (You might recognize this name — she was our Monday Startup Week breakfast vendor!)
• Heather Allen, founder of Honey Active. Honey Active offers outdoor fitness classes in Dayton, Ohio and wants to provide you with an enticing wellness plan that keeps you coming back for more.
• Drew Bidlen & Noah Bragg, cofounders of CoffeePass. CoffeePass provides independent coffee shops with order-ahead technology so they can better compete with large chains.
• Patty Vanderburgh, founder of Rare Active. Rare Active offers a patented new design in athletic outerwear pants that allows you to put them on and take them off in a matter of seconds over shoes and other clothing.
• Nathaniel Nash, founder of Argus Fitness. Argus Fitness is developing a gym bag to help the fitness community by empowering individuals to keep their accessories organized, protected, and easily accessible.
• Blair Jackson, founder of Orison Corporation. Orison Corporation is working to fill a gap in the $2.8 billion light electric vehicle market with the hippest patented machine.
All these companies are less than four years old, under $50K in revenue or investment, and connected to Dayton.
The first-place winner in each category will receive $1K cash, $500 in marketing services from the ONEIL Center, and a 60-second video from New Media Incubator ($630 value). Second place winners will receive $250 in marketing services from the ONEIL Center. All finalists will be featured in a Dayton Daily News ad on June 9. Winners will also be featured across Dayton Tech Guide’s social media and email newsletter.
A diverse panel of experts will judge the competition and select the winners.
We can’t wait to see you there!
In this new monthly feature, we’re celebrating milestones big and small with our entrepreneurs and founders! See what our awesome startups have been up to this month, in no particular order:
• Bryan Hunter celebrated the two-year anniversary of 937 Payroll (and the end of his non-compete with his former employer). Congratulations, Bryan!
• Chris Dimmick will be opening a new new Mexican restaurant in the Avant Garde building on Third St. Congrats, Chris!
• Patty Vanderburgh had the opportunity to pitch her company Rare Active to Shark Tank’s Daymond John!
• Brandon White & Veronica Jones opened the White House Event Center — congratulations Brandon & Veronica!
• Mojo Order Ahead changed their name to CoffeePass and added a new “order status” feature to their order-ahead coffee app. Congrats Noah Bragg & Drew Bidlen!
• Heather Allen launched her outdoor fitness company Honey Active. Congratulations, Heather!
• Danielle Edwards purchased Sweet P’s Hand Crafted Ice Pops, the paletas shop at 2nd Street Market, from founder Pam Bertke. Congratulations, Danielle & Pam!
• Troon Technologies signed up every employee for health insurance. Congratulations, David Mancuso + team!
• Baba Love Organics closed on its first storefront. Congratulations, Vaniti!
• Briana Snyder (cofounder of Knack Creative), Ann Riegle Crichton (Business Services Librarian at Dayton Metro Library), Amy Matney (owner of Omnicom Workforce Solutions), Desteni Mason (co-founder of KTL Performance Mortgage), Heather Martin (founder of Martin Ink), Judy Brinegar (President and CEO of B63 Line) & Phillitia Charlton (co-founder and CEO of Charlton Charlton & Associates) were named the Women in Business Networking’s Top 25 Women to Watch in 2019. Congratulations, ladies!
• Brothers AJ and Branden Bauer purchased Smokin’ Bar-B-Que. Congratulations, AJ & Branden!
• Ella Bella landed its first international account and shipped product Japan! (Stay tuned for the full story.) Congratulations, Mandy Groszko!
• Reza’s Roast founder Audria Maki hired Azra Kaurin, founder of Azra’s Mediterranean Cuisine (at 2nd Street Market) to make the pastries for her soon-to-open coffee shop. Congratulations Audria & Azra!
• MRS Electronics launched Spoke Zone, a cloud-based “Fitbit” vehicle-health dashboard for manufacturers. Congratulations, founders!
• Joe Harrison announced the launch of an Entrepreneurs Anonymous chapter in Columbus. Congratulations, Joe!
• Gionino’s Pizzeria opened in the Huffman Historic Neighborhood. Congratulations, Tony Clark (also the owner of DK Effect)!
• TheZe DealZ reopened at at 3183 W. Siebenthaler Ave. Congratulations, Zontaye Richardson!
Something or someone we missed? Tell us! We need your help rounding up this good news so we can celebrate our entrepreneurs together. Thank you in advance!
Have a startup that creates a social impact?
Cincinnati’s Flywheel Social Enterprise Hub is accepting applications for Elevator, its 12-week accelerator program for social enterprises.
Flywheel Social Enterprise Hub helps social entrepreneurs build and scale businesses that have both a financial return and social impact. Elevator is designed to help those same social entrepreneurs develop sustainable business models and prepare to seek capital investment.
The fourth Elevator cohort will kick off in October 2019. Participants will pitch their businesses at a Demo Day in February 2020.
According to the Elevator website, Flywheel is seeking businesses that create social impact in the Greater Cincinnati region – whether it’s through the product or service they provide, the people they employ, or the way they increase diversity of leadership in the startup ecosystem.
Applicants should be generating revenue, or have strong evidence of customer development to demonstrate they’re meeting a significant market need; a strong team, and on-site presence — founder teams will have to commit to spending at least three days per week at Union Hall.
For more information, click here or contact program manager Josie Dalton, [email protected].
We’re excited at the lineup of entrepreneurs slated for this Friday’s Early Risers!
You’ll meet:
Bridget Flaherty, founder of Lore, a storytelling coaching business;
Dallas Debruin, inventor of the Brun Triad, a device he describes as a Sink 2.0 with water, soap dispenser and air dryer all-in-one;
& Joe Thomas, founder of Recovery Amped, an app designed to help individuals fighting addiction find treatment quickly to reduce relapses !
Our May 2019 edition of Early Risers is sponsored by The Engineer’s Club. They’ll be bringing the coffee and eats to kicks off the 7:30-9am event.
Early Risers is a morning pitch series that connects entrepreneurs to the things they need most, like first customers, key employees, mentors, funding, and more. Each startup gets 10 minutes to pitch, then the audience gets 5 minutes for Q&A.
In the last two years, 90% of startups have gotten their ask granted through a connection made at Early Risers. So grab a cup of coffee & a donut and find a place you can plug into Dayton’s startup community!
Early Risers kicks off a whole FREE day of open co-working and events @444 with Dayton Tech Guide, Nucleus, Wright Brothers Institute & The Entrepreneurs Center.
Let us know you’re coming! Register here.
Want to pitch? Click here: http://bit.ly/pitchEarlyRisers
Want to sponsor (and get two minutes in front of the audience)? Click here: http://bit.ly/sponsorEarlyRisers
Hope to see you @444 on Friday!
Would you like more exposure for your small business or organization? Could you use some cash to put behind your mission? Do you have an idea for a project you want to launch in your community? Then #PitchIn is for you!
The Entrepreneurs Center (TEC) and its partners are launching #PitchIn, a series of community pitch events that will be held across TEC’s eight-county service area.
#PitchIn will kick off in the Oregon District, Monday, June 3 at 5:30pm. The first edition will be held at Wiley’s Comedy Joint in partnership with the Oregon District Business Association (ODBA).
People living, working, or connected to the Oregon District are invited to apply for the pitch event to share their business or social entrepreneurship idea before a panel of judges for the chance to win a competitive prize. #PitchIn attendees can also donate during the event and vote on the winner that takes home that second community-pooled prize the same night.
“We want to showcase the Oregon District’s innovators and makers,” OBDA Executive Director Carolyn DesJardin said. “The Oregon District is a vibrant area and a great fit for the needs of entrepreneurs and small businesses.”
The Monday, June 3 event will also be part of the Techstars Startup Week Dayton lineup.
“Our hope is that the momentum of Startup Week will help draw attention to some of the entrepreneurial activity happening in the neighborhoods too,” Startup Week co-organizer John Owen of Wright State Research Institute said.
The Oregon District edition of #PitchIn is sponsored by Canary Consulting & Gottschlich & Portune. Stay tuned for more info about the local caterers who will bring the eats.
“We want to feature the region’s entrepreneurs and the communities that support them,” Kim Frazier, Director of Growth Initiatives for TEC, said.
The Oregon District #PitchIn will be the first is a series of #PitchIn events. Other neighborhood associations and municipalities are invited & encouraged to attend.
“It used to be that entrepreneurs had to come to us to get the help the needed,” TEC President Scott Koorndyk said. “But that leaves too many people with great ideas on the sidelines, not knowing about the services we offer. This way, we’re coming to the neighborhoods to see what they’ve got, and how we can partner and broaden the support for entrepreneurs, no matter where they are.”
Click here to apply to pitch, or contact Bonnie Kling at [email protected].
Involved with the Oregon District and want to sponsor this first #PitchIn? Contact Carolyn DesJardin at [email protected].
Interested in sponsoring the whole #PitchIn series? Contact Kim Frazier at [email protected].
Want to win $100K for your female-founded food biz? Apply for Stacy’s Rise Project by June 21!
Stacy’s Pita Chips — a brand founded by a woman entrepreneur — is teaming up with Alice, a leading online resource for women and other underrepresented entrepreneurs.
In the third annual Rise Project initiative, the partners will award $200,000 to help women grow their food/beverage focused businesses. A team of leading business experts will serve as judges to select five female entrepreneur finalists who will be awarded a $20,000 funding prize, entrepreneurial advice and network building support. One of these women will also win an additional $100,000 grand prize award to help take their business to the next level.
Finalists will also receive a dedicated PepsiCo Mentor, virtual training and support via Alice’s WomanMade Community, and a ticket to Alice’s female founder conference, Circular Summit 2020.
The requirements:
Applications opened May 9 and will close June 21. The five finalists will be announced and awarded their $20K on July 19. On Nov. 19 — Women’s Entrepreneurship Day — the Stacy’s Rise Winner will be announced and awarded the $100K grand prize. Apply here.
Let us know if you apply so we can root for you!
Are you a food-entrepreneur? An artist-entrepreneur? Focused on medtech or defense? Running a social enterprise? A retail biz?
This year, Startup Week has tracks specifically for you.
As part of our work to expand the 2019 Techstars Dayton Startup Week, we’ve added a six industry-specific tracks with sessions tailored to go beyond the marketing, sales, finance and founder basics that will be covered on our main stage at the Steam Plant.
These specialized tracks in arts & music, defense innovation, food, medtech, retail/product & social entrepreneurship, have been designed by volunteer track captains — entrepreneurs or resource providers with experience in these industries and the expertise to delve deep into the unique needs for your type of startup.
In the food track, mingle with copackers who can help you scale up production; grocery panel reps who can talk about getting your product on shelves; tips & tricks for getting the best photos of your food products; marketing your food products; and hear David Butcher’s success story of moving Flyby BBQ from food truck to storefront restaurant. (Flyby BBQ is also donating lunch on Wednesday, don’t miss it!)
“It’s encouraging to see the city begin to recognize the specialized needs and impacts of food businesses. They’re unlike tech in many ways, and this is a great opportunity to gather relevant resources in one room,” food entrepreneur, Mutt’s Sauce founder, and food track co-captain Charlynda Scales said. “Whether it’s food tables, distribution, or getting on grocery shelves, we’re excited to poise these entrepreneurs for success. Food has a direct impact on the local economy — it shouldn’t be underestimated.”
In the medtech track, learn about growing a company in this industry, from licensing tech, to prototyping, finding early stage medical money, meeting FDA regulations, completing clinical trials, and landing your first account. Hear stories from and mingle with heavy hitters like Michael Triplett, Principal of Carmen Partners & former CEO of Myonexus Therapeutics; Peter Kleinhenz, CFO Myonexus; Ben Pidgeon of Vision Tech Angels; & Dave Kirshman, CEO AeroBiotix.
“This is the first time that the broader region is bringing together all of the entrepreneurial activity in the medtech arena,” Xact Medical CEO & medtech track co-captain Andy Cothrel said. “There should be a lot of great cross-fertilization, and an appreciation for how large this cluster has grown.”
In the arts & music track, learn about pricing your art; building your music biz; selling to corporate clientele; impacting artistic institutions with the entrepreneurial spirit; and turning your art hobby into your day job.
“The tech entrepreneur community and the world of art making share many intersecting pathways, perspectives, and the spirit of invention and innovation — a spirit driven by passion to create, illuminate and inspire the world we live in, either by new systems, technology or artistic works,” Sinclair professor, host of PBS’s The Art Show and arts & music track co-captain Rodney Veal said. “By bringing these two realms together, we see an amazing opportunity explore these connections and bonds and also maybe inspire new collaborations or possibilities or ways of viewing our world.”
In the defense innovation track, learn about how small businesses can snag government contracts and government funding; learn about the new accelerator program that will connect you with military resources to move your idea from research to pitch; & mingle with representatives from Bunker Labs, an organization that works to empower veteran entrepreneurs.
In the retail/product track, learn about handling customer service, moving your craft hobby into a brick & mortar store, & getting into big box stores.
In the social entrepreneurship track, learn about the options to legally structure your mission-focused business, and learn about the ways to keep your mission in the forefront of your business operations.
What are you most looking forward to this year at Startup Week?! Register here!
31 S. Main St.
Dayton, OH 45402
[email protected]Get Directions
