Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship

The Dingman Center is now receiving applications for Cupid’s Cup, the nation’s toughest student business competition, chaired by Founder & CEO of Under Armour, Kevin Plank. Unlike business plan competitions, Cupid’s Cup awards student entrepreneurs running a legal business entity that is generating revenue or that has proven traction. For the full criteria and to see last year’s finalists, visit www.cupidscup.com.

This year marks the competition’s ninth year. Over the course of the previous eight years, the Cupid’s Cup winners have not only stayed in business, but have continued to thrive. Let’s take a look back at our past winners.

Earth Starter (2013)
Earth Starter is the creator of the Nourishmat, a product built to accelerate plant growth yields and simplify the growing process. Since winning Cupid’s Cup this past year, Earth Starter has been featured all over mainstream media in publications such as Fast Company, NPR, Yahoo! and Venture Beat. The company has received more than $130K in additional revenue and has sales across 30 states and 15 countries worldwide.

Reed Street Productions (2012)
Read Street Productions aims to create events that blend genres, blur the lines of reality, and are simply fun. The company’s signature event, ‘Run For Your Lives’ is a 5K obstacle course race that tests your speed, strength and endurance through miles of man-made and natural obstacles—all while being chased by hungry, merciless zombies. This year, zombie runs are planned in 25 cities across the United States. The company has also successfully secured sponsorships with Microsoft, Subaru, Project Sole, and XIOS.
http://reedstreetproductions.com/
http://www.runforyourlives.com/

MyFridgeRental.com (2011) 
MyFridgeRental provides college students in the Mid-Atlantic region with convenient and affordable refrigeration rental services. During the two years since winning Cupid’s Cup, the company has made stellar growth in sales volumes by more than 30% each year. Now, the company provides more than 2,500 rental services in more than 15 colleges.
http://myfridgerental.com/

Social Growth Technologies (2010)
Social Growth Technologies is the single channel that delivers high performance online advertising and virtual currency monetization in the social gaming and ecommerce environments. Since Cupid’s Cup, the business won the CJYou Rookie of the Year Award for Performance Marketing Excellence and was named HCEDA’s business of the year. Major clients include Coca-Cola, eBay, and DELL.
http://www.socialgrowthtechnologies.com/
https://www.facebook.com/SocialGrowthTechnologies
https://twitter.com/socialingot

College Media Group (2009) 
The company publshes College Magazine, an online uncensored source for everything that college students want to know. The site features articles ranging from academic advice, student life, NCAA sports news, sex questions and celebrity news. In 2011, the magazine reached 200,000 students at 14 universities in Washington D.C., Maryland, Philadelphia and Florida. Today, the company has more than 4,000 followers on Facebook and Twitter.
https://www.facebook.com/collegemag
http://www.collegemagazine.com/
https://twitter.com/CollegeMag

Anaptyx (2008)
Anaptyx provides WiFi internet access to apartment communities and municipalities through energy efficient technology. Since 2011, the company has expanded its services to Boston, covering areas such as Boston Common and Greenway Parks.
http://anaptyx.com/

Goozex (2007)
Goozex is an online trading company that allows customers to trade video games and movies in the United States, Canada, and Bermuda. The business idea came from Robert H. Smith MBA Alumnus, Jon Dugan, who was unsatisfied with the low price for exchanging second hand video games. Since the business was established, the company has grown rapidly. In 2008, more than 160,000 games were being traded on the site. In 2012, Goozex was privately acquired by a holding company, Bay Acquisition Corp. for an undisclosed amount. Goozex is the first Cupid’s winner to be acquired by another company.
http://www.goozex.com/trading/asp/welcome.asp
https://www.facebook.com/goozex
https://twitter.com/goozex

North Star Games (2006)
North Start Games is an innovative board games designed by former Smith MBA Alumnus, Dominic Crapuchettes. Since winning Cupid’s Cup, the company has won a series of awards, including Wits & Wagers being included on many ‘Best Games of Year’ lists in 2007. The game was also awarded as the ‘Best New Party Game’ by Games Magazine. Time Magazine profiled Wits & Wagers as a “Lively trivia game” and highlighted it as a board game ”beyond Monopoly”.
http://northstargames.com/North_Star_Games/Home.html
https://www.facebook.com/northstargames
https://twitter.com/NorthStarGames

Do you think your company has what it takes to join this elite group of Cupid’s Cup winners? Submit your application by January 6, 2014 and we’ll see you on Game Day.