Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship

Each semester, students from across campus apply to the Dingman Center’s Fearless Founders program. The by-application-only courses consist of three stages: Idea Shell, Hatch and Terp Startup. True the name of each stage, the Fearless Founders program guides student ventures from idea to launch.

This spring, 24 students were selected to participate in Hatch program, where they will build and test their business ideas using the Lean Launchpad methodology. Once the course has been completed, the Hatch cohort will be eligible for up to $1500 in seed funding.

What kinds of ventures can we expect from this year’s cohort? Here are “elevator pitches” from two students:

“My company, VR Madras, is developing high quality men’s shirts to ‘re-invent’ the classic button-down to provide an affordable and unique casual shirt for men by contrasting sleeve pattern colors and designs.”  – Vishwant Tatagari, VR Madras

“CrabShell cases provides high quality, customized laser engraved, affordable phone cases to clubs, greek life, and organizations in the UMD community. Our product lets people represent their organization in a unique and intriguing way.”  – Adam Vinner, CrabShell

Below is a complete list of the spring Hatch cohort and their ventures. For more information on the Fearless Founders program and how to apply, please click here.