New Venture Practicum is one of the Dingman Center’s signature courses. Taught by Le-Marie Thompson during the Fall semester, students experiment with business models, revenue streams and go-to-market strategies. By the end of this course, some startups are securing their first customers and generating revenue, while others are working on a beta or pilot. In the final class, students pitch for seed funding to move their business forward.
Read on to learn more about this cohort’s exciting student founders and their businesses!
Exercise Network – Candace Austin ’23 (Finance)
Exercise Network is a healthy lifestyle network aiming to help individuals live life healthier through our fitness, aquatics, and nutrition programs.
Fashion House – Vina Chen ’25
Financial WIzard – Toluwalope Adewole ’23
Frontground “The Cerner of Africa” – Kenneth Yeaher Jr. ’24 (Information Science)
Frontground is a social enterprise creating information systems for developing nations and emerging markets.
Game Changers New York – Sara Blau ’24 (Business Management)
Game Changers is a 501(c)3 non-profit whose mission is to redistribute sports equipment to children globally in order to create sports equity.
Grassroot – Datta Kaligotla ’24
MatRx – James Dawson ’24 (Business Management)
MatRx is a patent pending, novel device that allows drivers to prevent and cover damage on the floor mats.
Modest Sports Fashion – Syarifatul Umam ’23
Odin Electric – Joseph Kattan ’22
Old Town, New Clothes – Brian Spinner ’23 (Environmental Science and Policy)
Old Town, New Clothes is a clothing brand I have established in which I sell my own custom and thrifted clothing. Old Town, New Clothes allows members of the UMD community to give me their clothes they no longer have a use for and in turn I sell them at weekly pop-up shops and turn peoples leftover clothing into money for them.
Recover Pals – Aaron Zeng ‘24
RewardsHub – David Crabtree ’23
SweetForm – Eman Mirdamadi ’25 (Bioengineering)
SweetForm is a kitchen device startup seeking to give food making hobbyists and pastry chefs a mess free, stick free, and fun way to make ice and sweet treats with any shape they desire.
TaskPanel – Siddharth Dudla ’24 (Finance and Information Systems)
TaskPanel is a productivity device startup aiming to help people accomplish their daily goals and smash their deadlines in a fun and interactive way.