Tag Archives: E-fund

E-Fund Grant Winners | Spring 2022

Panthalassa Holdings, LLC

Student: Perri Moeller, ’23
Prize: $858.01

Panthalassa Holdings is developing land based aquaculture opportunities through the innovative Recirculating Aquaculture System (RAS) technology. This will create healthier and sustainable domestic seafood production and create economic incentives for environmental stewardship as the RAS will be located in economically suppressed rural areas. As of 2019, the US Seafood trade deficit is $16.9 billion and these imports are causing the collapse of our natural resources. Panthalassa Holdings will help fill the seafood production gap in America as we need a network of sustainable land based aquaculture to easily and sustainably feed our growing population.

Use of Funds

Perri and Panthalassa Holdings plans on using the funds to attend the Industry Conference RASTech to showcase her venture and make important industry connections, as well as business cards to facilitate her networking.

Tagged

Announcing E-Fund Winners of Fall 2020

Through generous gifts from Carly Fiorina and Kevin Plank, the Dingman Center provides ad-hoc seed funding for University of Maryland startups, called the E-Fund. These nondilutive grants range from $250-$1000. Funding typically goes towards equipment purchases, website hosting, rapid prototyping, incorporation fees or any other costs that you see a barrier to getting an idea to market.

Check out this semester’s E-Fund recipients!

space


Vitalize, LLC

Founders: Sanketh Andhavarapu ’23, Veeraj Shah ’21

Vitalize is a mobile app for physicians with activities to alleviate stress and reduce burnout. Their E-Fund award of $1000 will be put towards developing crucial software and app functionality.

Morning Light, LLC

Founder: Harrison Burke ’20

Morning Light fosters competitive Esports teams to make the jump to full-time professional sponsorships. As Morning Light’s web presence is a high priority for this esports organizer, their $1000 E-Fund award will go to website development.

Blimp Logistics, LLC

Founder: Camilo Melnyk ’21

Blimp Logistics provides a fast and robust drone delivery network for any business. To support Blimp’s efforts to complete a full and functional prototype, this $1000 E-Fund will be used for a GPS System, Raspberry support hardware, data plan, and website development.

SweetsbyCaroline, LLC

Founder: Caroline Ta ’21

SweetsbyCaroline is a baking business that specializes in custom gluten-free french macarons, as well as cakes, cupcakes, and other desserts that are perfect for engagements, weddings, parties, and other events. Looking to increase her production while reducing costs and time, Caroline will be investing her $1000 E-Fund into a new, larger convection oven that will triple her delicious output.

Edullo

Founders: Eric Patel ’21 and Esha Vangara

Edullo is a platform created by students for students. They connect scholars to freelancers to do their part of level the playing field in education. Their $500 E-Fund will go towards supporting and maintaining their data-heavy website platform, and developing an app for even easier access.

Across The Board

Founders: Rick Philbin, MBA Candidate ’21

Across the Board is a game rental service for events. They are solving the problem for anyone hosting a wedding / birthday party / tailgate who wants to have exciting games for their event but does not want to own them long-term. Their $312 E-Fund award will be applied to a year-long Squarespace subscription.

Campus Gigs

Founders: Nataraj Shivaprasad ’24 and Sri Kanipakala ’24

Currently, the gig economy is estimated to account for 40% of the U.S workforce. With the rise of remote work, this number is slated to grow, making it imperative for college students to be prepared for the unique challenges and skills required for the gig economy. We are looking to solve this problem by developing a platform specifically for students to provide gig services to local businesses. Businesses also benefit from this, untapping the potential of a flexible, cheaper, and in many cases, skilled workforce. Campus Gigs’ $150 E-Fund Award will support their app development.

Tagged ,

Dingman Jumpstart Recap: 50+ Students Participate in Entrepreneurship Bootcamp

Over 50 aspiring entrepreneurs, including students from the University of Maryland, The Guanghua School of Management at Peking University, and local professionals, took part in this year’s Dingman Jumpstart, which ran from August 20 – 24, 2012. Dingman Jumpstart participants underwent an intense series of workshops and seminars covering a variety of topics including, how to craft a perfect pitch, build a solid business model, understand startup revenue and cost structures, and navigate the legal landscape of the startup world. Participants also had the opportunity to form teams and work on new or existing business ideas culminating in a live investor pitch to a panel of expert judges from The Dingman Center’s community network. The weeklong event was a huge success with several teams being identified as potential seed funding opportunities for the Dingman Center’s E-Fund.

For those who missed this amazing opportunity, here are just some of the key takeaways from the 2012 Dingman Jumpstart sessions:

  • “When the time comes to pivot, it’s important understand where your company’s strength is really in and what you do right.”
    – John LaPides, Dingman Center EIR, on Business Model Patterns
  • “Identify the pain point, and then identify the person who can and will pay to relieve that pain point.”
    – Elana Fine, Dingman Center Managing Director, on Marketing Channels
  • “Technology is only a small component of the solution.  Solutions take an ecosystem in order to add sustainable value.”
    – Elana Fine on Marketing Channels
  • “Investors don’t bet on the horse (the company), they bet on the jockey (the entrepreneur).”
     – Sam Medile, Dingman Center Board Member, on Entrepreneurial Selling
  • “The sources of a company’s competitive advantage is how close their product is to being ‘perfect, free, and now’ or how it can ‘work harder longer.’”
    – Dr. Bob Baum, Professor Emeritus, on Organizing to Compete
  • “It is crucial to present a ‘fully baked’ idea to investors (Practice! Formulate! Iterate!).”
     – Swaroop Kolli & Pradeep Suthram, 2012 MBA Graduates, on How to Pitch
  • “The ultimate tragedy is to see a business succeed, then fail through their success.”
    – Mark Walsh, Dingman Center Board of Advisor Chairman, on The Art of Storytelling

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The Dingman Center would like to thank all of the speakers, advisors, and judges who helped make Dingman Jumpstart a success. The Dingman Center encourage this year’s participants to stay connected and apply for the EnTERPreneur Academy to grow your venture from idea to launch.

Interested in participating in next year’s Dingman Jumpstart?  Keep your eyes open for information next spring.  Learn more at: http://ter.ps/jumpstart

Tagged , , , , , , , ,