$160,000 awarded to student-led startups
The Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship’s Jones + Foster Accelerator, now in its fifth year, helps student-led startups get off the ground. Companies accepted into this six-month program receive expert mentoring, a framework for defining measurable milestones, and the opportunity to earn equity-free follow-on funding.
This year, seven companies completed the six-month accelerator program. From July 2014 to February 2015, the teams worked with committees of Seattle-area investors and entrepreneurs to meet critical startup milestones—making product improvements, developing sales and marketing strategies, licensing intellectual property, raising capital.
On February 3, the seven teams made final presentations to a panel of judges and were awarded up to $25,000 in follow-on funding. $25,000 can represent three months of runway for an early-stage company, but we think it represents more than that. It represents our confidence in their potential–we can’t wait to watch these companies achieve startup success!
CardSwapr
CardSwapr is a solution to the broken secondary gift card market. Since 2008, over $44 billion gift cards have gone unused. CardSwapr’s app allows users to quickly and conveniently trade an unwanted gift card for something they will use, or sell it for cash.
Team: Sam Tanner (UW Foster School), Bryan Gula (UW Informatics)
FDCARES
Over the last 30 years, 911 calls for fire department emergency medical responses have increased by 400%. And as it turns out, only 60% of these calls are true emergencies. Sending firefighters and emergency vehicles to respond to non-emergency 911 calls is expensive for fire departments, and unnecessary emergency room visits are costly to insurers. FDCARES has developed an innovative response model that lowers costs by redirecting non-emergency calls to new tier of the fire department that has the capacity to stabilize patients in the home or transport them to a non-emergency care facility.
Team: Mitch Snyder (Battalion Chief, Kent Fire Department), Jimmy Webb (Captain, Kent Fire Department)
Korvata
Nitrous oxide (N2O) is the fourth most common greenhouse gas, and has 300 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide. This is a major problem for food and beverage retailers who use N2O cartridges to make whipped cream. Korvata has invented a patent-pending food-grade alternative that emits 50% less greenhouse gas without altering the deliciousness of the end product.
Team: Chris Metcalfe (UW Foster School MBA), Soleil Kelley (UW Foster School MBA)
Lasting Smiles
Lasting Smiles works to create lasting change in communities around the world. Lasting Smiles lip balm is created with organic, fair trade ingredients sourced from small-scale farmers in India, Peru, and Burkina Faso. Lasting Smiles ensures integrity and responsibility throughout the supply and manufacturing chain—no testing on animals, all pure & organic ingredients, and the highest commercially feasible post-consumer recycled packaging. The startup has formed a strategic partnership with Smile Train, the largest cleft lip and palate nonprofit in the world. Twenty-five cents of every lip balm this startup sells will go directly towards funding surgeries for children with cleft lips and palates.
Team: Zoe Mesnik-Greene (UW Foster School)
LINC Foods
Only 3% of the food consumed in Spokane, WA is produced locally. Yet the demand for a robust local food system to supply restaurants and schools is high. LINC Foods is a Spokane, WA-based hub that connects local farms to institutional-scale markets by selling their fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, meats, cheeses, and eggs to large institutions (school districts, universities, hospitals), restaurants, and grocery stores.
Team: Beth Robinette (Bainbridge Graduate Institute MBA), Joel Williamson (Bainbridge Graduate Institute MBA)
Olykraut
Olykraut combines local produce, original recipes, and “the magic of fermentation” to create delicious fermented vegetable products (think sauerkraut). The company has been producing and selling its products since 2008, and its popularity continues to grow. By producing this healthy food made with ingredients from farms in Western Washington, Olykraut is investing in the health of local people, local farms, and the local economy.
Team: Sash Sunday (Bainbridge Graduate Institute MBA), Michelle Anderson (Bainbridge Graduate Institute MBA), Domonique Juleon (Bainbridge Graduate Institute MBA), Dorothy Mitchell (Bainbridge Graduate Institute MBA)
Uphill Designs
Uphill Designs produces innovative and sustainable hiking equipment for outdoor enthusiasts. The startup’s trekking poles are made of bamboo—a renewable and low-cost material that is stronger and more flexible than aluminum—and the pole handles are made of post-consumer recycled cork. And in keeping with its commitment to sustainability, a percentage of Uphill Designs’ sales will go to the Pacific Crest Trail Associations and the communities where the company sources its materials.
Team: Daniel Sedlacek (UW MS Material Science & Engineering), Mounica Sonikar (UW MS Material Science & Engineering), David DeBey (UW Foster School MBA)
