A healthy beverage startup company found at the Rady School of Management placed first in the Ignite UC San Diego startup pitch battle, earning a cash prize of $5,000 and being named best product.
The company, headed by CEO Kabir Gambhir (MBA ’10), produces the drink Cascaraa, made from the sun dried coffee fruit of the same name, which hopes to provide a healthy alternative to naturally caffeinated beverages for younger audiences. Gambhir said he was inspired to create the drink after facing health problems with traditional caffeine, and applied his past experience within the medical field in creating the drink.
“Discovery was a big part of maintaining health and wellness,” Gambhir said. “ It’s something that I’ve really been inspired to share with as many people as possible.”
The restructured Ignite Startup battle format
now features a rap battle as a part of its competition, incentivizing companies
to find a creative alternative in pitching their ideas.
Gambhir, alongside fellow team member Renan Iwayama (MBA ’19) and a few members of the company, did just that, showcasing their rapping skills with their original song, “Drink Cascaraa,” a parody of Snoop Dog’s iconic, “Drop it Like it’s Hot.”
“It was a fun and
amazing way to challenge ourselves in writing the lyrics for the song from a
pitch standpoint,” Iwayama said, “I’d definitely approve of them doing
something like this again next year.”
Gambhir says he plans to
use the prize money in reinforcing the company’s marketing strategies by
partnering with Hello Advisor, a promotions and marketing firm, in order to
continue expanding their product across San Diego, with the eventual goal of
reaching all of California.
“We’re thrilled to be
working with them, and in using their guidance in looking for new strategies
and expand,” Gambhir said.
#RadyMade Startup Wins Pitch Competition was last modified: March 8th, 2019 by Matthew Wu
Since 2012, with
the launch of mystartupXX, accelerators have had a presence on the Rady School
of Management campus. The mystartupXX program was a first of its kind startup
accelerator focused on building female-founded companies. Not long after, in
2013, StartR was launched with a goal of accelerating startups led by
entrepreneurially minded MBA students and alums, helping them achieve success
that was unseen in the school before the program.
As interest in
entrepreneurship has grown, so has the demand for additional programs to
support the diverse interests and talents of Rady School students. As the programs expanded their scope and
reach, more students and San Diego community members were exposed to the
burgeoning entrepreneurial landscape with the help of the resources and network
provided by the Rady School, thanks to programs like the Veteran Ventures and
Social Venture Accelerator.
Each of the
accelerators has undergone changes over the past year, with the most
significant being the expansion of mystartupXX to included not only female
founders, but those from diverse and traditionally underserved populations.
With all of these changes, this was the perfect opportunity to bring all of the
accelerators under the same umbrella and look forward to building on the StartR
brand. The new StartR will encompass the programs launched at the Rady School
to form a more unified and holistic entrepreneurial platform.
“The Rady School accelerator programs have helped to launch more than 55 ventures to date, and we hope to bring even more veteran, community, youth and diverse entrepreneurs into the startup world,” said Lada Rasochova (MBA ’08) Executive Director of the California Institute for Innovation and Development. “Bringing all of our programs together under the StartR umbrella will better tie them together, and will help us share resources and showcase our reach and commitment to diverse entrepreneurship.”
Rady School
entrepreneurial programs have exponentially grown since the launch of StartR
and mystartupxx, providing entrepreneurial resources to hundreds of students
and community members. The innovative approach of the program will continue to
shift and change, addressing the needs and trends in the startup world.
The first StartR Class
“The StartR accelerator
programs are in a fantastic position to help our students and community members
with their companies and ideas,” Rasochova said. “The Rady School is home to a
wealth of resources, from brilliant faculty, to a wide network of investors and
a number of workshops designed to help businesses get off the ground. We have
been able to create new programs based on interest and needs of entrepreneurs
in all sectors and at every stage of their journeys.”
New brand,
same focus
The
StartR programs all have the same goal – to help connect budding
entrepreneurs with the resources and opportunities necessary to taking new
companies and ideas to the next level. While StartR Rady is focused
specifically on helping Rady students and alumni launch their companies, the
other four programs are designed to help members of the UC San Diego and
greater San Diego communities.
StartR Rady
A new name for the
original six-month StartR program, it was created for Rady School affiliated students
and alumni who already have a business foundation. During the program, students
have access to a number of workshops, mentorship opportunities, networking
events and more. The program culminates with a pitch event where startups
present their companies to San Diego business leaders.
StartR Inclusion
Originally
mystartupXX, this program introduces early-stage founders from underrepresented
populations to the world of startups through mentorship, business education and
funding. StartR Inclusion strives to promote diversity in entrepreneurship
at UC San Diego and beyond. Teams must be affiliated with UC San Diego
(students at any level, recent alums, postdocs or students at local research
institutes) and must have a member of a traditionally underrepresented
population in a leadership role to participate.
StartR Impact
Businesses with a
socially-conscious focus are booming, and investors are eager to support
companies that also have a social mission. Formally known as the Social Venture
Accelerator, StartR Impact nurtures innovative, scalable companies that address
important social issues. The program is open to all UC San Diego undergraduate,
graduate and postdoctoral students.
StartR Veteran
StartR Veteran
was launched at UC San Diego in 2017 as Veteran Ventures to support veterans
looking to launch a business after serving. The 10-week program provides veterans
with the support and skill development necessary to be successful in
entrepreneurship. This program is open to veterans inside and outside of the UC
San Diego network who are interested in launching a business, or who are ready
to scale and raise capital for existing businesses. StartR Veteran is a
collaboration between UC San Diego’s Rady School of Management, The Basement,
and Office of Innovation and Commercialization.
StartR Teen
It’s never too
early to start thinking entrepreneurially, and StartR Teen strives to introduce
middle and high school students to the world of startups. StartR Teen works to introduce
students to startups, successful entrepreneurs and potential career mentors to
showcase the exciting world of entrepreneurship in America’s Finest City.
StartR Continues to Startup was last modified: March 6th, 2019 by Hallie Jacobs
Rady School of Management has a number of programs and services available to students looking to break into the startup scene. Among the most popular programs is the StartR accelerator — a six-month program designed to support budding entrepreneurs and their startups through workshops, mentorship, access to funding and more.
The newest class of student-led startups includes innovative ideas ranging from streamlined parking mobile applications to novel gene therapies.
SurfUp is an automated surfboard rental station that is paired with a smartphone application to make the surfboard rental process convenient for beginner surfers and tourists on the beach, in-front of stores, resorts, restaurants, and much more.
AngioX Therapeutics is an early stage biopharmaceutical company that develops novel therapies for patients with rare Cerebral Cavernous Malformations (CCMs).
Visionful
Visionful created a parking and traffic intelligence system for efficient transportation.
Bou is a small device that can save, transfer, and emit smells instantly in various circumstances to enhance consumers’ daily experiences in different settings like while watching movies, playing video games, shopping, online shopping, relaxing, etc.
Freightracker
Frieghtracker brings IOT solutions to the transportation industry in order to streamline operations and reduce costs.
A New Class of StartR Entrepreneurs was last modified: February 6th, 2019 by Hallie Jacobs
Seven Rady-affiliated startups advanced to the next stage of the third annual UC Entrepreneur Pitch Competition, which celebrates the innovative and collaborative minds within the University of California System.
Devised to connect entrepreneurs at all levels with resources and mentors to help scale and launch their startups, the competition offers entrepreneurial hopefuls the opportunity to win $15,000 in seed funding.
The competition is composed of two tracks — an early-stage track for startups in funding round pre-Series A, and a later-stage track for startups in Series A and beyond.
Rady Teams
Bevea — A healthy, sustainable produced beverage made from discarded coffee fruit.
Blue Latitudes— An environmental consulting agency owned and operated by women with a mission to develop cost-effective solutions to environmental issues.
LeadCrunch.ai— An innovative platform that increases business to business sales and marketing by providing users with ideal leads using artificial intelligence.
Navega Therapeutics— A breakthrough therapy designed to combat the use of opioids by producing non-addictive pain management for patients.
Skinalytics— Personalized skincare designed to target the specific needs of each client using machine learning that links with a mobile device.
SurfUP— A new way to rent surfboards using a mobile application that simplifies the process of finding and renting surfboards using the shared economy model.
Veocor Diagnostics— A cost-effective system that improves the care of patients at risk of having stroke using cloud-based artificial intelligence.
To support Rady startup teams, click the link and vote on the page. Voters are able to vote on multiple teams.
Rady Teams Advance in UC Entrepreneur Competition was last modified: January 30th, 2019 by Hallie Jacobs
When I first stepped onto the Rady School of Management campus last year, the innovation and entrepreneurship was obvious – I could feel and see it happening around me. I was very excited with the conversations I had with students and faculty, and after attending the class “Research for Marketing Decisions” with Professor Anand Bodapati, I decided to apply to the Master of Science in Business Analytics program.
At the beginning of this year I was invited to join the third cohort of the MSBA program that started classes in August. I found it very demanding, but at the same time very fulfilling, because I could further develop my critical thinking skills and dive deeper into complex business issues.
However, I felt that just attending classes and completing my assignments wouldn’t be enough to be successful in my career. In fact, I quickly realized that the Rady School and University of California, San Diego had so much to offer that I had to take advantage of every possible opportunity!
On October 3, I attended StartR Demo Day. StartR is a free, six month-long acceleration program held twice a year on the Rady School’s campus, and at the conclusion of the program, StartR teams are given an opportunity to pitch to investors and industry experts during Demo Day.
This was an amazing experience and I learned so much about different innovative business models! At the end I connected with each of the startups representatives and because of my networking ability, I was able to start working with Kabir Gambhir (MBA ’10), a Rady alum who launched a business called Bevea.
Bevea, is a startup in the consumer and packaged goods industry that created a new drink made from the coffee fruit, also known as cascara. Unfortunately, cascara is often dumped into rivers or just left to rot in reaps which both brings harmful environmental impacts. Bevea is currently buying cascara from Costa Rica and producing a drink that is both healthy and delicious, while also preventing pollution and generating extra income to cascara farmers and their communities.
Encouraged by our advisor Lada Rasochova, we decided to join the Triton Innovation Challenge — a business competition focused on fostering creativity and bringing commercially promising, environmentally focused technologies generated by the finest minds at UC San Diego to the spotlight. Supported through the generosity of The William and Kathryn Scripps Family Foundation Inc., the program is presented through a partnership between the Rady School of Management, Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the Jacobs School of Engineering.
This was indeed a great challenge for me because I had to create a new pitch from scratch to properly address the competition’s criteria and connect to the audience to convey our company’s message. I had support from the organization because they provided us with the workshop “Art of the Pitch” led by Silvia Mah (MBA ’12), a successful Rady School alum and startup expert. Attending this workshop was a game-changer for me and Bevea.
We progressed through the Triton Innovation Challenge, competing in the initial pitch competition and making our way through the semifinals. I represented Bevea at the finals, competing against five other extraordinary startups: The BioEnergy project, Ocean Motion Tech, FreeGen Technologies, Khepra and CleanCoast – The Water Quality Sticker.
After watching six outstanding presentations from teams coming from diverse backgrounds and representing startups from different industries, the judges and the audience made their choices:
1st prize – $10,000 (Bevea)
2nd prize – $5,000 (Ocean Motion Tech)
3rd prize – $2,500 (Khepra)
Audience Choice – $2,500 (Bevea)
My pitch won first place for Bevea and was also able to capture the audience support for our sustainable cause. This was a unique moment and an extraordinary personal achievement for me! I can still barely believe that I could balance everything ranging from my personal life to work and academics in the last several weeks. I was proud to represent Bevea and the Rady School at this prestigious business competition.
I am grateful for all the inspiration my fiancé, Cintia Kussuda, gave me and the support of my family and friends. Special thanks to Emily Dayton, Rady Assistant Director of Graduate Admissions, for encouraging me throughout the MSBA program and Kabir, Bevea CEO, for believing in my unlimited potential!
My mentor, Dr. Daisaku Ikeda once said: “This lifetime will never come again; it is precious and irreplaceable. To live without regret, we must have a concrete purpose, continually setting goals and challenges for ourselves. And we need to keep moving toward those specific targets steadily and tenaciously, one step at a time.”
Bevea is now one step closer to becoming a successful product enjoyed by the masses and I look forward to the next goals and challenges that I am going to achieve during the winter quarter.
Renan Sallai Iwayama is an MSBA candidate at the Rady School of Management.
Rady Team Wins Triton Innovation Challenge was last modified: December 11th, 2018 by Renan Sallai Iwayama
Entrepreneurship is a fundamental aspect of the Rady School of Management educational experience. Whether students are pursuing an MBA, Master of Finance or Master of Science in Business Analytics degree, students have the opportunity to take an idea and transform it into a company at the Rady School. The StartR Accelerator – a free six-month long acceleration program open to all Rady School students and alumni – sets the stage for students to get businesses running through educational seminars, access to funding, mentorship connection and more. Recently, the StartR Spring Class of 2018 gathered to present their pitches to Rady School students, faculty, alumni and the San Diego business community.
Robert Sullivan, Dean of the Rady School of Management, kicked off the event by celebrating the success of the StartR program.
“Since its inception in 2013, the accelerator program has launched 61 companies,” Sullivan said. “Twelve of these teams have been accepted into the prestigious EvoNexus accelerator, and 60 percent of the teams that have been launched are still operational. StartR teams have generated more than $40 million in capital.”
A successful graduate of the StartR program returned to campus to speak about his company, CB Therapeutics. Sher Ali Butt (MBA ’16) entered the Rady School with an idea – to create cannabinoids without the use of marijuana plants. These compounds are not psychoactive. They do not produce a “high” or have potential for abuse and are already sold in the market similar to supplements. Since graduating from the Rady School, CB Therapeutics has been accepted into EvoNexus and Y Combinator, raised millions of dollars in funding and was recently selected as a finalist in a TechCrunch pitch competition in San Francisco.
“Rady was the best thing that happened to me and my business,” Butt said. “I came with an idea and left with a business. As a scientist, I was comfortable with creating the product, but I had no idea where to begin with the business side of things. CB Therapeutics would not have been possible without the Rady School.”
Here’s a look at the companies that were pitched at StartR Demo Day.
TrySpree
If you’re a fan of free stuff, TrySpree is for you. Developed by Ben Koonse (MBA ‘19), the website scrapes the internet to search for products offering free samples. The user is able to select free samples they’re interested in testing and choose to try them risk-free. TrySpree is then able to offer custom-selected samples to the customer based on their selections and interests. The company has created the most revenue out of any company actively involved with StartR, currently generating $1 million in revenue annually.
Hylite
Traditional shopping malls are struggling to meet the demands of dedicated online shoppers, but Rady School student Chuan He (MBA ‘18) is developing a solution to help both malls and customers improve their shopping experiences. Hylite is a precise marketing system that uses LED lights to identify preciswe shoppers’ location within a shopping mall. Shoppers are able to navigate better within a mall and can receive product offers from businesses in the location. Hylite plans to launch in China where almost 1,000 new malls were built last year alone.
AnalytixHub
Modern businesses have more data than they know what to do with in order to make informed decisions. AnalytixHub – launched by current student Fay Mehr (MBA ’19) – created a company that connects data scientists and analytics experts with companies and research institutions. The platform is also moving toward creating a database that provides advanced data analysis services and consultations on demand.
Bevea
Sugar-packed sodas are out and healthy beverage options are in! Bevea, created by Kabir Gambhir (MBA ‘10) creates beverages from a nutrient-dense coffee cherry byproduct. The beverage Cascaraa provides a solution for the 23 million tons of byproduct created annually while creating a low calorie, low sugar and delicious sparkling beverage. The drink comes in five flavors – original, mint basil, lavender, hibiscus, and rose chili.
Evolution Smart Bag
The average American woman owns 13 purses and handbags from seven different brands. To cut down on the clutter, Rady School graduate Suvi Tanninen (MBA ’18) created a smart bag designed to fit the needs of women on the go. The modular, washable and customizable bags come in a variety of shapes, colors and sizes and are equipped with pockets that provide wireless charging.
In addition to the pitch presentations, Herb Meistrich was presented with the Guru Award in recognition of his mentoring support of students in the StartR program. The audience also voted on their favorite pitch and selected Koonse of TrySpree to receive a $500 check for his company.
Due to the success of their startups, each five teams have chosen to continue building their companies after graduating from StartR.
“It’s inspiring to see these teams succeeding and contributing to the local and national economy,” Sullivan said. “The Rady School community is proud of their efforts and we are looking forward to watching them continue to grow.”
StartR Demo Day Showcases Rady Innovation was last modified: October 9th, 2018 by Hallie Jacobs
Whether you’re looking to start a company or enhance your entrepreneurial skills, the Rady School of Management supports students eager to develop innovative companies. A new position was created to connect students and alumni to the wealth of entrepreneurial resources located at UC San Diego and in San Diego – one of the top cities in the world for startups.
Karen Jensen, the former program manager for the California Institute for Innovation and Development (CIID), recently assumed the role as the Rady School’s Entrepreneurship Advocate. Inspired by Rady students’ desire to launch and sustain businesses, the position was created to support students in every step of their entrepreneurial journeys.
“We have an ever-growing list of startups launched here at Rady,” Jensen said. “Our goal is to take these startups and get them beyond the campus environment, connect them with resources and community mentors, and continue to help them grow and flourish once they leave Rady.”
Jensen will also organize the Triton Innovation Challenge, a competition that spotlights commercially promising, environmentally focused technologies generated by UC San Diego’s students, staff and faculty. She will also coordinate mentorship breakfasts designed to connect startups with local industry leaders. She will continue to provide operational support to mystartupXX accelerator program dedicated to increasing the number of underrepresented students and alumni at UC San Diego looking to get involved with startups.
Local connections
San Diego is a hub for startups and innovation, and Jensen is leveraging her position to serve as a liaison between the Rady School and the San Diego startup community. America’s Finest City is home to a number of prestigious accelerators, clubs, conventions and events dedicated to connecting top talent with individuals eager to break into the booming startup scene.
“I’m looking forward to reaching out and connecting with leading entrepreneurs in our local community,” Jensen said. “One of the most exciting aspects of this positions for me is to identify resources for our startups so that we can connect them and watch them continue to grow. There are so many opportunities and assets here in San Diego that will be extremely useful to our students’ startups.”
In addition to connecting Rady School students with the local community, Jensen is working to get them more involved with the talented and innovative students across the UC San Diego campus. With a number of plans in place to increase collaborations with the brilliant minds of students in the Jacobs School of Engineering, Scripps Institution of Oceanography and beyond, Jensen’s priority is to ensure Rady School students have access to a diverse network of talented peers.
“There are so many intelligent and driven students here on campus with a diverse set of skills,” Jensen said. “We would be remised to not tap into the talent we have right here on campus. I’m making it a priority to work to forge more connections on campus to see what kind of partnerships and collaborative efforts we can create.”
Future goals
Since Jensen assumed the role, she has been involved in launching the new DRIvE program – Developing Rady Innovative Entrepreneurs, a mentorship initiative that connects current students with industry leaders who serve as coaches to help guide startup founders during their entrepreneurial journey. Although the program is in its infancy, DRIvE has already been able to connect six student-run companies with 25 mentors.
“The idea is that the startups participating in the DRIvE program aren’t just idea or pre-prototype — these startups are launched and have been able to secure some amount of funding,” Jensen said, “DRIvE provides mentorship opportunities to help these startups to the next level so that they can continue to grow.”
As Jensen settles into her new position, she looks forward to supporting students and helping them achieve their goals.
“My favorite aspect of this position is that I have the opportunity to work with students one-on-one,” Jensen said. “I admire their ambition and dedication and I am constantly impressed with their innovations. It’s an honor to be able to help them out during their journey, and I am so excited to be a part of their mission.”
New Position Supports Student Entrepreneurs was last modified: October 1st, 2018 by Hallie Jacobs
Hundreds of business leaders and entrepreneurs have emerged from the Rady School of Management since the School began in 2003. Alumni have joined the ranks of leading corporations or industry changing companies, or launched startups of their own. When asked about their success, these alumni have all attributed their accomplishments to the support, insight and guidance of Rady School faculty.
“The Rady School has grown exponentially in the past 15 years, thanks to the support and dedication of our faculty,” said Rady School Dean Robert Sullivan. “Their commitment to providing a top quality business education for our students coupled with their internationally-recognized research paves the way for continued success.”
Rady School curriculum explores innovation across a number of industry sectors while encouraging students to think entrepreneurially. Faculty lead two programs – StartR and Lab to Market – that encourage MBA students to develop and launch their own companies. Through the accelerator program and core curriculum, students gain real-world knowledge on how to create, scale, market and gain funding for their innovations. In the last three years alone, the number of entrepreneurship-related graduate courses has surged from 12 to 28 with the number of faculty teaching an entrepreneurship course growing from 13 to 23.
“My time at the Rady School of Management gave me the startup bug – without this experience and having amazing professors, I would not be successful with my company today,” said Brett Blazys (MBA ’14), creator of EconEvidence.com, a consulting and finance firm.
In addition to providing top-tier instruction and curriculum immersion in the classroom, Rady School faculty are leading the way in their fields of research. These contributions to scholarly research have been recognized by a number of publications — the school’s faculty have been ranked #1 in the U.S. for intellectual capital by Bloomberg Businessweek, 14th globally for faculty research by the Financial Times and 12th globally in student rating of teaching quality by The Economist.
Harry Markowitz, an esteemed Rady School professor who earned the 1990 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, continues to be a thought leader in the field of investments. He is recognized for being the mastermind behind modern portfolio theory, a theory on diversifying stocks to get the best returns. Markowitz’s contributions to economics have earned him the title as “the greatest investor of all time.”
For the past two years, Professor Uri Gneezy was recognized as a highly cited researcher for his contributions to the field of behavioral economics. Gneezy’s has been featured in prominent academic publications, including American Economic Review, the Quarterly Journal of Economics and Econometrica. His research has also been referenced in the New York Times, Washington Post, Marketplace, Quartz, TIME, The Financial Times, the Boston Globe and the Economist.
Two Rady School faculty were recently awarded prestigious fellowships for their respective fields. Assistant Professor of Finance Richard Townsend was awarded the Kauffman Junior Faculty Fellowship in Entrepreneurship Research, a $35,000 grant given to junior faculty members contributing to the field of entrepreneurship. The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation selected Charles Sprenger, Associate Professor of Economics and Strategy, to receive a Sloan Research Fellowship. Sprenger was gifted $55,000 to further his research, and was recognized as a “rising star” in his field.
15 Years of Excellence
In its 15 years, the Rady School has grown exponentially, adding numerous tenure-track professors to support the growing programs, and experts in burgeoning fields of research. Today, the school has approximately 40 permanent faculty, many of whom have joined the Rady School from some of the nation’s most prestigious schools, including Harvard, Stanford, Chicago Booth, MIT, and the University of Cambridge, among numerous other institutions.
This fall, two new members join the ranks of esteemed Rady School faculty. Raymond Pettit, an accomplished advertising, media and marketing research expert, will serve as the Executive Director of the Master of Science in Business Analytics (MSBA) program and the Center for Business Analytics. Robert Sanders, who recently earned his Ph.D. in Business Administration from the University of Chicago, joins the Rady School as an Assistant Professor of Marketing.
“We are thrilled to welcome Raymond Pettit and Robert Sanders to the Rady School of Management,” Sullivan said. “Sanders joins a number of outstanding world-renowned faculty going above and beyond to provide stellar student experiences, inspiring the next generation of business leaders. Pettit’s expertise and experience in a number of fields ensures that the Rady Master of Science in Business Analytics program will continue to grow and inspire the next generation of business leaders.”
Faculty Drive Innovation at the Rady School was last modified: October 1st, 2018 by Hallie Jacobs
Culminating a successful year of learning and growing, the most recent Rady School of Management Lab to Market FlexWeekend 2018 cohort wrapped up its final class with a pitch presentation event highlighting the top three teams of the cohort. The signature Rady School course sequence exposes students to every step of the entrepreneurial process, from idea development to compiling a go-to market strategy, culminating in the presentations as the capstone course.
Over the yearlong sequence, 12 teams were launched with companies ranging from medical diagnostic development to patient advocacy software. The top three teams were recently selected to pitch in front of a panel of experts to showcase the high caliber entrepreneurial efforts of the graduating cohort.
Panel experts included Tim Rueth, an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at UC San Diego and investor; Greg Horowitt, a co-founder and managing director at T2 Venture Capital; Richard E. Campbell, a partner at Procopio; Gioia Messenger, a serial entrepreneur and CEO of Avaak Inc.; and Robert Sullivan, Dean of the Rady School of Management.
The three teams selected to pitch in the Lab to Market finals — Akira, Beggy and mezhAir — displayed the diverse talents of the graduating cohort. Akira was the first team to pitch at the event.
The medical diagnostic industry is booming, and a group of Rady School students are developing the next big thing – microneedle technology for drug delivery. Akira, developed by Shamal Mehta (MBA ’18), Ph.D. and Christpher Westropp (MBA ’18), M.D., has come up with a solution similar to the EpiPen to treat severe allergic reactions and drug overdoses. The Akira technology is painless, cheaper to produce and less susceptible to user error.
Inspired by being a working mother on the go, Rady School graduate Suvi Tanninen (MBA ’18) developed Beggy, a stylish and functional “smart” purse with wireless charging capabilities. The purse is designed to be customizable to fit the needs of each customer with inserts designed to charge a number of electronics, as well as a rechargeable battery fitted at the bottom of the purse to ensure connectivity.
The final group to present was mezhAir, a system that measures the amount of a microscopic and harmful pollutant, PM 2.5. Recent research indicates that excessive levels of the pollutant can lead to a number of respiratory problems and lung cancer. Colin Lober (MBA ’18) and John Walsh’s (MBA ’18) company mezhAir created a way to measure the level of PM 2.5 in a space, bringing awareness to the pollutant and encouraging solutions to eradicate the issue.
After each presentation, the panelists provided valuable feedback to the teams on potential product improvements, suggestions for reaching larger audiences and advice on how to address potential entrepreneurial pitfalls.
Although the Lab to Market sequence has come to an end for the FlexWeekend 2018 cohort, the marketability and profitability of their companies has inspired the recent graduates to continue working on their projects.
Del Foit, a lecturer at the Rady School of Management, shared his satisfaction with the recent graduated cohort.
“These three projects show the depth and breadth of our students’ capabilities to recognize a market need and create functional products and solutions to meet these needs,” Foit said. “Their commitment to their innovative ideas have resulted in some amazing companies that will have a positive impact on the way we live, work and play.”
Lab to Market Finals Celebrate Innovation at Rady School was last modified: June 26th, 2018 by Hallie Jacobs
Alumni from the Rady School of Management share how they used their degrees to disrupt their industries to bring innovative ideas, products and programs to the market.
Silvia Mah – Inspiring Diversity in Entrepreneurship
Have you noticed an influx of women raising their voices and taking their seats at the entrepreneurial table? It is women like Silvia Mah (MBA ’10) who are helping make that possible. Through her various organizations focused on supporting women in the startup world, she has helped with the launch of more than 120 female-led business endeavors.
Mah serves as the Executive Director of Hera Labs, a business accelerator dedicated to helping women-led businesses launch and grow. Hera Labs is not your typical accelerator. Founded on principles of innovation, support, community and collaboration, Hera Labs was created to encourage diversity in entrepreneurship by providing women access to mentors, education and capital to ignite female-led innovation.
With a background in biochemistry, Mah initially came to the Rady School to enhance her business acumen and expand her network. After a few courses highlighting entrepreneurship, Mah caught the entrepreneurial bug and worked to develop mystartupxx – an accelerator housed in the Rady School dedicated to helping women create and launch business ideas.
“My time at Rady transformed my business decision-making process, challenged me to think big and dream of a different world where funding opportunities are not dictated by our gender or color,” Mah said.
The success of Hera Labs has led to a number of additional resources for female entrepreneurs added to the lineup. Hera Labs recently partnered with Seed San Diego and Product Rebels, to launch Ad Astra, a 12-week business accelerator for female founders with revenue-generating businesses. Throughout the program, participants gain access to funding and clarity on their product, customers, and market, so they leave with a compelling business case that leads to subsequent investments.
“Rady supported me tremendously in the launch and growth of a business accelerator made for female change-makers and innovators. I cannot begin to express my gratitude to Rady, the faculty and the students for creating a safe place to grow ideas for maximum impact.”
Innovative Disruptions — Silvia Mah was last modified: March 16th, 2018 by Hallie Jacobs