A group of enterprising UNC students took on entrepreneurial summer adventures with Innovate Carolina. While some worked as interns at UNC-based startups supported by 1789’s Dreamers-Who-Do program, others built companies of their own at the Launch Chapel Hill summer accelerator. What common threads did they find on their new professional pathways to venture creation and growth?
For student innovators at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, some of the most career-shaping relationships are the ones they build with startup founders that they wish to emulate. After all, the best lessons are often learned by doing: working side-by-side with those who have already launched companies, building teams, raising funds and growing customer bases. But between honoring academic commitments and eyeing their own startups, even the most ambitious students realize that avenues to live and learn the startup life can be far and few between.
Two programs provided by Innovate Carolina – the University-wide initiative for innovation and entrepreneurship – are giving an increasing number of students chances to forge critical relationships and get real-world experiences with startups. This summer, students worked through the 1789 innovation community and its Dreamers-Who-Do program to intern at UNC-affiliated startups, where they solved important business problems. And student entrepreneurs who joined the Launch Chapel Hill summer accelerator spent the past few months laying strong foundations for businesses of their own.
In the past, the Dreamers-Who-Do program – which is manged by Innovate Carolina’s 1789 community – has funded a wide variety of entrepreneurial projects pursued by students, helping them turn novel concepts into concrete solutions and ventures. This summer, the program expanded its reach. Beginning in May, 1789 provided Dreamers-Who-Do funding to a group of Carolina undergraduates who worked as interns at UNC-affiliated startups founded and run by fellow UNC-Chapel students. The interns learned firsthand what working at a startup is all about. And for the nascent student-founded startups, which often can’t afford to hire interns on their own, the student interns brought an influx of ideas, skills and entrepreneurial thinking. The result was a help-me-help-you fusion of Tar Heel entrepreneurs helping one another.
“Our goal with the Dreamers-Who-Do summer program was to help student startup companies recruit and maintain a successful intern team as they continue to grow, while addressing the funding gap that exists between early stage-startups and investor-ready startups,” says Kimi Yingling, student engagement and events program manager at Innovate Carolina. “Helping our students gain valuable learning experiences empowers them to have greater impact as they continue on their innovation journeys.”
The Dreamers-Who-Do summer program funded nine interns, matching three of them each with UNC-affiliated startups Easy Access, EATS2SEATS and LiRA. Easy Access is a personalized college search and advising platform helping all students access higher education, while EATS2SEATS provides fundraising opportunities for nonprofits by partnering with stadium concessions to meet staffing needs during sports and entertainment events. LiRA develops lip-reading software to empower voiceless individuals and advance the quality of their medical care.
“LiRA is very fortunate to be a part of the Dreamers-Who-Do program and receive a sponsorship for interns across business development, marketing and software development,” says Nga Nguyen, chief operating officer at LiRA. “I have personally witnessed magic happen across Zoom meetings with an interdisciplinary team of interns.”
The DWD summer program experience gave both students and the three local startup companies the chance to network, share mutual professional goals and experiences, and explore internship and skill-building opportunities together. Throughout the program, the interns managed vital activities and tasks needed by startups, including business development, data collection, marketing, sales, social media, and product and software development. Innovate Carolina helped streamline the process of managing interns for the startups by identifying job descriptions, milestone objectives, learning outcomes and deliverables for the student interns.
“Innovation requires constant change and incorporating diverse perspectives. Our entire team was able to work together to win co-first place in the RiOT Your Reality Challenge this past July and receive $20,000 in funding,” says Nguyen. “All the interns were committed, dedicating late night hours and their skills to fine-tune our presentation. It was a new, challenging experience for me to navigate the manager role and onboard eight interns this summer. I found it extremely helpful to learn from the other startups through our regular intern support meetings that the program provided. Innovate Carolina supplied us with the necessary tools to nurture talent and guided us to a runway of success for scaling our venture.”
This summer’s student interns reported that they appreciated working in small, collaborative teams that gave them opportunities to lead, apply technical skills and gain experiences across a variety of business functions.
“Working at LiRA is definitely the first startup experience I have on my record, and it has been immensely rewarding. I don’t know where else it’s possible to get in on the ground floor and directly contribute to genuinely mission-critical problems – I’m hooked,” says Grant Fourie, a senior computer science major. “I think there’s still an ocean of learning ahead of me, but my time with LiRA has given me my first concrete insights into how I can potentially become a founder myself and keep working in the startup space. I’m very grateful to the Dreamers-Who-Do fund and Innovate Carolina for making that possible.”
Any UNC-Chapel Hill student innovators interested in pursuing similar experiences can attend 1789’s fall events, including its Carolina Startup Connect sessions this November. Students seeking startup internships and entrepreneurial inspiration who attend the Startup Connect events have opportunities to meet UNC-affiliated startup leaders and make connections that could lead to internships or potential jobs. For more information and to join the community, visit 1789’s website.
Launch Chapel Hill, another venture creation program managed by Innovate Carolina, also wrapped its summer accelerator for student ventures in early August. The summer accelerator program gives student startup founders chances to advance and accelerate their own startups by providing funding for workspace, mentorship and programming with the Launch community. It’s open to UNC-Chapel Hill undergraduate or graduate teams looking to work full time to scale their businesses.
“Launch Chapel Hill’s Summer accelerator brings a unique opportunity to UNC students to completely focus on their ventures without interruption for ten weeks,” says Velvet Nelson, Director, Launch Chapel Hill. “Our educational programming developed from the Kenan-Flagler Business School and our mentorship program introduce our founders to some of the most well-respected mentors in the Triangle startup ecosystem. We’ve seen companies rapidly expand to revenue positive ventures in just a few short weeks because of the world-class education and mentorship we bring to the program.”
Each participating venture accepted into the program received a $5,000 stipend as well as mentoring, intensive programming and office space in downtown Chapel Hill. The summer program allowed student entrepreneurs to progress their venture through deep learning and mentorship from the Launch Chapel Hill team.
“Launch gave me incredible confidence as a founder, something I lacked going into the summer,” says Anna Shuford, MBA candidate at UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School and founder and CEO of BOOMROOM, whose mission is to equip fitness instructors to host superior live virtual experiences. “The program allowed me to combine my raw passion for fitness with structure, sharpening my skill set, knowledge and professional ability as a young female founder.”
BOOMROOM simplifies the process for fitness instructors teaching live virtual workouts through an integrated platform that gives them the tools and technology to host high-quality classes, connect with clients and manage their business.
“Doing this startup gig isn’t easy, but thanks to leaders like Velvet, Sarah, and Tim as well as the rest of my cohort, I feel a part of a community of go-getters who are turning their passions into careers and problem-solving businesses,” adds Shuford.
For more information about Launch Chapel Hill, visit launchchapelhill.com.
| UNC-CH