iSchool student Danny Goldberg (second from left) poses with Professor Emeritus Gisela Von Dran after being awarded his $5000 prize in the Raymond von Dran IDEA Awards at Emerging Talk.

By: J.D. Ross
(315) 443-3094

Student start-ups from the School of Information Studies (iSchool) won over $60,000 in seed funding at Syracuse University’s third annual Emerging Talk conference and business competition held last weekend.

Over 200 students, entrepreneurs, investors, and community members came to the event to watch students pitch in several competitions, display their businesses and ideas at Demo Alley, and win seed funding to take their ventures to the next level.

iSchool students won awards in the RvD IDEA competition, the Panasci Business Plan Competition, and the New York State Business Plan Competition.

The Raymond von Dran (RvD) IDEA Awards competition has provided seed funding to help student entrepreneurs launch their ventures since 2009. The RvD IDEA Awards are funded, in part, by the RvD Fund at Syracuse University. The fund was named after late iSchool dean, Raymond von Dran.

“Ray was an academic entrepreneur and, like the student entrepreneurs, embodied the ‘can-do spirit’,” says Gisela von Dran, Professor Emeritus at the iSchool and benefactor of the RvD IDEA Awards.  “The students’ drive to bring about change through new ideas, innovations, products and services – and their determination and hard work – makes them stand out as role models. I am proud to support their endeavors and to keep their talent here in Central New York.” 

“The RvD IDEA Award will allow our company to start building a prototype of our biosensor,” said David Pierre and Corey Jackson, co-founders of ElectroChem Tracking.  “We will be able to purchase materials and software to test the biosensor as we move closer to having a tangible product to show potential investors. The feedback from IDEA staff and mentors from across the University were extremely helpful in pushing us to develop our idea further.” Jackson is a Ph.D. candidate at the iSchool.

The Panasci Business Plan Competition is a Syracuse University campus-wide student business plan competition, hosted by the Falcone Center for Entrepreneurship, and made possible by long-time Whitman supporter the late Henry A. Panasci, founder of Fay's Drugs.

Emerging Talk was also the site for the New York State Business Plan Competitionregionals.  Companies listed below denoted with an asterisk have been invited to attend the NYS Business Plan Competition finals in Albany on April 25th.

The winning companies with iSchool students are:

Raymond von Dran IDEA Awards
 

  • ElectroChem Tracking*, a biosensor that monitors hip implant corrosion levels with the ability to communicate through Bluetooth to an app on a computer or tablet, created by David and Corey ($7,500)
  • Compas*, an event management service for student organizations at college campuses, created by Billy Ceskavich, Tom Charles, and Linda Gorman ($7,500)
     
  • 196abroad, a microblogging service that allows students to connect with other student peers by posting about their own experiences studying abroad, created by Nata Barbosa ($3,500)
     
  • Kiem Tech, a app company that makes apps for touchless interfaces, created by Jay Getman and Alexander Krapf ($3,500)
     
  • A+ttendance, a software and hardware solution that allows professors to swipe students in to track attendance, created by Max Matthews ($1,000)
     
  • Adventure Filled, a mobile application, a social community, and a movement, which connects adventurers with fellow adventurers and outdoor brands, created by Laurie Tewksbury ($1,000)
     
  • buildPathways*, a mind-mapping tool for educators and their students, created by Koby Brandstein ($8,000)
     
  • Golden Gear*, which provides fighter's superior quality training equipment for unmatched protection and performance with the mission of significantly reducing the chance of training injuries, created by Danny Goldberg ($5,000)
     
  • ThunderCakes, a remote location bakery on the Syracuse University campus specializing in custom order cakes, fundraising for organizations, and corporate catering, created by Courtnee Futch ($3,000)
     
  • Centscere,which makes people more charitable through social media, created by Ian Dickerson,Frank Taylor, and Mike Smith ($8,000)

Panasci Business Plan Competition

$7,500 second place

  • ThunderCakes, a remote location bakery on the Syracuse University campus specializing in custom order cakes, fundraising for organizations, and corporate catering, created by Courtnee Futch

$2,500 third place

  • Golden Gear, which provides fighter's superior quality training equipment for unmatched protection and performance with the mission of significantly reducing the chance of training injuries, created by Danny Goldberg

$2,500 Goldberg Prize for Technology and Innovation

  • ElectroChem Tracking, abiosensor that monitors hip implant corrosion levels with the ability to communicate through Bluetooth to an app on a computer or tablet, created by David Pierre and Corey Jackson

Emerging Talk is run by The Raymond von Dran IDEA, a campus organization that provides contacts, resources, and funding support for student entrepreneurs at Syracuse University