In mid-May, the Syracuse Student Sandbox welcomed another class of young entrepreneurs who will work on growing their companies over the next six weeks. The accelerator began in 2009, but it is welcoming entrepreneurs from around the world this year.
Syracuse Student Sandbox/located in Downtown Syracuse
“We’ve been working with the Bandung Institute of Technology for the past year or so on student entrepreneurship, student startup accelerators and helping them understand what western schools do and some of the programs that we run,” says Braden Croy, the Assistant Entrepreneur in Residence at the Student Sandbox.
Logo, Bandung Institute of Technology
Welcoming 15 Students
The Sandbox is welcoming about 15 students from Indonesia this year . Many of their companies are already past the ideation phase.
“All of the students that are here have their own companies and own ideas,” says Croy. “A lot of them are quite advanced, doing some decent revenue month over month, and now they are going into our program.”
Six Weeks in the US
Additionally, if you look at other accelerators, very few offer international students the opportunity to spend six weeks in the US, working alongside other entrepreneurs, while participating in cultural immersion and networking.
“It’s really as if these students have become a part of the fabric of the Syracuse entrepreneur scene, and they still have partners and clients back in Indonesia,” says Croy.
Braden Croy, Student Sandbox staffer
Mutual Benefit
Overall, students from the US can also benefit from working and learning from international entrepreneurs.
“It’s a really great cultural exchange as well as a learning experience for students and community,” says Croy. “You know the world is flat and we really believe that entrepreneurship should happen no matter where you are or where you’re from. And that’s what we are proving and doing in the Sandbox this summer.”
Follow the Student Sandbox on Twitter @studentsandbox.