Meet the 7 ImpactU startups that are being incubated in our city this summer

What is ImpactU?

It’s a ten-week summer residency for undergraduate entrepreneurs with promising business ideas in social entrepreneurship.

Who are the people behind the program (Queen City Forward)? 

Charles Thomas (Executive Director), Christie Kahil (Programs and Resource Manager) and Tori Karlek (Program Coordinator).

How many student led companies applied?

30 ideas were submitted throughout the country and 7 were chosen.

What actually happens?

“ImpactU provides students with the mentorship and resources necessary to move from prototype to launch. This intensive program provides access to a rich network of experts and coaches who offer advice and pro-bono help that ranges from business development to market testing. Workshops target market validation, sales and distribution, managing a triple bottom line, and finance and investment strategies. Upon graduating from the program, participants will be ready to take their businesses to the next level.”

My rapid reaction to the introduction event (each company described their business for about 90 seconds):

• Students and companies were significantly better than I anticipated. Concepts are solid. Pitches were tight. Students are confident and intelligent.
• The diversity of both people and ideas were incredible. Read below and you’ll see what I mean.
• The student group had a family type feel. It seemed like everybody was friends and unlike other startup environments, it felt like this group was having fun. Sounds obvious, but I don’t see this at many startup events.
• Side note: I ate lunch during the event (Zoe’s) and sat next to Justin Agans (lawyer, but not the boring type) and Juan Garzon (communication specialist). They had good talk. If you’re into the startup world in Charlotte, you should know these two guys.
• Students like Charles. I was wearing a t-shirt and I tried to get one of the students named Peter Rossi to say something bad about Charles. I baited him, “So what do you think of that Charles guy?” Peter, “He’s awesome. We love working with him.” Yes, Charles Thomas is the man.

• Students know their stuff. I talked to the llama guys because I found it fascinating. I asked “Where do you source your llama fleece?” The student answered with the exact llama counts in North America and then told me how South America is llama land, especially Bolivia and Peru. 
• I saw Adam Hill working the NoDa kegerator and I was like – “Wow, are people about to start drinking at this event?” – But then I realized he was just fixing something for later. There was no drinking.

Meet the 7 startups

Bazaar Software
Founder: Alex Smolen (University of South Carolina, Columbia)
Concept: “Bazaar Software’s a peer-to-peer renting service which is the go to service for people who want to rent any item. Bazaar Software aims to create local networks that provide more high quality rental goods to users than ever before.”

Pantrea
Founder: Brooke Brazer (Davidson College)
Concept: “Pantrea is a weekly meal-planning service that caters to an individual’s health and diet needs based on a consultation with a dietitian. [Their] goal is to help individuals enjoy a healthier lifestyle by taking the stress out of meal preparation and creating a personalized meal-plan that accounts for your specific dietary needs.”

Deneb Outdoors (Brand TBD)
Founders: Jerod Burris (Davidson College) and Peter Rossi (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
Concept: “Versilate Insulation is primarily made from llama fleece. Made for the outdoors, clothing and home furnishing and bedding industries, Versilate focuses on performance, sustainability and social responsibility, giving consumers and clients 360 Degrees of Comfort.”

Terraoak
Founders: Max Chinna and Godwin Attigah (Wartburg College, Iowa)
Concept: “Terraoak provides innovative, clean-tech solutions in the renewable energy sector. [They] are currently developing a solar-powered, electric cooker – Genesis Cooker – that runs on a 100% renewable energy from the sun. At Terraoak, [they] believe that access to renewable energy should be the fundamental right of every person, regardless of class or socio-economic background.”

ELMO
Founders: Chase Morelock and Carl Thrasher (United States Air Force Academy)
Concept: “The ELMO is a miniature, self-contained dishwasher that allows individuals to easily wash their dishes while saving time, water and electricity. Unlike traditional household dishwashers that require a direct water source and a lot of space, the ELMO is a compact and portable dishwasher that uses a detachable water container.”

The Learning Tree
Founder: Megan McLean (Johnson C. Smith University)
Concept: “The Learning Tree Tutorial and Enrichment Program’s purpose is to serve the public good by providing reduced cost or free academic tutorial services to at risk students in grades 1-9 who are from families of low-income, culturally diverse backgrounds who might not otherwise afford or have access to those services.”

UCHEF
Founder: Mary Guin (Johnson & Wales University)
Concept: “UCHEF is a monthly delivery service offering a mini culinary-school-in-a-box to home cooks. Each month’s delivery comes with a professionally guided lesson and ingredients. UCHEF members are serious home cooks who want to know the why’s and how’s of cooking, experiment with new ingredients and learn to cook without recipes.”

What’s next for this summer’s ImpactU class?

The program culminates on Wednesday, Aug. 5 with a Demo Day.

Oh, here’s QC Forward Executive Director Charles Thomas when he was around these age of these students…