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The Entrepreneurial Institute is excited to announce the teams that have been selected to participate in our Ignite Fellowship this academic year. The Ignite Fellowship is a peer-to-peer mentorship program that follows the intensive work of the Startup Sprints with mentorship and accountability to help the teams keep growing. Participants get peer support and coaching as they apply the skills they honed in the Startup Bootcamps and Startup Sprints to reach their venture objectives by the end of the program.
Teams regularly discuss progress against their own objectives, learn from and help other teams tackle current challenges, and meet other entrepreneurs who join from time to time to share their lessons learned.
The Ignite Fellowship currently has two cohorts for 2020-2021 academic year: Ignite Alpha and Ignite Beta.
Ignite Alpha
provides early-stage ventures access to weekly lunch & learn panels, peer-to-peer learning, monthly coaching through the Startup Coaching Program, along with access to a network of seasoned coaches in diverse industries.
Meet the teams:
VisionVoice, Inc. helps Series B & C funded companies, who are seeking to diversify their engineering teams, hire and retain female Black, Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC) software engineers, who are seeking access to sustainable careers in tech. Diversity matters because more diverse teams produce better outcomes!
Founders: Dessa Shepherd (Steinhardt ‘19), Denueve Shepherd ( Rory Meyers ‘20), Natalie Friedman (NYU Stern, ‘22) Briahana Mauge, Suzette Islam, Douglas Mackrell
All Good Things is a sustainable multi-brand e-retailer that is anti greenwashing and impact focused. We empower consumers to make purchasing decisions that align with their values, without sacrificing style. We do this by providing discovery of and ease of access to alternative options to traditional fashion. With Anti-greenwashing at the core of the model, the platform offers transparency of supply chain in a user friendly tags system.
Founder: Nidaa Ombali (SPS ‘20)
CoStudy automates the administration of team projects/activities in the classroom, giving professors more time, knowledge, and resources to empower their learners with the skills needed to succeed post-graduation.
Founders: Neev Mittal (Courant ‘22), Henry Kaufman, Brock Nelson, Wyatt Greiner
Ends Meet Market increases accessibility to a variety of healthful food by linking SNAP recipients’ spending power to small regional farms. We aim to holistically integrate culturally-relevant food with the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to service ALL consumers with dignified food. EMM will accomplish this by centering relationships with farmers, consumer households, and local communities.
Founders: Kedene McDowell (Steinhardt ‘22) & Javonne Alonzo (Steinhardt ‘22)
Nourish & Refine believes in helping women discover the power of self-care through all-natural and conscious products. Our luxurious line of organic and all-natural luxury skincare and candles offer you the freedom to take a moment for yourself each and every day.
Founder: Nikki Powers (Stern ‘21) and Matt Powers
Fishel Aquaponics creates easy-to-assemble, humane, and beautiful indoor aquaponics kits for people who want to grow organic produce in the company of fishy friends.
Founders: EW (GSAS ‘21) and EJ (GSAS ‘17)
Ignite Beta
consists of ventures who have participated in the NYU Summer Launchpad Accelerator where they validated product-market fit and continue demonstrating ongoing progress through their own reported metrics. Each venture will be provided with advanced peer-to-peer learning opportunities, extensive coaching through the Startup Coaching Program, and access to exclusive benefits.
Meet the teams:
Dathic creates an AI-based platform for CPG brands that understands the US Hispanic consumers, recommends the best locations to grow and connect communities with the products they love.
Founders: Laura Rocha (Wagner ‘20), Jose Daniel Ramirez
Sabai creates sustainable furniture without the compromise. Sabai is affordable, flat-packed, quick shipped, and beautiful to boot.
Founders: Phantila Phataraprasit (Law ‘20), Caitlin Ellen (Stern Langone ‘21)
She Matters provides a community designed to support postpartum Black women who experience anxiety and/or depression, by building individual healthy habits that can be tracked and celebrated. These women serve as role models for one another as they meet their goals, attend our events, participate in our online community and access culturally competent therapists.
Founders: Jade Kearney (Steinhardt ‘20), Marguerite Pierce, Dwayne Peltier
The Thinkers is an e-learning platform for high school students (13-17 years old) who are seeking to strengthen their executive functioning, future planning, and interpersonal skills through live classes, dynamic facilitation, and peer to peer interaction.
Founder: Rina Patel (Gallatin ‘20)
ShockTalk seeks to decrease adverse mental health effects in Native American and Alaska Natives by connecting users to Native therapists trained and experienced in cultural humility through a tele-behavioral and wellbeing app focused on healing unresolved historical and intergenerational trauma.
Founders: Austin Serio (Gallatin '19), Sutton King (College of Global Public Health '20)
Both cohorts of the Ignite Fellowship are invite-only. If you're interested in learning more about it, visit the Ignite Fellowship page. If you're considering starting a startup, book a coaching appointment and learn more about our startup accelerator series.