THE STARTUPS ARE USING THE SPURstartup PLATFORM

Nearly a dozen student teams from the University of Texas at Dallas in Richardson have begun 30-day crowdfunding campaigns to raise from $1,000 to $2,000 each.

The campaigns will be on the DFW-based SPURstartup platform, and they will help the students launch their businesses and test assumptions about prospective customers.

“We are excited to see student teams take the initiative and engage customers early in the development process through creative tools

Maggie Barton, co-founder of SPURstartup

like this. This validation and a little capital will help student teams finish minimum viable products and move forward into launching their startups” said Jeremy Vickers, executive director of UT Dallas’ Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

SPURstartup was co-founded by Maggie Barton and Jonathan Schick as a crowdfunding platform for the entire startup process, “and a place for aspiring entrepreneurs to live, grow and be discovered.”

Under those themes, here’s how SPURstartup works:

LIVE:

• Raise money to bring your business to life.
• Gain access to a crowdfunding platform that allows you to fund every stage of your business.

GROW:

• Get one-on-one help to build your campaign, access startup courses, and connect with mentors to expand your network.
• Enroll in FirstGear to learn the tools you need to be an entrepreneur and launch stellar crowdfunding campaigns at teachme.spurstartup.com

Jon Schick, co-founder of SPURstartup

DISCOVER:

• Realize your potential to build the life and business you’ve always wanted.
• Take advantage of the chance to turn your entrepreneurship dreams into reality and build the business you love.

Learn more at www.spurstartup.com

ABOUT THE TEAMS:

Converse VR

Veena and Ashton are storytellers who have a passion for creating content and apps for virtual reality. Together they are building Converse VR, a community-driven platform to unite Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality content creators throughout Texas in a dialogue about how to grow the industry in the lone star state. Learn more here.

Fridgely

It is an app that saves you money and keeps you from wasting food. We do this by telling you when your food is going to expire so that you can use it before it does. For more information on Fridley, go here.

IcingAid

IcingAid is a hollow, cake sized shell that mocks the form of a real cake. With this, bakers can practice frosting techniques as much as they want on a reusable surface without having to bake a single cake. They may also utilize the mini projector attachment that functions both inside the shell, to shine designs on all surface sides for guidance, and outside the shell for use on their real cakes. Learn more about Icingaid here.

LEO

LEO is a backpack company that strives to create a simple backpack with complexity. With every backpack sold, LEO also donates one to a low-income child full of school supplies to help optimize their opportunities.

PaperLight

Rollout is a computer hardware and software solution serving the architecture, engineering, construction (AEC) industry through a revolutionary, patent pending display device surrounded by a cloud-based file sharing solution that’s designed to eliminate the need for AEC firms to print full-size and half-size plans on paper. Rollout works in tandem with PaperLight, our digital blueprint hardware that functions like a portable smart board. This team raised $6,300 in just 12 hours.

Rache Photography

Helping small to medium businesses compete with big business by providing high-quality photography. Great photography should be available to everyone. More information about Rache Photography is available here.

TripAlly

TripAlly is an online trip-planning platform that enables modern women to explore the world and embark on exciting trips designed uniquely for them. The four young female founders all met while in school at UT Dallas Business Competition in 2015, each hailing from different countries and native tongues, with a desire to prove that experiences matter more than things. TripAlly raised 71 percent of its goal in three days.

(Photo: istockphoto, copyright Bimbimkha007)

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