April 9, 2019
The Entrepreneurship Center recently awarded four students "pre-seed" grants to advance their entrepreneurial ventures.
Four aspiring entrepreneurs will bring their business ideas to the next level through a funding program offered through the Entrepreneurship Center at Ball State University.
The Ball State students will receive “pre-seed” grants, which are designed to empower young entrepreneurs in the early-stages of venture creation and development, including prototype development, product validation, or competing in external venture competitions to raise awareness or additional funds for their venture. The maximum grant award is up to $2,500 per student per semester.
“One of the biggest roadblocks to innovation and entrepreneurship is funding,” said Krystal Geyer, assistant director of the Entrepreneurship Center. “The center determined to alleviate that barrier for our students.”
The first rounds of grants have been awarded to four students with distinct ventures listed below, and the grants will continue to be awarded to other students throughout the year.
- Breanna Noecker is a senior majoring in entrepreneurial management who received funds to help her conduct surveys and execute other forms of customer validation on her concept, TownPass, which is a premium service that packages services together from local businesses and creates fun, themed outings.
- Alex Kane from Carmel, Indiana is a senior majoring in entrepreneurial management. He received funds to be used to conduct market surveys, obtain legal advice, and to further develop his website for Kane Creative, a creative firm that seeks to serve, empower, and educate brands to become more than what they sell through high-quality services and solutions.
- Keith Richards from Denton, Texas is a graduate student studying cognitive social processes who received funds to further development on and to prototype his Cold War-based DEFCON board game that promotes knowledge of the Cold War in a competitive, cooperative, and enjoyable way.
- Von Storm from Indianapolis is a senior majoring in entrepreneurial management and has received funds to help him develop a minimum viable product for his concept, License Guru. License Guru is a web application that connects content creators with record labels to facilitate licensing agreements for copyrighted songs.
To apply for a grant, students must provide a detailed outline their venture, where the money will be going, when the funds will be used and anticipated outcomes. Once awarded the grant, students must present to the Entrepreneurship Center the funding’s impact on the advancement of their venture after six months.