For the sixth straight year, Inc., a national business publication, has highlighted the country's most promising startups coming out of colleges. Universities are an increasingly fertile place for entrepreneurship.
“Helped in part by low-cost technologies and an increased prevalence of entrepreneurship training at the university level, college students — and indeed those even younger — are making solid strides at founding companies,” says writer Diana Ransom. “And they're not just launching local pizza shops and fashion boutiques. They’re starting up businesses that could scale into much bigger companies and may already cater to a national audience.”
Out of 16 companies chosen from over 100 nationwide, two have connections to the Pittsburgh area and one to the Philadelphia region.
The first, ProfilePasser, is an athletic recruiting app that connects high school athletes and college coaches. Last year, the startup — founded by Grove City College student Samantha Weber — was one of nine accepted into Pittsburgh's leading accelerator, AlphaLab. Here's what Inc. had to say:
Though still pre-revenue, ProfilePasser has raised more than $25,000 and is in the process of raising a seed round of funding. The company launched its app in September and now has more than 600 users. In addition, ProfilePasser has a partnership with the Club Champions League in Maryland and Virginia. In Februa, ?y 2014, the first soccer player was recruited after using the app at a showcase tournament. Finally, ProfilePasser has a star group of advisers, including Weber's sister, Alexa Andrzejewski, who is the founder and CEO of Foodspotting, which sold to OpenTable for $10 million last year.
The second company, AthleteTrax, also came out of AlphaLab. Founded by three George Washington University students, the startup hopes to make scheduling, communicating and fundraising easier for team sports. The company won $21,000 by placing second out of 144 teams in George Washington University's business plan competition, and went on to raise $185,000 from angel investors. AthleteTrax is currently raising a seed round of $500,000.
Lastly, Scholly, co-founded by a Drexel student, is a mobile app for iPhone and Android devices that gives students an easy way to find scholarships for college. From Inc.: “In addition to the app, which has netted the company $50,000 in annual revenue, the company allows schools and businesses to bulk purchase Scholly for students. Recently, Drexel University made a bulk purchase for its students.”
Visit Inc.'s website to vote for your favorite college start-up in a March Madness-style bracket.
LEE STABERT is managing editor of Keystone Edge and Flying Kite Media.