Things are gearing up for the annual entrepreneurship competition, the Fairfield StartUp Showcase, on April 25. Last month, four student entrepreneurs were selected to pitch in front of a panel of investors for seed money to start their businesses.

One of them, grad student Emily Yale ’18, is a serial entrepreneurial concept creator. For the past three years, Yale has participated in the Showcase and has walked away with stronger business models, a larger network, and prize monies. This year, Yale will return to the Quick Center stage to present her newest business idea: Sketch2Market.  Sketch2Market takes business ideas from early concept to a fully manufactured and distributable product, by connecting entrepreneurs to business professionals who can further propel their business plans.

The concept for Sketch2Market came to Yale while waiting backstage to pitch at last year’s Showcase; she immediately began scribbling down her next big idea. Realizing that most of the teams at the Showcase were single products or programs — not diversified companies — Yale wanted to change this by designing a business portfolio company. Pulling from her working knowledge of how to create a startup and how to develop a business model, Yale designed Sketch2Market to provide entrepreneurs with a custom development plan to move ideas from design to distribution by connecting entrepreneurs with industry professionals.

Yale further realized a need for Sketch2Market from her experiences attending and participating in many startup incubator programs. It was clear to her that people have great ideas but are often lost or do not know how to take the necessary steps to bring their concepts to market. Sketch2Market was designed to close this gap and assist entrepreneurs in making their ideas a reality.

Yale is currently recruiting team members for Sketch2Market. She plans to contract out any heavy engineering production, but as an engineer herself, Yale will assist clients by making 3-D printed injection molds, a skill she first acquired during high school.

“Sketch2Market will take a client’s initial concept from an idea written on the back of a napkin to a well-developed, manufactured product, ready for distribution,” says Yale.  Don’t miss her pitch at the Fairfield StartUp Showcase on Thursday, April 25 at the Quick Center. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the Showcase starts at 6:30 p.m.

Can’t make it to the Showcase? You can watch the action live on Facebook.