Fairfield University Business Teams Vie For Funding at the Annual Showcase on April 5 | Press Releases

FAIRFIELD, Conn. (March 21, 2016) — On April 5, Fairfield University students will pitch their businesses to venture capital investors during the culmination of the annual Fairfield StartUp entrepreneurship competition. What’s at stake? More than $800,000 in combined investment asks.

Five StartUp teams will advance to the StartUp Showcase on April 5 at 6:30 p.m. in Gonzaga Auditorium on the University campus. The event is free and open to the public. Seating is limited. For more information and to RSVP to the Showcase, visit the Fairfield StartUp website .

Fairfield StartUp is a yearly program of events designed to foster young entrepreneurial talent at Fairfield University through engagement with mentors and investors drawn from alumni and local business communities. Starting with the kickoff last September, prospective students are guided through a sequence of educational, networking, and mentoring events designed to help them conceptualize and articulate their business models, recruit teams and mentors and attract partners and other resources needed to start their businesses.

“These students are put through the wringer by our terrific faculty and mentors to test the viability of their businesses,” said Don Gibson, Dean of the Dolan School of Business, “This is where the concepts we teach in class become very real for students.”

The program culminates each year at the StartUp Showcase where students negotiate live with investors for seed money to start their businesses. There is no preset limit on how much funding the investors can pledge and funding decisions are based on each startup’s ability to demonstrate the value proposition, viability and investment potential of their prospective business.

Students that attract funding will be entered into the StartUp Summer Fellows program at the Fairfield University Entrepreneurship Laboratory (FUEL) where expert mentors will guide them through the process of launching their companies. The summer program will conclude with a second investor Showcase event where the startups can attract direct investment from local investors and alumni.

StartUp Teams:

DraftSales (Expected Ask: $15,000 for 10% equity)

DraftSales is a Salesforce app that combines the concept of fantasy sports with sales metrics to make sales people the players. Turning everything on a sales floor into a competitive fantasy game that turns procrastination into productivity and builds camaraderie at the office.

FavrWire (Expected Ask: $70,000 for 25% equity)

FavrWire is an app for busy people who need help doing odd jobs around the house. This app connects consumers with ambitious young individuals looking to make extra money. Unlike the competition, FavrWire allows workers to bid on listers’ jobs for the best price.

RediMed (Expected Ask: $250,000 for 8% equity)

RediMed sorts, dispenses and tracks medications and supplements. The user can be confident that the correct medication is taken at the correct time in the correct dosage, accomplished through a system of progressing notifications through a variety of communication channels.

Thrivio (Expected Ask: $250,000 for 25% equity)

Thrivio is a social media platform that brings segments of the disability community together to share experiences, rate products and services and build meaningful relationships.

Zapp (Expected Ask: $300,000 for 20% equity)

Zapp provides social media users a more simple and more comfortable process to exchange all social media information simultaneously through a quick scan of a QR code.

Pictured (L-R): Joseph Pisano ’18, Kumeil Husein ’18 and Anthony Crasto ’18, who will be presenting their product, Zapp, at the Fairfield StartUp Showcase on April 5th. Credit: Julian Focareta

#Vol. 48, No. 107

Fairfield University is a Jesuit University, rooted in one of the world’s oldest intellectual and spiritual traditions. More than 5,000 undergraduate and graduate students from 36 states, 47 foreign countries, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico are enrolled in the University’s five schools. In the spirit of rigorous and sympathetic inquiry into all dimensions of human experience, Fairfield welcomes students from diverse backgrounds to share ideas and engage in open conversations. The University is located in the heart of a region where the future takes shape, on a stunning campus on the Connecticut coast just an hour from New York City.