Center for Entrepreneurship

• Pipeline – magnet, teacher and pipeline of entrepreneurial talent
• Community catalyst – nerve center for startups and information spillovers
• Insight – source of insight about startups and communities

Announcements

Demo Day Winners:

Impact X is one of the most coveted and prestigious experiences at the College of Charleston. Impact X is a sustainability-focused course and part of the College’s quality enhancement plan (QEP), “Sustainability Literacy as a Bridge to Addressing 21st century problems.” Students are cross-trained (i.e. “Navy Seals training”) in creative design, business and technology to provide them with the tools to form sustainability-focused startups. At the end of the semester, ImpactX Students pitch their product to a panel of judges to win cash prizes to start their business. Below are the Fall 2020 ImpactX Winner and People's Choice Winner. 

ImpactX Demo Day Winner: UpPup!

UpPup! is a digital pet that takes care of you; by reminding you to give it water, go for walks, and eat, it reminds the user to take care of themself and uses positive reinforcement to motivate healthy habits. The customizable dog also uses negative reinforcement in the way that it grows sad when it is not properly taken care of.

To learn more about ImpactX, click here!

DEMOS Pitch Competition Winners: 

The Disability and Entrepreneurship: Models of Success (DEMOS) initiative supports the development of new entrepreneurial endeavors that fully incorporate principles of Universal Design in students’ business models. Successful applications are those that (a) offer a viable, competitive business model, and (b) utilize Universal Design principals to develop a workforce, work environment, product, service, or system that is fully inclusive and universally accessible; particularly for workers and individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. A core element is the emphasis on educating entrepreneurs about the genuine value that individuals with disabilities bring to the workplace and their value as customers. Every semester students pitch their DEMOS products to a panel of judges. Below are the Fall 2020 Demos Pitch Competition Winners: 

 Matthew Barnes 

The Scrubby Dubby Timer is a voice guided timer for children who are learning to shower independently. The Scrubby Dubby Timer can teach children how to apply soap, shampoo and conditioner efficiently.  It uses song and bubbly narration to accompany kids in the process of learning to shower. Scrubby Dubby Timer aspires to use simple and intuitive universal design to automate the teaching process for busy parents as well as empowering all kids to shower independently.

Addison MacPhee

WalkWithMe is a navigation app that provides users with personalized routes based on their preferred safety level and mode of transportation. The app uses reviews from the community on the area and businesses nearby to calculate the safety score for an area. Users will not be routed through areas with lower ratings than they feel comfortable with. Additionally, the app takes into account the mode of transportation (walking, wheelchair, biking, driving, and public transportation) to determine the best route and what the user needs, such as curb cuts for someone in a wheelchair. Because of the simple design as well as adaptability to the user’s needs, WalkWithMe aligns with the Universal Design principles of flexible and equitable use.

To learn more about DEMOS, click here!

Great Entrepreneur Speaker Series