Overview
Donor to Student Entrepreneurs: Dream Big But Benefit Society
Solypsis Co-Founder Warren Citrin Supports Seed Fund for Socially Responsible, Student-Founded Companies
Dream big, but have a positive impact on the world. That's the idea behind the new, Impact Seed Fund program available to select University of Maryland student entrepreneurs.
The Impact Seed Fund offers grants, in $500 to $5,000 increments, to students in Mtech's programs who present business plans for new companies that benefit society.
Dream big, but have a positive impact on the world. That's the idea behind the new, Impact Seed Fund program available to select University of Maryland student entrepreneurs.
The Impact Seed Fund offers grants, in $500 to $5,000 increments, to students in Mtech's programs who present business plans for new companies that benefit society.
“The purpose of the Impact Seed Fund is to encourage student entrepreneurs to innovate and think creatively about starting companies that have some positive influence on the world, while providing them with resources to execute on those ideas.”
Warren Citrin, Co-Founder,
Solypsis Corporation (now Raytheon Solypsis)
While plans that address the environment, education, healthcare, and other underserved markets and communities are favored, any plan considering or offering some form of positive impact is eligible.
The Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute (Mtech) administers the fund.
"We expect students to look at everything from global warming to where our society is going to be in 50 to 100 years," says Karen Thornton, Director of Development, Office of External Relations, A. James Clark School of Engineering. "We need other ways of doing things, and we're looking for ideas--big and small--as answers for the future."
Proposals are accepted on a rolling basis. A committee reviews each proposal. Seed Fund Grants of $2,000 to $5,000 are awarded to thoroughly researched, well-developed plans, while Opportunity Assessment Grants of $500 to $1,000 are given to promising ideas that require further research to assess the opportunity.
A committee assigns a mentor to each grant-winning company to oversee the use of the funds.
Among the programs that the Impact Seed Fund is targeted towards is Hinman CEOs, the nation's first living-learning entrepreneurship program, which places entrepreneurially-minded students from all academic disciplines in a unique living community to explore new ventures. An average of 90 students are typically enrolled in the program, with approximately 25 percent engaged in some form of venture creation at any point in time. Graduates include the founder of Squarespace, a top blogging and Web publishing platform on the Internet.
"It's inspiring for students to know their ideas can come to fruition," says Citrin. "The weakest link for student entrepreneurs has always been the funding. This makes things more possible."
