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CAPS Student Entrepreneur Showcase

In the first week of December, 15 teams of CAPS student entrepreneurs had the opportunity to share their business ideas and prototypes in the inaugural CAPS Student Entrepreneur Showcase. The event was hosted in the Accelerator, the newest addition to the CAPS facility. Guests rotated to different student teams to hear, see and ask questions about the student’s innovations.

“I thought it was very neat how the students explained what they saw was missing in the market to describing the solution they developed for the need,” said Ron Gier, Sprint. “All the teams were very consistent about the process.”

“I was particularly impressed by the collaboration among the different CAPS strands and disciplines,” said Alana Muller, Kauffman FastTrac. “The students are developing very marketable and commercial products. It just goes to show, when you harness the creativity and imagination of young people innovation will exceed your expectations.”

The event continued in the Accelerator Presentation room with a project pitch from two Aerospace Engineering students in a Shark Tank-like exchange.

Darren Dupriest, President of Validity Solutions, concluded the event with the announcement of the development of the Accelerator Investment Fund (AIF). This fund will help finance resources, materials and equipment for the CAPS entrepreneurs. The Dixon Family Foundation has very generously offered to match all AIF donations up to $25,000. Dupriest kicked off the fund with his donation of $5,000. You can make an online tax deductible donation to the AIF at http://www.bvef.org/DonateNow/index.cfm?ACTION=ViewAllGrants