VCU news

By Leila Ugincius

Last year, the Virginia Commonwealth University da Vinci Center held its inaugural Startup Spring Break, bringing together 20 student teams with ideas, prototypes or companies at all stages of development and from all disciplines. 

The students spent their spring break interacting with industry leaders, mentors and investors at the extreme startup boot camp. Resources and facilities were provided for participants to engage in extensive prototyping, research, budgeting and strategizing.

The event was such a success that this year, the da Vinci Center expanded Startup Spring Break to include students from other Virginia colleges and universities, turning VCU this week into the epicenter for statewide higher education entrepreneurship.

Universities across Virginia, including James Madison University, Old Dominion University, the University of Richmond, Virginia Tech and the College of William & Mary, have sent student teams to Richmond to compete for access to $25,000 in equity free funding. Twelve teams are competing this year — including three from VCU, whose students are enrolled in the Pre-X program. The mix of graduate and undergraduate students, with varying academic backgrounds, were selected for the boot camp during a pitch event last month. The teams spent spring break, March 5-9, at the boot camp preparing for a March 10 “Demo Day” pitch competition.

“This event [utilizes] the opportunity of a common break to encourage highly motivated students to work on their business ideas and gain help from mentors as well as faculty,” said Brianne Kelsey Steenburgh, experiential learning program assistant at the da Vinci Center. “These students chose to sit in a classroom and work on their companies when given a break from school.

It is a way to highlight and see the talent that is at the forefront of the student entrepreneurial ecosystem in Virginia.

“Opening this week to other universities allows students the opportunity to connect and network with one another in addition to learning best practices gained at each institution. For those attending, it is a way to highlight and see the talent that is at the forefront of the student entrepreneurial ecosystem in Virginia.”

Startup Spring Break provides a unique statewide experiential learning opportunity, Steenburgh said. The pitch competition will take place from 5 to 8 p.m. at Snead Hall, Room B1127, followed by a reception in the Snead Hall Atrium. Judges include Bryan Bostic, executive director of Startup Virginia; Karen Booth Adams, CEO of Hot Technology Holdings; and Rasheeda Creighton, director of 1717 Innovation Center at Capital One.

A collaboration of VCU’s schools of the Arts, Business and Engineering and College of Humanities and Sciences, the VCU da Vinci Center is a unique collegiate model that advances innovation and entrepreneurship through cross-disciplinary collaboration.