Rob Zetter ’15 pitches Gateswap during Colgate’s Entrepreneurship Weekend
This past summer six different companies that had been awarded incubator funding through the university’s Entrepreneurs of New York Fund (ENY) were hard at work, taking advantage of shared office space at a downtown incubator and receiving invaluable mentorship from Colgate’s Thought Into Action Institute (TIA).
Here is an update on what the companies, launched by Colgate students and alumni, are now up to.
Gateswap
Gabriel Zetter ’15 and Rob Carroll ’15 expanded Gateswap to include Connecticut College – and they have plans to include more schools. Still full-time Colgate students, Zetter and Carroll attend the TIA program where alumni mentors are helping to shape Gateswap’s future.
Good Nature Brewing
Carrie Blackmore ’08 and husband Matt Whalen opened a new storefront in the village of Hamilton. Good Nature Brewing is featured in the autumn 2013 edition of the Colgate Scene (along with mentor and founder of Maia Yogurt, Hamilton Colwell ’01.)
Proto Exchange
James Placa ’07 and his brother Jonathan think 3-D printing has arrived. Since leaving the ENY Fund incubator space, Proto Exchange continues to grow and was recently featured in a CNN story on five entrepreneurs to watch. Proto Exchange aims to connect 3-D modelers and owners of 3-D printers to people who need finished 3-D products.
ShinDig
Harry Raymond ’11 reports that ShinDig has 2,200 downloads, with 45 percent of users active each month. In October, ShinDig competed in a start-up competition sponsored by Google and Microsoft. At the end of the daylong event, Shindig won the top prize: $10,000 cash, $35,000 in services, and some great publicity and exposure.
Recipe Into Reality
Yuni Sameshima ’13 and Joey Petracca ’13 stayed in Hamilton after graduation to launch Recipe Into Reality. They are working with Peapod and Fresh Direct to offer their product, now named Chicory, to users via a mobile app. Now graduates of Colgate and the TIA program, they have returned as program mentors.
Real Abroad
Jack Henley ’12, a graduate of the TIA program and winner of ENY funding, has solidified his business plan. During Entrepreneur Weekend Henley was offered a chance to go to an incubator in Boston to work on Real Abroad. The project continues to be a labor of love, but part time. Henley says he will focus on building content this fall and winter and will see where it goes from there.
Alumni and students will be in the village of Hamilton on Saturday for the monthly TIA program.