December 2021 – LaunchPad in the News
Startup Profile: Kelped
December 1, 2021
Joyance Liao Mendoza, a Blackstone LaunchPad fellow from the University of Texas at Austin, founded Kelped, a startup creating a seaweed-based feed supplement to help cattle farmers reduce methane production and lessen their environmental impact.
Read more: Blackstone LaunchPad.
MSU spinout Resilient Computing wins NASA entrepreneurship prize
December 2, 2021
MSU researcher and LaunchPad participant Brock LaMeres was one of only seven winners selected nationwide at NASA’s Entrepreneurs Challenge, where he won $90,000 for his company Resilient Computing.
Read more: MSU News.
Startup Profile: Shimmer
December 3, 2021
After Jonathan Wang completed the Blackstone LaunchPad Fellowship for his mental healthcare startup, Shimmer, he went on to participate in the Summer ‘21 cohort of the prestigious Y-Combinator.
Read more: Blackstone LaunchPad
The Creators: Touted by Allure, Temple grad’s Pound Cake brand out to disrupt cosmetics industry
December 5, 2021
An inclusive cosmetics brand, Pound Cake, founded by Temple LaunchPad student Camille Bell snagged a best of Beauty Win in fashion magazine Allure’s annual awards, which called the brands Maraschino Cherry the best classic red lipstick of the year. After winning the award, Pound Cake sold out of all 10,000 tubes of its five lip colors in less than 48 hours.
Read more: PHLINNO.
Dispatch Goods takes in $3.7M for restaurant, food delivery container reuse
December 6, 2021
University of California Berkeley LaunchPad student Lindsay Hoell recently raised $3.7M for her startup Dispatch Goods, a company that helps make food delivery more sustainable.
Read more: TechCrunch.
Montana State University researcher launches company to sell computer tech built for space
December 7, 2021
Montana State University Blackstone LaunchPad participant Brock LaMeres won $90,000 from NASA’s Entrepreneurs Challenge for his company, Resilient Computing, which tells computer technology designed to withstand the elements of space.
Read more: Bozeman Daily Chronicle.
Startup Profile: Olera
December 7, 2021
Blackstone LaunchPad Fellow Tokunbo “TJ” Falohun and his co-founders won a $2.3M grant from the NIH’s National Institute on Aging for their company Olera, which assists people caring for aging family.
Read more: Blackstone LaunchPad.
MSU Entrepreneur develops award-winning student employment company
December 8, 2021
Montana State University Blackstone LaunchPad student Michael Mawn has helped his peers earn $19,000 through a startup he came up with in a class: Posted! Is an app for students to find “one-time” jobs with hourly rates so they can make extra money on their own schedule.
Read more: kxlf.
Congratulations to CSI’s Aspiring Entrepreneurs – The Winners of the Blackstone LaunchPad Ideas Competition
December 10, 2021
The College of Staten Island Blackstone LaunchPad recently awarded prizes to the winners of the Ideas Competition, the first major entrepreneurship event the school since joining the Blackstone LaunchPad network.
Read more: CSI Today.
VIDEO: UT Austin 2021 Year in Review
December 13, 2021
As 2021 comes to a close, the University of Texas at Austin reflects on the many successes and changes of the past year, including Blackstone LaunchPad student successes and the school’s accomplishments in research and innovation.
Watch the video: UT News.
Meet the Students & Staff Bringing Community Innovation to Spelman College
December 14, 2021
The Spelman Innovation Lab, soon-to-be home of the school’s news Blackstone LaunchPad, is the campus’s newest “maker space” and true community gathering spot for innovators, entrepreneurs, and creative thinkers. Spelman LaunchPad Co-Director Eric Thompson says that the goal is to create an environment that is welcoming to liberal arts students and computer science majors alike.
Read more on Hypepotamus.
Startup Profile: Lexmetics
December 16, 2021
A few years ago, while working at a multinational retailer of beauty products, Summer 2021 Blackstone LaunchPad Fellow Lexus Smith Hale noticed a trend among the products carried in the store: only a select few were marketed towards people of color. Looking to create a beauty product that both matched her skin tone and had clean ingredients that wouldn’t aggravate her a chronic illness, Lexus launched Lexmetics, a clean, sustainable beauty brand for people of color.
Read more: Blackstone LaunchPad.
Winners Announced in Inaugural Blackstone LaunchPad Ideas Competition
December 20, 2021
The Blackstone Charitable Foundation announced that four students out of nearly 1,150 applicants were selected as winners of the inaugural Blackstone LaunchPad Ideas Competition, each receiving a $10,000 cash prize.
Read more: Blackstone LaunchPad.
