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Home to one of the best business schools in the country, Boston College has become a breeding ground for entrepreneurs. Last week, three more hopeful start-ups were crowned during the finals of the 2014 Boston College Venture Competition (BCVC).
Walking away with the $20,000 first place prize was Nxt4, an entity hoping to streamline the college admission process by offering a four-year running resume for students, who will be able to update their activities, grades and board scores for which colleges and universities would pay to access.
“Historically, colleges have marketed to students via personalized paper mail,” says Nxt4 team member Mike Bryant. “But colleges aren’t necessarily sure students received this mail, let alone if these students are even interested in going to their college. By allowing colleges to market directly to students on their profiles, students can give these colleges immediate feedback saying, ‘Hey, I’m interested,’ or ‘No thank you.’”
The team says by allowing access to student data, colleges can increase their yield rate because they’ll know who is serious about attending.
You Sit, an online market place aimed at connecting buyers and sellers, and Molly Miller, an eco-friendly clothing design for woman that promotes a positive body image, tied for second and each earned $6,250.
“It started as a fun project but now it’s turning into a real thing,” says You Sit team member Andrew Bernstein ’17. “It’s really cool – it’s all happening so fast.”
“BC definitely does a good job of making resources available,” says Molly Miller co-founder Danielle Dalton ’16, about the efforts to help would-be entrepreneurs. “And there are all these people who are willing to help you.”
That assistance has gone long way in helping Boston College become a popular place for entrepreneurs. In just the past three years, four start-ups from the University have gone on to form companies that have raised more than a million dollars in funding. All four companies started as teams that either won BCVC or competed in it.
See a Google+ Hang-out with Nxt4 at http://plus.google.com/+bostoncollege/