eFund 2017 (l-r) Rob Carroll ’15, Pat Crowe ’18, Grace O’Shea ’11, Matthew Glick ’19, Jack Zamore ’20, Cody Semrau ’14, Nick Freud ’15, Mary Galvez & Wills Hapworth
Hello Colgate Entrepreneurship Community!
We are excited to share that we just wrapped up another high-energy summer of the Colgate Entrepreneurs Fund (eFund); we are also sad to see the teams go! Here are the ventures that made up the 5th eFund cohort and with whom we had the fortune of working over the last six weeks.
The teams worked 24/7 on their ventures at the TIA Incubator in Hamilton and during that time we witnessed numerous accomplishments, including: celebrating their first sales; making hard and critical decisions about their product based on customer feedback; aggressively hunting down leads from the Colgate/TIA network; making their first hires; learning the do’s and don’ts of effective selling; sharing best practices on business operations with one and other; and more. Here is a bit more on what transpired while the teams were in Hamilton:
5th Year of the Entrepreneurs Fund by the Numbers
- 5 new teams participated this summer from June 5th – July 14th
- $65K in grants awarded to the ventures, many putting these funds to work on digital marketing, product development, hiring, legal and more
- 40+ mentors engaged more than 100 times
- Mentors (alums, parents, faculty, staff and community members) collectively gave over 450 hours of their time mentoring both in person and remotely
We heard first-hand how much the teams benefitted from the Colgate community and the hours of mentoring they received, and how immensely grateful they are for the experience. The teams now continue on in their journeys to build profitable and high growth businesses, buoyed by TIA and the larger Colgate entrepreneurship community, which we repeatedly say is a membership for life. We are extremely proud of all that they accomplished this summer, and thrilled to see them join the eFund legacy, which has had an impressive impact since its inception. Here is a little more on what the eFund has accomplished over the past 5 years:
Entrepreneurs Fund Inception to Date
- 27 teams awarded a seed grant to date
- ~7 highly qualified Colgate alumni/parent entrepreneurs have screened the applications every year
- $375K of seed capital deployed through generous gifts from alums and parents, with funds supporting product development, digital marketing, key hires, legal, and other growth functions
- $11.9MM+ of investment capital subsequently raised by eFund teams
- 17 ventures still currently operating; batting well over .500 which is great for startup odds
- ~100 full-time jobs created and still filled by eFund ventures, and many more part-time positions created
- 2,200+ hours of time donated by mentors, on average about 40+ mentors engaging more than 100 times every summer
Thank you to all the mentors that accelerated these ventures, to Colgate for fostering such a collaborative environment, to the entrepreneurs for their tireless work and making us all look good, and to the TIA team that keeps things running smoothly. Let’s keep the energy high and continue turning thoughts into action!