ATLANTA – Georgia State University’s Entrepreneurship and Innovation Institute (ENI) has selected a diverse group of founders and innovative companies for the third cohort of its Main Street Entrepreneurs Seed Fund.
The Main Street Entrepreneurs Seed Fund (MSESF) is a part of Georgia State’s effort to create an entrepreneurial ecosystem of resources to support entrepreneurs and innovators. With an emphasis on fostering inclusive entrepreneurship, the MSESF is a six-month program created to support underrepresented students, recent alumni and Georgia State community entrepreneurs with seed funding and mentorship to start and grow new ventures. The third cohort is supported by donations from The Marcus Foundation, Bank of America and Georgia State alumnus Ahmet Bozer (M.B.I.S. ’83), a retired executive vice president at Coca-Cola.
“The Georgia State entrepreneur community sees unique and abundant opportunities to impact our society as we learn to thrive in this ‘new normal,’” said Jennifer Sherer, director of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Institute. “We received more applications than ever before from Georgia State undergraduate and graduate students, alumni and community members to participate in the Main Street program.”
The selection process included two rounds. In the first round, applications were scored by Georgia State faculty and staff. Forty companies advanced to the second round where they pitched their businesses to a panel of reviewers consisting of investors, serial entrepreneurs and community partners.
“The talent this year was incredibly impressive,” said Musaddeq Khan (MK), the entrepreneur-in-residence who will mentor and coach the Main Street entrepreneurs. “This next generation of entrepreneurs is extremely innovative, resourceful and has unique solutions to today’s issues and problems. These new ideas and ventures made it very challenging to narrow the pool to just 15 companies.”
The companies and entrepreneurs participating in Cohort 3 include:
- Athleaders 360 – Cordero Tanner, Public Health, College of Education & Human Development
- Co-CreatED – Jennifer Owen, Education, College of Education & Human Development
- Curlnalyzer – Christabel Ghansah, Business Administration, Robinson College of Business
- FIND APP – Abdoulaye Djire, College of Education & Human Development, Robinson College of Business
- Hand+sum – JT Trujillo, Business Administration, Robinson College of Business
- HealthAppyTech – Jad Helmy, Computer Science, College of Arts & Sciences
- Hiihat – Ngozi Ahanotu, Journalism, College of Arts & Sciences
- HomeTeleSLP – Meridith Rose, Philosophy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies
- Spark Your Resume – Leander Howard II, Business Administration, Robinson College of Business
- Sugar Flo – Amber Cleveland, Professional Counseling, College of Education & Human Development
- The LO – Laura Mitchell, Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies
- The Maxwell Haus Residential Agency – Ambria Hardy, Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies
- Vindici – Jeremiah Akinboro, Media Entrepreneurship, College of Arts & Sciences
- Xnalysis – Xavier Hatten Jr., Accounting & Finance, Robinson College of Business
- Yellow Blanket – Alicia Blount, Entrepreneurship, Robinson College of Business
These Georgia State entrepreneurs will pitch their businesses to the Atlanta community at the Main Street Demo Day in October 2022.
The MSESF business accelerator program has received global recognition and was a recipient of the International Business Innovation Association’s Specialty Award for Most Innovative Program in 2021. Subscribe to the ENI Newsletter or follow @ENIGSU on social media for more from the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Institute and the Main Street Entrepreneurs Seed Fund companies.
