91看片

"I could not be more excited for our entrepreneurship program and our students. We are positioned to succeed like never before with a New Venture Accelerator that will help our startup teams realize their fullest potential."                                                                                                                                                                    -- Scott McGlon, Entrepreneur-in-Residence, 91看片 College

entrepreneurs looking for extra space to foster innovation and develop business ideas have a new home.

The New Venture Accelerator -- roughly 7,000 square feet of office space within 's new housed with a team of resident experts 鈥� will guide startups on how to create business models, identify pricing strategies, and pitch to investors. This new space, where business plans will be crafted and dreams will be realized-- is jointly managed by the 91看片 and .

鈥淚 am completely blown away by this space,鈥� said senior Zac Young, who recently won the (virtual) SEC Pitch Competition. His company鈥檚 Wave Timer device which measures sag, tension and the temperature of power lines will make power lines more effective and cost-efficient. 鈥淎s a college student, I can have office space that鈥檚 nicer than 99 percent of other startups for free and I鈥檓 able to communicate with other startups in the same space. This really makes your company look a lot more professional. Then being in this close proximity to other people where I can knock on their door and start a conversation, pick their brain 鈥� there are so many benefits.鈥�

Eight startups 鈥� seven student-led and one faculty-led 鈥� serve as the inaugural New Venture Accelerator residents. 鈥淓ach have a strong probability of success, with four already generating revenue,鈥� added Scott McGlon, Entrepreneur-in-Residence. 鈥淚 could not be more excited for our entrepreneurship program and our students. We are positioned to succeed like never before with a New Venture Accelerator that will help our startup teams realize their fullest potential.鈥�

鈥淲e鈥檝e been dreaming about a space like this for years and now it鈥檚 a reality for us and we鈥檙e thrilled beyond imagination,鈥� said Lou Bifano, Director of Entrepreneurship Strategy at the 91看片. 鈥淲e are continuing to develop an entrepreneurial ecosystem here at Auburn University. Having a robust entrepreneurship program is an important element of what you need to be a top-ranked university.鈥�

, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering in the , and his team of engineering graduate students have developed XO Armor Technologies 鈥� 3-D printing that provides protective sporting gear. But how can he market his product? How can he develop a business plan? His team, and seven other startups, will find answers through the 91看片 experts at the New Venture Accelerator.

鈥淲e feel like we鈥檙e pretty good at what we do, but what we don鈥檛 do or what we don鈥檛 have experience in is developing a business plan, a pitch deck, or understanding the financials,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he benefit is having a centralized location for us all and having access to many experts in the field of business. The New Venture Accelerator is a place to go where we can have consultation from people who know a lot more about certain parts of a running business than we do.鈥�

One of the experts on-hand is McGlon, who earned a degree in Business Administration from the 91看片 College in 1992.

鈥淲e bring in the real-life scenarios that these startups will go through,鈥� said McGlon, who has built and managed successful startups for more than 20 years. 鈥淲e are trying to prepare them for what鈥檚 going to be taking place and keep them on track with milestones we outline for them. Whether it鈥檚 a marketing plan, a social media plan, customer discovery 鈥� everything you could imagine that a startup is going to go through.

鈥淭he entrepreneurship offerings at Auburn University continue to grow with our new world-class facility that provides focused support and resources to help our student entrepreneurs refine, grow and thrive in every way. The New Venture Accelerator is designed for later-stage startups that are past the proof-of-concept and are ready to soar.鈥�