Dozens of students from Mount Saint Mary College, Newburgh Free Academy, and beyond attended Techstars Weekend at the college.
Mount Saint Mary College recently hosted the third annual Techstars Startup Weekend Newburgh on campus, where dozens of young entrepreneurs cultivated their ideas for new, unique businesses.
The participants – including students and alumni from the Mount, Newburgh Free Academy (NFA), and beyond – learned how to think and work like a startup company. They formed teams, developed their business ideas, and gave their pitches to the judges, all in a span of about two and a half days. Teams also had the opportunity to attend helpful workshops over the course of the weekend, hosted by more than a dozen local business leaders.
For example, Domenic Baiocco, a Sales Team Leader and Commercial Lender from Wallkill Valley Federal Savings and Loan, was a speaker at the event. Baiocco discussed a variety of useful financial tips that could help get a new business off the ground.
The winning teams presented the following ideas for new businesses: The Nayame Nhyira Charity (first place), CyberGrade (second); and Roman.AI (third).
“Everyone had some really great ideas,” said Micah Modell, assistant professor of Information Technology, who spearheaded the project at the Mount. “This was an opportunity to put what the students have learned in their classrooms to use in a hands-on situation, and they all did a fantastic job.”
He added, “This experience can show that it’s very possible to be an entrepreneur and the building blocks of how to do that.”