Bus Trip to Innovation Leads to MassChallenge Success
The innovative greeting system at the Cambridge Innovation Center. When individuals scan their card for entrance, their profile is displayed. #ACollaborativeCommunity.
The founder of ArmHer, a Valley Venture Mentors (VVM) startup, had never heard of the global accelerator MassChallenge until GCAi organized a bus trip to the Boston and Cambridge entrepreneurial ecosystem on March 14th.
Tapping into our technology network, we arranged tours of the Cambridge Innovation Center, Harvard iLab and MassChallenge. For the MassChallenge event, GCAi invited BostInno Business Editor, Walter Frick to address the group of 40 entrepreneurs from Western MA and the Boston area. Frick explained the value of media coverage to startups as well as how to get it. MassChallenge also brought in some of their top startups for a panel discussion on the trials and tribulations of a new venture and how being accepted into an accelerator can help.
The second stop on the VVM Boston Innovation tour was the Harvard iLab where Harvard undergrads and co-founders of Tivli, Nick Krasney and Ho Tuan, shared the success they have had while working at the iLab.
The trip energized VVM’s entrepreneurs and many of them were inspired to apply for acceptance into MassChallenge. While last year’s applicants were met with some success – two reaching the semi-finals – this year, VVM broke through to a new level with an applicant actually making the final list of 128 accepted ventures who hail from all around the world. GCAi is an ecstatic sponsor of VVM providing web design, SEO PR, funding, and mentoring. We believe VVM is the hub of the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and provides ventures with the support to take an idea and turn it into a business. There is simply nothing else like it in the region – and in fact, the mentoring experience provided by the organization is attracting startups from all around New England.
John Garvey, President of Garvey Communication Associates Inc. introducing Walter Frick, BostInno Business Editor at MassChallenge.
