‘Boiler’ Competition Finals Set

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The finals of a Purdue University student startup competition are set for this week. The “Boiler” finalists include a cloud-based classroom, an app for buying and selling merchandise and a fundraising website.

West Lafayette, Ind. — A capacity crowd of more than 50 people are expected to attend Demo Day, the conclusion of the Purdue University student entrepreneurial competition Boiler Mini-Accelerator, or “Boiler,” in Room 129 of the Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship, 1201 W. State Street, at 4 p.m. Friday (April 25).

Demo Day is the culmination of the eight-week competition to highlight the entrepreneurial spirit of Purdue students who have founded a startup.

“The energy surrounding this competition is fantastic,” said Mike Asem, organizer of the competition and co-founder of the Anvil, a student-run business incubator. “We started out with nearly 40 student entrepreneur applicants and had a very difficult task of choosing the finalists because of the overall outstanding quality of the submissions.”

On Demo Day, three finalists will present their startup ideas before judges and will receive $5,000, $3,000 and $1,500 for first, second and third places. The first- and second-place teams also will receive free and discounted professional services.

The finalists are:

* FundSponge – a website that helps nonprofits, student organizations and other groups raise money through the online purchases that their members and supporters already make.

* Mimir – an automated cloud-based classroom for computing courses.

* Vendo – an Instagram-type app for buying and selling merchandise on campus.

Sponsors of the competition are Angie's List, the Anvil, Purdue Foundry, Purdue Research Foundation, KA+A, DelMar Software Development LLC, Gutwein Law, Elevate Ventures, Passageways Inc. and the City of West Lafayette.

The Boiler is geared for aspiring entrepreneurs who seek funding to support their startup idea and the opportunity to receive professional advice and business development strategies from entrepreneurial experts.

Source: Purdue University