he Startup Scene at Brown

Recently, I read a post on Hackernoon by Aashay Sanghvi titled “The Startup Scene at Harvard”. It was very well-crafted and I found it super interesting to take a peek into the startup scene of a top entrepreneurship school in the nation. It inspired me to write my own version of the post to give prospective Brunonians an idea of what Brown is like and to give past alums some pride on how much the scene has grown since they graduated. If you haven’t read his post yet, check it out below!

The Startup Scene at Harvard_Dropping out is normally what comes to mind when people think of “Harvard” and “startups.”_hackernoon.com

When you think of hubs for undergraduate entrepreneurs, Brown is usually not the first university that comes to mind. Harvard, MIT, or Stanford usually take that laurel but Brown University is certainly on the rise. With the creation of a new centralized physical location for entrepreneurship, Brown’s startup scene is booming. Here’s the scoop on some of the things happening on Brown Street nowadays (as of Feb. 2017).

Clubs:

Brown Entrepreneurial Program (EP): EP is a student-run entrepreneurial initiative on campus and the biggest hub for young entrepreneurs. It is the umbrella organization for many great entrepreneurial resources on campus including Innovation Dojo, Startup Office Hours, Startup @Brown, and many others! Its alumni board consists of notable alumni such as Jeff Stibel, co-founder of Bryant Stibel, and Bob Goodman, a board member at Bessemer Venture Partners. This semester, its budget nearly doubled due to generous alumni funding so expect bigger and better things from them!

Innovation Dojo: Innovation Dojo is an EP workshop series that aims to introduce 1st and 2nd year Brunonians to entrepreneurship and the resources available to them on the hill. They hold meetings every week where experts give masterclass workshops on a variety of topics in entrepreneurship. All of this ties into a personal project where you work on your own startup or plan one out for the future and present it to the entrepreneurship community!

RISD E’Ship: The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) is the sister school of Brown and all clubs at both schools are open to students from both campuses. RISD E’Ship has a strong network of student entrepreneurs as well as its own startup accelerator program, E Partners Program, that provides funding and mentorship to student ventures.

Humanity-Centered Robotics Initiative: HCRI is a student group dedicated to the advancement of robotics as a means to benefit human society economically and socially. Their aim is to create and understand robots that coexist harmoniously with humans. They often put up visual and interactive presentations on the bottom floor of the Computer Science building (CIT) to showcase their recent works.

Design+Health: A collaboration between the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and the Rhode Island School of Design, Design+Health is an incubator which encourages students across all disciplines to develop and implement design solutions that address clinical and public health concerns.

VC Presence:

Dorm Room Fund: DRF is a student-focused venture fund of First Round Capital. They’re the largest student-run venture firm in the nation, funding and supporting an incredibly talented community of student entrepreneurs which now includes the Brown community, as they recently brought on Haris Memon (Brown ’19) as Head of Marketing for the firm.

To date, Dorm Room Fund has made 125+ investments. Their portfolio companies have gone on to raise $200M+ in follow-on funding from investors like Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, and Y Combinator.

Rough Draft Ventures: RDV, like Dorm Room Fund, is a student-focused VC firm backed by General Catalyst. It currently has a strong presence at universities in Boston and NYC, and our very own Valentin Perez (Brown ’18 + Former Co-President of Brown EP) is a partner.

Rough Draft Ventures has made 90+ investments, with portfolio companies raising follow-on funding of $230M+ from investors like SV Angel, Y Combinator, and Lerer Ventures.

Evertrue Ventures: Evertrue Ventures is a community of Brown alumni, investors, entrepreneurs, and innovators with a passion for supporting Brown alumni-led startups.

Events:

Startup@Brown: Startup@Brown is a two-day conference hosted by EP every fall for startups across the nation come together on Brown’s campus. Many come to find new talent to join their team as well as hold office hours for young entrepreneurs looking for advice or someone to bounce ideas off of. Workshops led by industry professionals are held throughout the day where students can learn about accelerating their startup, plotting a career in tech, or building a healthy startup culture. This year, Startup@Brown was held in October with speakers coming from notable companies including Rough Draft Ventures, WayUp, and Techstars.

WE@Brown: We@Brown, the Women’s Empowerment Conference, aims to empower women to pursue their professional passions. Hosted by the Lady Launchers team at Brown EP, this year’s event will feature prominent female leaders in business and tech including Melanie Whelan, the CEO of Soulcycle, Laura Thompson, a VC Investor at Google Ventures and Co-founder of Runa tea, and Marian Salzman, the CEO of Havas PR North America.

Synapse: In an all-expenses-paid trip, students will have the opportunity to visit a startup hub with their peers at EP. Activities include private tours of notable companies, dinners with successful Brown alumni, and opportunities to network with professionals in entrepreneurship and technology. In the past, Synapse has paid visits to NYC, SF, and LA, visiting companies such as KPCB, Apple, and Dropbox. In the future, Brunonians may have the opportunity to experience business cultures in a variety of different countries.

Hack@Brown: Hack@Brown is a two-day hackathon hosted by Brown, bringing hackers of all skill levels from all around the country together to spend a weekend programming, networking, and learning new technologies. Workshops are held before and throughout the event. Hack@Brown is a staple event for any CS concentrator at Brown.

Nelson Center for Entrepreneurship

A recent addition to the Brown startup landscape after a $25M donation from Jonathan Nelson ’77, the Nelson Center for Entrepreneurship acts as a nexus for entrepreneurial education by giving the community a visible space for all of its resources. Startup Office Hours, which brings highly-accomplished individuals from around the community to Brown to have one-on-one meetings with aspiring students entrepreneurs, calls the Nelson Center its home. The center also has five Peer Entrepreneurs-in-Residence (PIERS) who provide guidance and mentorship to those working on a new venture or are interested in learning how to join the entrepreneurial community at Brown.

Along with these personal mentorship sessions, the center has held startup event series, major academic conferences, and film screenings for the community. The center is currently operating out of a temporary location right now but once the official center is completed next semester, its activities will only ramp up.

Cool Startups at Brown:

DocTalk: DocTalk is a mobile app that seeks to tackle many of the inefficiencies of the healthcare system in India. It facilitates interaction with your doctor by creating a clear channel of communication with them through the app, hosting on-the-go storage for all your medical files, and providing a means for effortless mobile requests for your prescriptions. Founded by Krishna Chaitanya Aluru ’17 of Brown, Akshat Goenka ’14 of Wharton, and Vamsee Chamakura ’17 of IIIT, DocTalk is currently going through Y-Combinator’s winter batch.

Nomnomz: Nomnomz offers two services: Nomnomz Checkout, which provides self-service checkout kiosks for restaurants, and Nomnomz Collegiate, a food pre-ordering service tailored for college campuses. It’s founder and CEO, Matthew DiMarcantonio ’18, is a strong contributor to Brown’s startup scene.

Bonsai: Bonsai is a high-end fashion and lifestyle marketplace HQ’d in Toronto. The team has raised over $780,000 in its first two funding rounds and is partnered with notable brands such as Acne Studios, Helmut Lang, and Balmain. Its Co-Founder & CFO, Kunal Khemani ’19, is currently taking a semester off in Toronto to devote full-time attention towards the platform.

Speechify: Speechify is a text-to-speech software that allows the user to listen to any text with a voice and speed of their choosing. It boasts multilingual support across accents and languages and makes efficient use of keyboard shortcuts for a smooth experience. Another nice feature of the app is the ability to create custom audiobooks instantly by highlighting any text on your phone or computer. Its founder Cliff Weitzman ’18 was recently recognized as a part of the 2017 Forbes 30 under 30 list in Education.

Bruno Innovation for Life:

Our strong entrepreneurial spirit on campus has led to some amazing startups being founded by alumni, including:

• Casper (Neil Parikh ‘12, T. Luke Sherwin’12, Gabriel Flateman ‘12)
• Warby Parker (Andy Hunt ‘04)
• TeeSpring (Walker Williams ‘11, Evan Stites-Clayton ‘11)
• Slideshare. (Rashmi Sinha ’98, Jonathan Boutelle ‘97)

Despite some of our alums raising over $100M for their startups and growing their teams in offices around the world, they still contribute heavily to the Brown community by offering advice and mentorship to current students and participating in conferences and workshops.

If you’re interested in learning more about entrepreneurship@Brown, check out this recently released web hub, courtesy of Wesley Dencker ‘19 and the rest of the Tech team over at EP:

Innovate on the Hill_Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Brown and RISD_innovateonthehill.com