Originally Posted: December 4, 2016
EO DALLAS PARTNERS WITH SPURSTARTUP
The event was one in a global series of Entrepreneurs’ Organization competitions inviting college students to present their early-stage businesses.
Natarajan was among eight finalists who presented in the EO Dallas chapter’s contest.
Other finalists, who represented SMU and The University of Texas at Dallas, had startups ranging from a reusable 3D cake decorating tool to an online platform that cuts the search time out of finding things to do.
“I was absolutely impressed with the quality of the presentations,” said Steve Kinder, who helped organize the EO Dallas contest. “… I think it really shows the potential of what’s coming out of a lot of the schools around here.”
In its second year to host a contest, EO Dallas partnered with SPURstartup, which helps student entrepreneurs further their ideas through mentorship, education, and its crowdfunding platform.
Local GSEA finalists launched crowdfunding campaigns Tuesday through the SPURstartup website that will run through Dec. 29. Ten percent of the money raised will be donated to Entrepreneurs For North Texas to offer entrepreneurship education for low-income youth.
“At the end of the day there has to be one winner, but there’s no reason that we can’t support the other ideas that are still good,” SPURstartup CEO and Co-founder Maggie Barton said.
Kinder said he sees potential for SPURstartup to forge partnerships with other EO chapters to help raise awareness for GSEA competitions. For the Dallas event, the relationship helped bring in more student applicants and interest.
“I feel like SPURstartup had a great impact,” he said “We were able to connect in ways through social media, on campuses, and through the online networking that they do that EO just doesn’t have a presence and exposure to do very well.” READ MORE