Following two full days of intense startup development, three teams of local entrepreneurs have emerged as the winners of 48 Hour Launch: The Learning Edition, an annual business launching competition hosted by The Company Lab (CO.LAB). This year, the program challenged participants to start companies or organizations that advance education and workforce development.
The first place prize went to Jonathan Susman, founder of Adagio – an online mixing application that allows music educators and students to collaborate remotely. Jean-Marie Lawrence came in second place for launching Access-U, a nonprofit that helps high schoolers with disabilities connect with the post-secondary institutions that are best able to meet their needs. The third place honorees were Kendal Shipley and Chris Green with 36 University, a research-based ACT prep provider that helps students translate success in the classroom to success on the test.
More than 150 people turned out to support 48 Hour Launch, which ran continuously from 6 p.m. on March 28 to 6 p.m. on March 30. The competition supported nine startup teams and culminated with a public Demo Night, where the entrepreneurs presented their work to a local audience and took questions from a panel of judges. At the end of the experience, the two highest scoring teams walked away with cash prizes – $2,000 for first place and $500 for second place. All three winners received packages of free business services to support their new companies.
Mike Bradshaw, executive director of CO.LAB, congratulated this year’s teams and contributors for making The Learning Edition a shared success for everyone involved.
“48 Hour Launch creates game-changing relationships that spark new companies and grow our entrepreneurial community,” he said. “This year, The Learning Edition cast new light on what those connections can do for our area. Over the last two days, we saw educators and businesspeople combine their skills and perspectives in meaningful ways. They established deeper insights into the problems they were trying to solve, and they launched companies that meet important needs in the process. This is collaboration in its richest form, and we believe the opportunities it inspired will have a lasting impact on our community.”