Engineering College Students Turn a Business Project into an Innovative Career
By Sherilyn Henderson
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| Five senior college students founded Gifts Utopia, which helps purchasers find unique gifts for their loved ones. |
At Trine University, a small engineering school located in Northeast Indiana, five students were lucky enough to encounter a class project that not only applied to the “real world,” but also would turn out to offer them “real world” jobs. Scott Fergusson, the professor of the Entrepreneurship and Venture Planning Class at Trine, asked the students to create a business, write a business plan, and in the end pitch it to an investing group.
The project intrigued the five seniors: Joe Adams, Ben Clark, James Green, Dani (Pearson) King, and Ben Witter. “It was great to have a project in which the experience could be used in a career; however, coming up with an ‘aha!’ idea for a company was not an easy thing,” Ben Clark, CEO of Gifts Utopia said.
The idea of “Gifts Utopia” was born. After market research was complete, it was found that a large number of people have trouble buying gifts for loved ones, or have trouble remembering birthdays and anniversaries. The objective of Gifts Utopia is to put the pressures of gift-giving aside by making the process simple and to help the purchaser find a unique gift for every person on their list.
Gifts Utopia decreases the hassle and stress of shopping during the holidays. A user logs on and fills out a profile for the recipient. Questions are asked about their likes, dislikes, hobbies, and personality traits. Their answers are then run through a unique algorithm and are matched with the attributes of the gifts in the database. The user can request reminders about upcoming special holidays and/or occasions.
The co-founders were able to attain the Elevate Ventures’ High Potential Start-Up Grant, a fund that jumpstarts pre-revenue companies in Indiana. During the process of obtaining the funding, the company was formed into a LLC in the state of Indiana.
Gifts Utopia has worked vigorously to bring the idea to market. The service has been helped out by Trine University, Innovation One, and Elevate Ventures. With their help, the company has been able to hire an intern, Jayson Brennan, along with Todd Taylor, a consultant. Currently, Gifts Utopia has reached the pre-launch stage. To receive more information when the company officially launches, visit www.giftsutopia.com. HBM
