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10th Annual Shark Tank Winner Announcement

Shark Tanke winner holding large check

The 10th annual Shark Tank Competition was held on Sunday, April 16th in the Performing Arts Center, hosted by HC Launch through the Ciocca Center. Held in person for the first time since 2019, this year’s competition displayed a new generation of Holy Cross entrepreneurs. From photography, candlemaking, to tech solutions, there was a variety of creativity and problem solving involved.

Three well-seasoned business professionals volunteered their time to select this year’s winners. The judging panel included former Ciocca Center Director David Chu, Venture Forum Executive Director Zak Dutton, and Inmedix Co-Founder Tim Sciarrillo ’82, as teams competed for $9,000 in prize money. Along the way, each team was connected with a mentor who provided guidance and feedback. Thank you to our mentors Brendan Candon ’10, Rob Murner, Larry Naughton ’93, Bill Phelan ‘04, Nalani Ramos Ruiz ‘21, Kelly Shaw ‘09 and Eamon Troy ‘11. Continue reading “10th Annual Shark Tank Winner Announcement”
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HC Launch Student Group Host Local Serial Entrepreneur

two men sitting at the front of class

This year, HC Launch has been connecting with the local Worcester startup community.  Recently, the club visited MultiScale Systems, Geisel Software, and is planning a visit to Redemption Rock Brewery later this spring. As with many startups though, one of the companies we were working with only had a desk at a coworking space.  This, we decided, wasn’t suitable for a site visit so we pivoted!

On Monday, March 20th, the HC Launch student group hosted local serial entrepreneur, Jonathan Lincoln. Rob Murner, director of the Ciocca Center and entrepreneur in residence, started the conversation and students were able to learn from Jonathan’s three ventures: Continue reading “HC Launch Student Group Host Local Serial Entrepreneur”
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Entrepreneurship Club Visits Local Startup

Experience shared by Alexander Christie ’24, Administrative Director of HC Launch.

This week I was one of fourteen Holy Cross students accompanied by the Ciocca Center director and entrepreneur-in-residence, Rob Murner, to get off campus to visit a local stuartup on February 21. HC Launch, the entrepreneurship club within the Ciocca Center, organized a site visit to Geisel Software, a software development company focused on robotics and artificial intelligence located in Worcester.  We were able to hear from a number of different people within this growing company including the office manager, a few engineers, and the founder/CEO, Brian Giesel. Feedback from students was that this site visit was an extraordinarily positive experience. 

Giesel has something for everyone. There were a number of computer science majors in attendance who certainly benefited from hearing about the career experiences of the engineers. Those of us who weren’t specifically interested in software learned a lot about the intricacies of this field, which will only become more important to understand as technology continues to emulate life. Brian also talked about the founding and growth of the company, as well as the challenges that led the company to where it is today.

There are two primary takeaways from this experience for me and according to Brian, these are two of the key ingredients to his company’s success.  Continue reading “Entrepreneurship Club Visits Local Startup”
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Entrepreneurship & Innovation Week Awards Over $15,000 in Prize Money

sustainability bannerCongratulations to all of the students who competed during the annual Entrepreneurship & Innovation Week: March 26 – 31, through the Ciocca Center for Business, Ethics, and Society and the Entrepreneurship & Innovation Program at Holy Cross. 

Sustainable Innovation Challenge

HC Launch held its bi-annual Innovation Challenge in partnership with the Office of the President, Environmental Studies Department, Political Science Department, Ciocca Center, Office of Sustainability, Green Fund, and Eco-Action. The challenge tasked Holy Cross students with developing and presenting creative ways to advance sustainability on our campus. With 8 teams pitching their ideas to a panel of 3 judges, students developed detailed applications of sustainable practices in an effort to lower the college’s ecological footprint and to inspire green-thinking on campus. Nick Bettenhauser ‘24, Sasha Paradise ‘24 & Eileen Evans ‘24 ultimately won first place with their innovative and feasible pathway towards the installation of solar carports. Eco Saders and Green Addition placed 2nd and 3rd respectively. HC Launch and other organizations are now collaborating with these teams to implement their ideas. 

Congratulations to the 2022 Innovation Challenge winners! Continue reading “Entrepreneurship & Innovation Week Awards Over $15,000 in Prize Money”
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Annual Innovation Challenge Solves Campus Problems

HC Launch, the student incubator through the Ciocca Center, hosted the fall Innovation Challenge on Saturday, November 9, 2019. Building off of last spring’s Innovation Challenge, this event brought students together to brainstorm problems centered around issues on campus at Holy Cross stemming from the Engage Summit and to ideate potential solutions to these problems.
Continue reading “Annual Innovation Challenge Solves Campus Problems”
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HC Launch Incubates Eight Student Businesses

On Sunday, September 29, 2019 the HC Launch student incubator started off with its semester kickoff event. The application process yielded eight student-led startup teams, with ventures ranging from data security to the cosmetics industry. Paul Wiley ‘20 and Tom Cremins ‘21, managing directors, kicked off the event discussing the direction of the incubator this semester, matched student teams, and led an engaging team building activity.  Continue reading “HC Launch Incubates Eight Student Businesses”
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Summer Internship Reflection: Tom Cremins ’21

My name is Tom Cremins ‘21 (pictured third from left), a rising junior economics major and education minor at Holy Cross, and current managing director of the HC Launch incubator through the Ciocca Center for Business, Ethics, and Society. This summer I had the privilege of interning with Keeling & Associates, a highly-comprehensive consulting firm focused on the higher education sector with the goal of trying to improve learning outcomes for both students and institutions.  Continue reading “Summer Internship Reflection: Tom Cremins ’21”
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Startup Spotlight: Matt Gasparrini ’20

I have always had new ideas. Along with those ideas comes with the excitement of trying something new, of creating something novel. Most of my ideas (even my best ideas) … are garbage. They wouldn’t make it in the real world. They wouldn’t succeed outside of my own head. Because at the end of the day, nobody has room in their kitchen for an English muffin separator or fireplace tools with a built-in vacuum. My latest idea was the least glamorous of them all. A dog food company. The dog food idea was inspired by my own dog Gracie. Gracie had boring kibble every single day, she was also sick a lot of the time too. I fed her kibble because it’s what everyone feeds their dogs and because it was cheap. It turns out that kibble was making Gracie sick. I had heard about homemade dog food and gave it a try. On the homemade diet, Gracie had more energy, a shinier coat, and was overall healthier. I looked for similar fresh dog food on the market and found only very expensive products that used expensive ingredients. I knew that feeding a fresh, homemade dog food was simply better for the overall health of the dog. I decided to create a dog food with simple, inexpensive ingredients.   Continue reading “Startup Spotlight: Matt Gasparrini ’20”