Horizon Pitches Winning Business Idea at Hatched
More than 200 people attended Hatching Finale to support Lansing area entrepreneurs
LANSING, Mich. – The Lansing Economic Area Partnership (LEAP) and Spartan Innovations hosted the Hatching Finale, “Hatched,” on Wed., Nov. 30th at University Club of MSU in Lansing. More than 200 people came to support the 11 Hatching finalists of 2016 as they competed to win the $10,000 grand prize.
The winning business idea, Horizon, came from Oshan Weerasingle and Ben Buscarino. Horizon is an adaptive travel app that uses your Facebook profile and activities in the app to help you find your next activity. Weerasingle and Buscarino plan to use the $10,000 to further develop the app and bring on alpha customers/testers.
The Runner-up went to GoSpot, who received $1,000 and the “Glory” winner (crowd favorite) went to Orindi Ventures.
“Hatched is truly one of the highlights of the startup ecosystem in Lansing and throughout the state,” said Tony Willis, director of New Economy at LEAP. “Each of the presenters brought their A–Game and are on the path to bringing innovative ideas to reality, right here in Metro Lansing.”
The 2016 Hatching finalists were Austin Piwinski, GoSpot; Tapan Kataria, UChef; Jordan Vanderham, Orindi Ventures; Hailey Willett, Spiked Bean Exchange; Connor McInnery, Alex Meverden and Max O’Connor, Bubbly; Anna Song, Friends Host; Amber Addrow-Pierson, My Car; Rodrigo Araujo, Milk Cash Project; Dylan Draper, K&K; Edward White, Pylon; and Oshan Weerasingle and Ben Buscarino, Horizon.
The Title Sponsor and host for Hatched was the University Club of MSU. Other event sponsors included MSU Federal Credit Union; Venturit; Foster Swift Collins & Smith PC; RetroDuck.com; Maner Costerisan; Loomis, Ewert, Parsley, Davis & Gotting P.C.; Burgess Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation, MSU Eli Broad College of Business; Simplified Tax & Accounting Services; Michigan Creative and the Henry Center for Executive Development, MSU Eli Broad College of Business.
The Hatching is part of a community-wide effort to support local entrepreneurs and make the Lansing region a great place to start a business. This event helps move new, local business ideas from concept to reality, and provides winners with funding, legal support, market research, office space and more. For more information, visit thehatching.org.
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About LEAP
The Lansing Economic Area Partnership (LEAP) is a coalition of area leaders partnering to build a stronger community for all—working every day to grow, retain and attract business.
Category: Press Releases