Kent State Students Receive Venture Fund Grants for Business Ideas

KENT, Ohio - April 10, 2014 - PRLog -- Four entrepreneurship students from Kent State University’s College of Business Administration have received money from Kent State University’s Student Venture Fund, which was established to help support student initiated businesses.

The fund supports two types of grants. The first is the Venture Assessment Grant, which focuses on students with a proposed business. Businesses that receive this grant should have a unique product or service with a clear market need.  The grant’s purpose is to allow students to test the feasibility of their idea and determine whether or not they should pursue it as a venture.

Two students received Venture Assessment Grants; Kyle Holt and Haumed Rahmani both received $500 from the fund.

Holt, a senior entrepreneurship major, created his venture, Underground Axcess with the hopes of evolving the music industry. His venture would allow musicians to learn necessary skills for the music industry, and network with musicians and other professionals in the industry all in hopes of furthering their career.

Rahmani, a senior computer science major and entrepreneurship minor, targeted his venture to helping students with their education. Nitro Tutoring, LLC., is a one-on-one tutoring program designed to help college students with a variety of course subjects including math, science, English, history, foreign languages, computer programming, music and art.

The second type of grant in the Student Venture Fund, Venture Growth Grant, is designed for students who have a complete business plan, which has proven viable with students committed to launching the venture. This grant pushes students to pitch to additional investors, launching the business.

The two students who were awarded the Venture Growth Grant, Gavin Ursich and Victor Searcy, each received $3,000 to help them begin their businesses.

Ursich, a junior entrepreneurship major, created Belle's Healing Solutions, LLC., an all-natural, vegan friendly skin care company that provides consumers with a safer, more natural, answer to skin health.

Searcy, a senior psychology major with an entrepreneurship minor, created a venture called VickFries. Searcy’s venture specializes in french-fries with various, unique sauces.

College of Business students may apply for the Student Venture Fund twice a year, in the fall and in the spring. Students who apply are selected to pitch to the fund committee comprised of  members from the college’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation (CEBI). Committee members include Sergey Anokhin, Ph.D., entrepreneurship faculty member and interim director of CEBI, Mary Heidler, entrepreneurship faculty and operations manager of CEBI and Joakim Wincent, Ph.D., Bridgestone Chair of International Entrepreneurship.

For more information about the Center for Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation and the College of Business Administration, visit www.kent.edu/business.