StartR Accelerator Team TUTUroomi Wins Funding at the SD Social Innovation Challenge

SAN DIEGO - May 5, 2016 - PRLog -- The Rady School of Management's StartR Accelerator team TUTUroomii, recently won a total of $13,000 in funding at the San Diego Social Innovation Challenge. The company, which provides services and products to meet the needs of the LGBTQ+ community, with the support of StartR, launched an iOS app which helps LGBTQ+ individuals find roommates, friends and housing resources.

The San Diego Social Innovation Challenge is a student social venture contest hosted at University of San Diego. In total, the challenge awarded $50,000 in seed funding for social innovation at the 2016 Challenge. TUTUroomii received $3,000 through the Mobile Tech Track sponsored by Qualcomm Wireless Reach and $10,000 in the San Diego track sponsored by Moxie.

TUTUroomii, co-founded by Rady School alumna Wei Fan (MFin '15), was a part of the 2015 StartR graduating class. According to Fan, the lectures and advisors from the StartR program were crucial to TUTUroomii's success.

"It was an honor for us, TUTUroomii, to have had the support from StartR Accelerator," she said. "We appreciate all the resources and important sessions StartR has provided, which was helpful for us to mature and grow. We would like to thank professors Kimberley King and Lada Rasochova for such a great program for our startup team."

As TUTUroomii secures more funding they intend to boost their marketing strategies in order to gain exposure, and eventually develop an app for android. They are also considering partnering with another startup company to provide housing resources designed for the LGBTQ+ community and allies.

"TUTUroomii is another excellent example of the quality and innovation of the StartR Accelerator companies," said Lada Rasochova, Founding Director of StartR. "As part of the fall 2015 StartR class, TUTUroomii benefitted from interactions with engaged mentors, participation in seminars addressing the challenges of the startup process and camaraderie with other start-up teams. We are very proud of them and wish them continued success."

The Rady School's StartR Accelerator is a non-profit program for Rady School students and alumni to provide entrepreneurs with the resources they need to grow their startups. The program accepts six teams twice a year and includes workshops, advice, mentoring, and access to other resources.

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