Three CLA Start-ups Accepted to SLO HotHouse Accelerator Program
Cal Poly’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) has accepted seven startup companies into this year’s SLO HotHouse Summer Accelerator program, three of which were developed by students and graduates from the College of Liberal Arts.
Atsá Foods LLC, an innovative food company turning Native American super foods into everyday nutritious snacks, was conceived by Sam Baber, art and design; Rafael Pintor, agricultural business; Peter Haverkamp, food science and nutrition; and Neal Gorris, industrial technology and packaging. PolyRents, developed by Cameron Wiese, psychology, and Alexander Kavanaugh, software engineering, is a technology that simplifies the housing rental process for landlords and their prospective tenants. Yellow Glass Media, conceived by Nesrine Majzoub (Sociology, '17) and Daniel Hornett, civil engineering, creates and curates socially relevant and unbiased media content to inspire viewers to listen, learn and empathize.
Front row (from left): Rafael Pintor, Sam Baber, Peter
Haverkamp, Michael Fekadu, Haley Pavone, Tyler Unbehand
and Nesrine Majzoub. Back row (from left): Neal Gorris,
Jimmy Kang, Brett Foreman, Leonel Farias, Joseph Lyman,
Cameron Wiese, Alexander Kavanaugh and Jose Urizar.
Not pictured: Tanner Jolly and Daniel Hornett.
The intense 13-week program is designed for students and recent graduates who have developed new ventures and want help making them succeed.
"As a recent graduate in sociology with a concentration in religious studies, Yellow Glass Media is the perfect opportunity for me to take what I've learned in my undergrad and apply it to documentary filmmaking in order to hopefully make socially-relevant concepts more accessible to the general public," said Majzoub.
The program provides $10,000 in seed money, hands-on strategic business guidance from faculty and mentors, and dedicated office space during the summer at the SLO HotHouse. Companies receive training, introductions to investors and resources to help move their ventures forward. At the culmination of the program, they will have an opportunity to pitch their ideas to investors during Demo Day.
"The Accelerator is providing us so many opportunities to chase these dreams and learn so much throughout the summer," said Majzoub. "I'm looking forward to utilizing these opportunities to create a more aware, empathetic and socially-active world."