FundSponge, a company that helps small nonprofit organizations raise money as people shop online, and Merchant’s Garden, a model for bringing environmentally friendly, out-of-season produce to restaurants, groceries and homes in urban environments, are co-winners of IU Bloomington’s 2015 BEST competition.
BEST is the world’s largest investment competition offered by a university to its students, with both companies receiving investments of $100,000. BEST was launched in 2011 by IU Bloomington’s School of Informatics and Computing and the Kelley School of Business. The competition is funded by corporate leaders who are IU alumni. In exchange for their investment, each receive a stake in the winning companies.
IU members of FundSponge are Jason TenBarge, a graduate student in IU’s Maurer School of Law who serves as the company’s CEO, and Kevin Casimer, also a graduate student in the Maurer School, who serves as chief operating officer. IU members of Merchant’s Garden are founder Chaz J. Shelton, an MBA student (entrepreneurship and finance) at the Kelley School, who serves as CEO; and Michael B. Kulov, also an MBA student (finance) at the Kelley School who serves as interim director of finance.
Read more about each company and the BEST competition here:
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