Even during a pandemic, Indiana University Bloomington students are pressing forward with their innovative and entrepreneurial ventures. They include Maddie Athanasiou, Casey Curtis, Casey Daleiden and Sophia Schmidt, who are the team behind Elevate.
Elevate is a mobile app that allows for building residents to track and control elevators from their phone. The idea was planted from the team having to wait long times for elevators in their dormitory, and it germinated due to the rise of COVID-19 and the realization that hands-free technology would increase in use.
“Elevate allows you to save time by tracking the elevator, reduce the spread of germs by pressing the buttons from your phone and increase overall efficiency by having a better system implemented throughout the building,” Curtis said. “As building owners are the ones actually purchasing the hardware, we will be taking all of the data collected in the mobile app and selling it back to buildings in an automated building-management software service.”
Crimson Catalyst: What were you feeling nervous/uncertain about regarding campus resources for innovation this semester?
Casey Curtis: I was really nervous about keeping our team engaged and excited once school started. I think during summer it was easier to throw ourselves into the project, but I was worried that once we started classes, things were going to calm down. I was unsure about how fun it would be to do work without being able to actually go into the Shoebox and see my friends and collaborate, and I was also nervous about making as many connections with the mentors and advisors.
CC: What have you experienced this semester so far to address your uncertainty/nervousness about campus resources for innovation?
Curtis: As I was the only member of my team in the Shoebox last semester, it was really important to me to immediately get the rest of my team comfortable and excited about working with — and in — the center. I have been beyond impressed with how engaged we still are, maybe even more so than last semester, and the response from my team has proven just that. We are excited each week to meet with the different mentors, attend the meetings and have our one-on-ones. We have been able to grow more than I could have imagined as school was starting, and I feel really lucky to have found the most incredible students to call co-founders on this venture. I think the pandemic has only made the idea and desire for this idea to succeed that much bigger, and everything we have in the Shoebox right now has me confident that we are heading in the right direction for that success.
CC: How have you benefited from these campus resources?
Curtis: I would not have the team I do now without the connections in the Shoebox, as well as the knowledge that we all have regarding various aspects of a startup that you would not normally have access to. We have multiple lawyers helping us with our incorporation, patents, NDAs and overall advising. We have been able to talk with venture capitalists about our equity agreements as well as get involved with programs to help us refine our pitch deck and build connections with investors in the field. Even our client stand-up meetings have felt more beneficial than ever, because we are able to get ideas about components of our business that we might not have previously thought of, such as packaging and manufacturing the product. I cannot thank Travis J. Brown and everyone who works in the center enough for providing my team and me with the resources to help us grow as quickly as we are.
The Shoebox helps student entrepreneurs build, launch and sustain their businesses. Student startups can apply for 24/7 access to the Shoebox’s office space, which is located in the Shoemaker Innovation Center, Luddy Hall 2150. The Shoebox also collaborates with the Hoosier Hatchery pre-incubator at the Kelley School of Business and Bloomington’s Dimension Mill startup accelerator. To apply for coworking space, write to luddysic@indiana.edu.
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