The Columbia Startup Lab is the newest venture from Columbia’s Entrepreneurship Initiative, bringing together entrepreneurial alumni in one place to build a community dedicated to sharing ideas and growing businesses. The Lab opened on June 10, offering networking opportunities, heavily subsidized rent and an open co-working experience for young alumni who have started their own businesses. Taking over the entire first floor of the SoHo WeWork studio, a co-working space in lower Manhattan’s Silicon Alley neighborhood where the city’s tech industry and startups are concentrated, the Startup Lab is starting big. With 39 small businesses joining the multi-school space (members can come from the College, Engineering, SIPA or the Business School), the startup world is about to get a big infusion of ideas and passion.
Check out these six exciting companies (headed by young College alumni) that are coming to the Columbia Startup Lab this June:
BoardRounds: For Aditya Mukerjee CC’12, his health care startup may be his first business, but it’s not his first time in charge. The former publisher of Spectator says that his experience running the independent student newspaper was the perfect training ground for taking on the responsibility of founding and running his own company. As the co-founder and CTO of BoardRounds, which focuses on increasing patient follow-up care and streamlining care coordination for hospitals, Mukerjee is ready to expand his company by taking advantage of its new home in the Columbia Startup Lab.
Heddels: Matt Star CC’12 wants to change the way you shop, and he’s got the right jeans code to do it. Star went from composing Varsity Show scores to writing code for Rawr Denim [now know as Heddels], a website dedicated to the ins and outs of menswear raw denim. The team has ambitious plans for their first few months in the lab, with a focus on expanding the tools and building out resources, and Star is ready to bring Heddels to the next level with the help of the Columbia Startup Lab.
Bundle Organics: Expectant and new mothers have plenty to stress about, from picking the perfect baby name to choosing the right nursery color. What they shouldn’t have to worry about is getting enough vitamins and minerals in their diet to keep themselves and their growing baby healthy. John Mascari CC’08 formed Bundle Organics, an e-commerce site selling a collection of organic, pasteurized juices fortified with vitamins and minerals that expectant women can take in addition to their daily pre-natal vitamins for a boost in nutrients like folic acid, calcium and Vitamin D.
Longneck and Thunderfoot: If a company can’t tell a meme from a viral video, it might be time for it to rethink its online strategy. That’s where Longneck and Thunderfoot comes in, helping companies develop an online voice and web presence in order to stay relevant in the digital world. Cooper Pickett CC’10, a co-founder of Longneck and Thunderfoot, wants to help bring companies into the 21st century through digital media.
+PLY: Carolyn Yim CC’11 is bringing the clothing marketplace straight to your computer and cutting out the middleman. Moving luxury knitwear from her family’s traditional workshop in Hong Kong to buyers around the world is going to be easier thanks to her e-commerce site, +PLY.
Drop Global: This site, created by Nicholas Cox CC’11 and Brian Valero CC’12, turns solo action sports into a social experience, making it easy for sports fans share information and connect with one another by tagging everything from prime surfing locations to great skate parks. The two also sell performance gear and branded equipment for sports enthusiasts.
