In September 2020, twin brothers Sean and Justin Regis ’23 commenced doing the job on an app that would assistance particular customers who store for others on platforms this sort of as Instacart and Shipt finish their lists more successfully.
Relying on indoor mapping technological innovation and wayfinding (blue-line navigation equivalent to Google Maps GPS), the app would allow for a shopper spending a subscription of $2.99 to opt for a store, make a list and then navigate the retailer.
The financial majors took a substantial stage in bringing Quicshop to sector Thursday as winners of Union’s most up-to-date version of a pitch level of competition. The best prize incorporates $15,000 in startup funds. The prize money is a gift from an anonymous donor.
Flash, a one-simply click ecommerce app, was runner-up. Founders Luodi Wang, Aaron Carretero and Haba Kiza, all members of the Course of 2025, collected $2,500 in startup capital.
Seven teams of students received a few minutes each individual to pitch their strategies to a panel of alumni judges in the Reamer Campus Middle auditorium. The pupils then took concerns from the judges.
The pupils ended up among the the inaugural course of SparkLab, a 6-7 days entrepreneurial initiative created by Roger Woolsey, government director of the Becker Career Middle.
The group heard from attained alumni and exterior experts about simple business enterprise concepts, which include market sizing, company and tax buildings, and fund-boosting.
They expended the last days leading up to the competition on their pitch decks – a 10-12 slide presentation that offers a shorter summary of a firm, the business system and the startup vision – is important to bring in potential traders.
As envisioned, some of the pitches were being a lot more polished than other individuals. Some struggled to explain their idea. However, all obtained worthwhile expertise in techniques to entice possible traders.
“All of them took risks,” Woolsey reported after the ultimate crew designed its pitch. “These learners were the exam for what we want to do below at Union with entrepreneurship and it is a testament to their fortitude to stick with it.”
In asserting the winner, a single of the 4 judges, Thomas Coleman ’88, delivered constructive feed-back to the college students.
“All of the tips have been really appealing,” reported Coleman, co-founder and co-president of Kensico Funds Management Company and a member of the College’s Board of Trustees. “Some of them are harder to execute commercially, specially on the scale that you commenced and the expertise stages you have relative to the aim. But maintain heading.”
Other judges included Catharine Potvin ’97, founder and CEO of Stragility LLC Michael Esposito ’72, a strategic advisor and Tony Versaci ’91, running director of Black Diamond Funds Administration.
In choosing Quicshop as the winner, Coleman mentioned the judges felt it experienced a realistic current market will need and that the learners experienced carried out strong function in pinpointing deficiencies in the market and how to address all those. He also noted that they have previously lined up a retailer in close proximity to their hometown of Cedar Grove, N.J,. to take a look at their strategy.
“You have the whole package,” Coleman stated. “You can truly have a product or service up and running by the conclude of the summer months.”
The twins equally play guard on the men’s basketball crew. Quite a few of their teammates arrived out to assistance them in the course of the pitch opposition.
Sean explained they would use $3,000 of the prize revenue for advertising, $7,000 for map integration and scaling and $5,000 for coding expenditures.
“I’m incredibly psyched for this opportunity and joyful to have my finest friend on my side,” he explained, nodding to his brother.
“We believed we experienced a very good strategy,” Justin explained. “We are happy the judges thought so as very well.”