Nisbet Venture Fund : Finalists
The Nisbet Venture Fund, established through the generous support from Marian Nisbet and Chip Nisbet ’86, provides Davidson College students and recent alumni capital to fuel the expansion of their innovative ideas through the The Jay Hurt Hurt for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Davidson College.Â
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Careers Explained is a resource intended to simplify the job-seeking process through sharing interviews with professionals in a wide variety of industries, companies, and roles. Our goal is to help job seekers understand their options, whether certain roles would be a good fit for them, and how they can pursue specific careers with minimal effort and stress.
Cristina Wilson is the founder of Mood House, a massage + sauna spa in Dilworth which was recently named as a must-visit concept by Allure Magazine and is opening its second location in 2023. She was partner and president at Axios Charlotte before diving into the world of wellness. She grew up in Salisbury, NC, and graduated from Davidson College in 2010 with an interdisciplinary degree in Gender Studies. You can follow along at @thisismoodhouse.
Copyright Wallet uses blockchain technology to create copyright splits for artists.
Andrew is the Founder/CEO of Lucid Drone Technologies, a Y Combinator backed company that builds industrial drones for labor-intensive tasks. Lucid, a Charlotte-based company, has been featured in TechCrunch and Forbes, and the company focuses on providing its safety and productivity-improving technology solutions to other companies.
Andrew manages the overall operations of Lucid, including product development, strategic partnerships, and investor relations. He is a prolific learner with a demonstrated track record for extreme productivity. Andrew graduated with a double major from Davidson College in just three years, while playing a Division I sport, working three jobs, and founding Lucid. As a former college baseball player, he knows what it’s like to compete on the national stage and brings that competitive spirit and drive to Lucid.
Mark is a co-founder of LaunchCLT and oversees the organization’s investment arm, the Charlotte Fund. He is also co-founder of Real Ventures, Canada’s largest and most active early stage venture capital fund. He oversees the firm’s investments in blockchain, wireless, and educational technology. Mark has been an active angel investor and provided seed funding to Millennial Media (NYSE IPO), NextNav (NASDAQ IPO) and several other transformative businesses in the wireless industry. Mark holds BS and MS degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT. He lives in Cornelius, NC, with his wife and two children.
Find your next best outfit in seconds. Fit Builder is an automated personal shopping and outfit generation platform, powered by machine learning and artificial intelligence to instantly curate a unique outfit specific to your personality, price range, needs, and style inspirations.
Davidson alumna & two-time entrepreneur Madeline Parra returned to Davidson to headquarter her company, Purple Dot, in the Hurt Hub.
Social Justice Network enables youth and nonprofits to challenge the way they think about global issues, collaborate with other passionate people in their area, gain mentorship from users domestically and abroad. Each member can interact on our online platform, a website and social media app, by connecting with users interested in the same issues, posting content related to advocacy, and finding ways to volunteer locally or abroad through our organization partners or promoting their own projects.
Jean Pierre is the founder, partner, and CTO of Quoin, Inc – a software consultancy with 25 years experience building custom software from website to large integration projects. As part of Quoin, he has been responsible for a number of startups, including Salus, a case management for social welfare in partnership with UNICEF. Jean Pierre was the first co-working member at the Hub and mentors many of the students and other members at the Hub. Jean Pierre was born in New York, is a dual citizen in the US and France, and a graduate of University of New Hampshire and MIT.
KK Dairy Solutions is revolutionizing small scale dairy farming in Kenya by providing small sale farmers with direct access to quality dairy farming inputs and competitive markets.
Paul is the founder and CEO of P2 Corporate Finance, LLC, which is an independent investment bank and FINRA-broker dealer based in Atlanta. The firm provides strategic, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), and capital raising advisory and execution services to private and public companies. Paul is also an active Angel investor and advisor to early-stage companies. He previously was a group head, investment banker, and research analyst at Truist Securities and prior to that at BofA Securities for the majority of his career. He is actively involved with a number of charities and volunteer activities focused on cancer research, veterans, and anti-human trafficking. Paul and his family live in Atlanta and he enjoys overlanding, tennis, and swimming. He is an alumni of Davidson and graduated with a B.S. in Chemistry.
Manatee Clothing Company’s flagship product, the ManaTEE is the t-shirt reimagined. We have designed a new system of measurements to revolutionize the outdated small, medium, and large fits of t-shirts and ensure our customers the best fitting tee they have ever worn!
![Chris_Tapia_Headshot_Cropped_Summer2020[19]](https://hurthub.davidson.edu/wp-content/uploads/elementor/thumbs/Chris_Tapia_Headshot_Cropped_Summer202019-q4ki6hz8eardw3ihp7mvmbgj0hsz00of0u4zzzuzlk.png "Chris_Tapia_Headshot_Cropped_Summer2020[19]")
Chris is a Business Strategy & Supply Chain professional, where he currently is a leader in Accenture’s Retail Strategy Practice. Prior to Accenture, Chris led client development & management at Data Ventures, a software & analytical services subsidiary of Coca Cola Consolidated, and was a Consumer & Retail Principal at Kearney & North Highland leading numerous business strategy, supply chain strategy & process improvement engagements. He is a resident of Davidson (since 2004) and has been contributing to our community in two areas that he is passionate about – entrepreneurship & soccer – as he serves as a mentor of over 10 startup companies locally at both LaunchCLT in Lake Norman & at Revtech Labs in Charlotte (where he has been mentoring since 2015) while also coaching youth soccer (for over 10 years) with Charlotte Independence.  Â
Chris has a Bachelor’s in Engineering from Duke University and an MBA from MIT Sloan, with a concentration in New Product & Venture Development. Although a Blue Devil at heart, he has been won over by and cheers regularly for our local Wildcats.
Modern Myths is a personalized brand that designs unique and whimsical children’s books, toys, and accessories. Our fundamental goal is to give young readers new sources of creativity and inspiration.
Carson is a recent graduate, who double majored in Arab Studies and German Studies while at Davidson College. While a student, her mother was diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer that led Carson to start her own cancer business, CA’Buddy. CA’Buddy, aka Cancer Buddy, provides patients and caregivers love, comfort, and support through care packages. With CA’Buddy, Carson became increasingly invested in the cancer community and discovered her passion for cancer advocacy. After leaving North Carolina, Carson moved to Chicago and began working as the Outreach Coordinator for Triage Cancer, a nonprofit providing education on the practical and legal issues that arise after a cancer diagnosis. In her free time, Carson spends most of her time outdoors, with her cat, and working on art projects.Â
Motate.ai is a Personal AI Accountability Partner and Coach that will keep you accountable with any task you can think of throughout your day!
Reid is the CTO and Co-Founder of TravelBank – a company driven to change the world of business travel by fundamentally altering the way people experience expensing and traveling for work. Reid is a lifelong technologist, getting his first job working with computers at the age of 16 years old. He joined the Marine Corps in 2005 as a systems and network administrator and deployed twice. While serving, he was recognized and awarded multiple achievement medals for going above and beyond in his craft – including the creation of multiple apps for the DoD. After 6 years, Reid started and ran a development consultancy while attending George Washington University for his Master’s. Then in 2015, Reid co-founded TravelBank, based on the budding idea that businesses could save money on travel by incentivizing employees to spend smarter. Since then, TravelBank has delivered the next generation of travel and expense software with Reid’s leadership and guidance; challenging billion dollar incumbents in a traditionally controlled market. After successfully being acquired by U.S. Bank in 2021, Reid continues to be laser focused on delivering the very best expense, travel, and card product to the market.
Mystery Schmystery LLC doesn’t create mysteries, we create schmysteries! Schmysteries are fun, weird, absurd party packs that contain all the necessary materials for you to throw your own murder mystery parties—or as we like to call them—Mystery Schmystery parties.
After spending 15+ years as a financial writer for a wide range of asset managers—often focusing on emerging markets and ESG/sustainability—Katie Orr Sharp made the decision to venture into the world of entrepreneurship. She helped launch four businesses between 2020 and 2022, in the areas of ESG/impact investing, medical care for women, and financial writing. Currently, through her company Sharp ESG, her primary business focus is helping asset managers implement and propel ESG policies and strategies that will move the needle on intractable global issues. Additionally, she has a passion for mentoring students on their paths forward and elevating women to achieve their goals with boldness, intention, and confidence.Â
Katie holds an MBA from Wake Forest University, a Master of Liberal Arts in Journalism from Harvard University Extension School, and a Bachelor of Arts in Communication from Salem College. She is also currently pursuing her ESG Investment Certificate through the CFA Institute.Â
During her free time, she is working on seeing all seven continents and modern Wonders of the World by 2030. She is also an avid hiker, aspiring figure skater, and Broadway enthusiast. Katie lives in Charlotte with her husband and three pets.
Rise Together is a web application that aims to encourage communities to Rise Together by providing efficient and equitable hiring processes.
![Josh-Rogers-Jul2022[53]](https://hurthub.davidson.edu/wp-content/uploads/elementor/thumbs/Josh-Rogers-Jul202253-q46m3xxycem8wp8bziacp785z244fnrykge0x0fid4.png "Josh-Rogers-Jul2022[53]")
Josh Rogers is the Chief Executive Officer of Precisely, the global leader in data integrity, with 12,000 customers in more than 100 countries, including 99 of the Fortune 100. As CEO, Josh leads Precisely’s global team of 2,500 employees as they build and deliver software and data enrichment products that provide accuracy, consistency, and context to power confident business decisions. Josh has also held leadership positions at IBM and Endeca technologies, as well as Bank of America Capital Investors. Josh is a graduate of Davidson College, and holds an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
Remembering our roots is one of the most important issues many of us face today; agricultural activities have been left on the shelf, desperate for innovation. Our company “The Farm” is here to make this a past by providing individuals with incentives and an innovative way to view farming as an easy, domestic activity. This company is going to rent chicken coups to families while incorporating software and development to make sure everybody has a chance to grow their own food and provide for their family.
Laura is Director of Business Operations at FTI and former COO of The Chicken Fountain, LLC. She graduated from James Madison University with a B.S. in Political Science. She is highly skilled at human resources, talent acquisition, and recruiting.
CEO & Founder of Legal Equalizer and 2021-22 Innovator in Residence
Partner, Creative Co
Former President & CEO of Hurt Company, Inc.
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