First Year Entrepreneurs Address Campus Engagement Challenges
Two first-year Davidson College students are already making their mark on campus life after winning the prestigious Entrepreneurial Excellence Award at the 2025 Nisbet Venture Fund pitch competition. Niko Cope ’28 and Gavin Higgins ’28 impressed judges with their innovative platform SideQuest, a centralized event discovery and engagement solution designed specifically for college students.
The duo identified a critical gap in campus connectivity: despite Davidson’s vibrant community, students struggle to discover events due to fragmented information sources. Their research, polling over 90 Davidson students, revealed that approximately 90% of students rely on word of mouth for event information, while 80% depend on emails, and only 50% use social media or WildCat Sync.
“Winning the Entrepreneurial Excellence award at the 2025 Nisbet Pitch Competition allows us to keep pushing forward on a problem we care deeply about––low student engagement on college campuses,” said Niko Cope. “This funding will help us launch SideQuest, a real solution that students can start using as early as Orientation 2025.”
Revolutionizing Campus Event Discovery Through Gamification
SideQuest stands apart from existing solutions by combining comprehensive event information with gamification elements. The platform features three interactive views: a searchable event list with tag filtering, an interactive campus map with event pins, and a dynamic calendar.
What makes SideQuest unique is its approach to incentivizing participation. Students earn points for attending events, with leaderboards showcasing the most engaged users. Top participants can receive monthly rewards, encouraging students to explore diverse campus activities.
“The Entrepreneurial Excellence Award is an incredible vote of confidence in us as we continue building a solution to low student engagement and growing as entrepreneurs,” shared Gavin Higgins. “Thanks to the Hurt Hub––its staff, supporters, and community––we’re now pursuing opportunities we once thought were out of reach.”
With their $2,500 award, the team plans to finalize the platform’s core infrastructure and ensure a successful campus-wide rollout. They’ve already developed a minimum viable product with core functionality, including event listing, calendar integration, and basic user accounts.
Fostering Innovation Through the Nisbet Venture Fund
The Nisbet Venture Fund, established in 2014 through generous support from Marian Nisbet and Chip Nisbet ’86, provides Davidson students and recent alumni the opportunity to compete for up to $32,500 in grants and investment for their innovative, for-profit ventures.
This annual business development program and pitch competition prepares finalists through coaching and mentorship from seasoned entrepreneurs and business professionals before they pitch to a panel of investors and entrepreneurs.
The Entrepreneurial Excellence Award specifically recognizes the team that has demonstrated exceptional dedication to learning, mentorship, and growth throughout the program—qualities that Cope and Higgins exemplified.
From Classroom to Campus: A Student-Led Solution
What makes SideQuest particularly compelling is that it was conceived, designed, and developed by students to solve a problem they personally experience. The team previously received the “Try-It Fund” from the Hurt Hub, which they used to secure subscriptions to Bubble for app design, Google Admin and SendGrid for email services, and the domain sidequestdavidson.com.
Looking ahead, Cope and Higgins aim to implement seamless event updates, optimize their recommendation engine, and develop a native mobile app. They’ve planned for comprehensive usability testing and are working on developing pathways for organizations to easily post their events.
Their business model offers multiple potential revenue streams: a shared-upside revenue model, free for local businesses who get more student engagement and customers.,
Supporting Davidson’s Entrepreneurial Ecosystem
The success of Cope and Higgins highlights the Hurt Hub@Davidson’s commitment to fostering innovation and entrepreneurship within the Davidson community. By supporting student-led ventures like SideQuest, the Hurt Hub helps transform classroom learning into real-world solutions.
As SideQuest prepares for a potential campus launch as early as Orientation 2025, the Davidson community can look forward to a more connected, engaged campus experience—thanks to the vision of two entrepreneurial first-year students and the support of the Try-It and Nisbet Venture Funds.
To find out more about SideQuest visit SideQuestDavidson.com or reach out to Niko Cope (nicope@davidson.edu). Learn more about the Nisbet Venture Fund and other entrepreneurial opportunities at the Hurt Hub@Davidson by visiting https://hurthub.davidson.edu/.
