About UMSL Accelerate Innovate

ShareAs an entrepreneur, we don’t know all the answers. There are too many roles to play when starting a business, and can seem impossible with our limited resources and know how. But there’s good news for the local entrepreneur community. The University of Missouri- St. Louis (UMSL) now offers entrepreneurs and small business owners in the community some resources that will help them thrive. UMSL Accelerate, UMSL’s award winning and nationally recognized entrepreneurship & innovation resource, is inviting entrepreneurs in the local community to take advantage of a program, used by its very own students and faculty, to start and […]

UMSL Accelerate Launches Initiative to Help Community Entrepreneurs Thrive

 in Entrepreneur in Residence / Innovate by
SharePatrick Davis is in his last year at UMSL and working on his own business called Illlumenessence that focuses on custom automotive lighting. His story perfectly showcases an entrepreneurial journey. Hi Patrick, could you tell us a little bit about you? Hi, absolutely! I am graduating in the fall with a major in marketing and a minor in digital media. I will also earn my Certificate in Entrepreneurship. In addition to my academics, I work on my own custom automotive lighting company. Which entrepreneurship classes did you take? What have you learned from them? I have taken the Introduction to […]

Custom Automotive Lighting from an UMSL Student Entrepreneur

 in EC@UMSL / Entrepreneur in Residence / Entrepreneurship Courses / Interdisciplinary Entrepreneurship Certificate by
ShareUMSL Accelerate provides many entrepreneurship courses, a world-class entrepreneurship certificate and fosters innovation and entrepreneurship through the Entrepreneur in Residence program. Jake Schmidt, Founder at Fidgetly, is one of the students who enrolled in the EiR program and regularly meets our successful mentors for guidance and help. Tamas Javor: Jake, please tell me a little bit about yourself and your entrepreneurial endeavors. Jake: I started my entrepreneurial journey when I was in 4th grade going to Costco buying candy bars in bulk and then selling them to my fellow classmates.  From there I started a lawn care business with two […]

Fidgetly – The Smart Fidget Spinner

 in Entrepreneur in Residence / Innovate by
ShareLast year, I came up with an idea for a tech startup to help retention rates at Universities. I conducted some initial research and decided this is a venture I need to pursue. The only problem was I didn’t know where to start. This is understandable considering I have no tech experience, never started my own business, and never worked with a startup. I am 20-year-old Finance student at the University of Missouri – St. Louis, where do I start? I heard about Entrepreneur in Residence in the spring of 2017 and how it helps the UMSL community take ideas […]

How I Became a CEO

 in Entrepreneur in Residence / Innovate by
ShareA college education is a wonderful thing. Unfortunately for entrepreneurs, attending a four-year university also carries some significant drawbacks. The latest data on student loan debt from Debt.org tells a grim story for new graduates: The average debt at graduation is now more than $37,172 per student. Related: Does a College Degree Still Matter? For anyone entering the job market, a college degree is simply the price of admission. Entrepreneurs, however, need more than a piece of paper; they need relevant, hands-on skills they can use to succeed in the real world. For new and established founders, getting the most […]

3 Real-World Tactics Entrepreneurs Should Take Advantage of During (and ...

 in EC@UMSL / Educate / Interdisciplinary Entrepreneurship Certificate / Useful Tips by
ShareEntrepreneur in Residence (EIR) is a program, powered by UMSL Accelerate, that gives all University of Missouri – St. Louis students, faculty, and community members the opportunity to receive mentorship from professionals in the field on how to turn ideas from mind to market. This program is open to individuals of all majors and backgrounds. It doesn’t matter if you are pursuing a science, nursing or business degree. As long as you have an idea with a desire to turn it into the next best thing, you are eligible to take advantage of this program! Over time, it has been […]

Why EIR at UMSL?

 in Entrepreneur in Residence / Innovate by
Share Atop a breezy afternoon in Budapest, Tamas Javor was taking a walk down the street with his grandfather. He told his grandson that he would give him a quarter for every car he could name (make and model) on that street. A few blocks later, his grandfather quit the bet; Tamas, only 5 years old at the time, was already becoming too expensive. He loved cars and numbers, and knew, even at a young age, that finance would be in his future. He went on to attend the prestigious Corvinus University of Budapest, the top finance and economics institution […]

Driving Entrepreneurship

 in EC@UMSL / UMSL Accelerate / UMSL Accelerate Staff / UMSL Alumni by
Share   This year, the smart minds at UMSL wanted a kind of program where students could gain the entrepreneurial knowledge and experience needed to run their own business, but strategically through entrepreneurship courses, start-up experience, and mentorship. So then came the birth of the Entrepreneurial Scholars and Interns Program (ESIP). Last year, ESIP launched to introduce students from different degree programs to entrepreneurial principles and practices that’ll creates a network of connections centered on entrepreneurship. Winners of this contest will receive 3 to 4 approved entrepreneurial-related courses and engage in a 10-week, paid summer internship. We got a chance […]

Turning Dreams Into Scholarships

 in Entrepreneurial Scholars and Interns Program / Innovate / UM System by
ShareRyan Allis and Aaron Houghton met at an entrepreneurship club while attending the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Within three days of meeting, the two had the idea for their company iContact that helps small businesses manage their e-mail marketing. iContact now has 63,000 customers and generated $26.5 million in revenue last year. With the creation of entrepreneurship clubs, colleges and universities across the country are becoming small business development incubators. Today college students are part of a critical generation that will further economic recovery. The foundational role of startups in this economy makes an entrepreneurship club an […]

The Best Club on Campus: EC At UMSL

 in EC@UMSL / Innovate by
Share(From left to right: Mohammad Aljamaan, Rajabu Obede, Nino Obanor, Yaniv Dudaie)By Shante Gordon  By now, it’s no secret! Five to seven lucky companies, young entrepreneurs like yourself, will be handpicked by the Ameren Accelerator team for a chance at 100k in funding for their start up plus perks. With orientation and results on exactly which companies are going to be participating, only a little over a month away, we wanted to ask some of the business savvy students who applied how their company will help the future of clean energy, what do they wish to gain from some of […]

My Dormmate Is An Entrepreneur -The Ameren Accelerator Interns

 in Ameren Accelerator / Ameren Accelerator Internship / Innovate / UMSL Accelerate  tagged Accelerator / Ameren / Applicants / Entrepreneur / UMSL by
ShareThis is us… With a more recent start to our club and only 2 physical meetings, you would think the Entrepreneurship Club at the University of Missouri – St. Louis is naive, possibly callow, or maybe even amateur.  The truth is, the EC@UMSL is none of the above.  It may be young but there is a respected and knowledgeable team that leads the club and can deliver valuable knowledge to anyone that has an idea for a business that could use some direction, an existing business that needs some fine tuning, or just if the thought that being your own […]

EC@UMSL- Giving You the Tools to Be Your Own Boss!

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