ASU student ventures named ‘Coolest College Startups of 2012’
Posted: March 19, 2012
Arizona Pro DJs and G3Box, two student startups in ASU’s Edson Student Entrepreneur Initiative, have been named to Inc. Magazine’s list of “Coolest College Startups of 2012.” They are both finalists in an online competition to choose a voter favorite among 18 college startups.
“Tomorrow’s big business may be today’s dorm room invention,” said the magazine editors. “From a personalized electric motor bike to pop-up medical clinics, the 2012 class of our annual college startups was founded on the mission to give back to the world’s communities, be on the cutting edge of innovation, and have fun while doing it.”
The magazine selected startup ventures that “are fresh, innovative, founded with a social mission, and may very well be the next Google or Facebook.”
G3Box creates low-cost medical clinics from abandoned steel shipping containers that can be customized for the needs of the remote locations, particularly in third-world countries. G3Box outfits them with the basic components of power, ventilation, potable water and insulation to create sustainable medical clinics that address critical health needs both in the U.S. market and internationally.
Arizona Pro DJs provides high-quality and innovative event entertainment solutions. The company began by catering to teen events, taking care of every aspect from the lights to security, marketing and music. Launched in 2007, the business has about a dozen employees and is currently experiencing rapid expansion. They coordinate corporate events, private events, school dances and dance parties.
“I am extremely honored to be featured as one of the coolest college based companies in the United States,” said Will Curran, founder and CEO of Arizona Pro DJs. “Our team is very excited to finally be recognized for all the hard work we have done.”
Recently, Curran was the youngest person featured in the Arizona Republic’s “35 under 35” – a list of the top 35 entrepreneurs under the age of 35 in the Phoenix Metro area. The company’s Facebook page was recently named in the top five Facebook pages for small businesses in the world, and the company has been a regular on Arizona television stations in recent months.
Susanna Young, co-founder and CEO of G3Box, said the team is honored to have been chosen as one of the finalists.
“It is a great way to garner more support for our company,” Young said. “Being featured on the Inc. website will help us expand our network and partnerships, and hopefully inspire others to start something they are passionate about.”
The G3Box team also was announced as the winner of the Entrepreneur magazine’s “College Entrepreneur of the Year” in January this year.
To see who is currently winning the Inc magazine competition, and to vote for the ASU student ventures, please click on this link: http://www.inc.com/coolest-college-start-ups-2012/videos.html? Click “like” next to the company you want to vote for.
G3Box also is in the running for the Dell Social Innovation awards. This is also a vote-based competition. Vote here: http://www.dellchallenge.org/projects/g3box-generating-global-good
The Edson Initiative is a startup accelerator, part of ASU Venture Catalyst, which provides funding in addition to office space, mentorship and training for ASU student startups. The program is one of the largest privately funded business plan competitions at a U.S. university.
“We are very proud of the companies in the Edson program,” said Gordon McConnell, director of venture acceleration at ASU SkySong. “The companies coming out of the student startup accelerator are doing amazing work, generating revenue and gaining national exposure.”
