Ball State awards entrepreneurship grants
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Ball State University is awarding grant funding to seven students through its Entrepreneurship Center. The university says the funding is part of a pre-seed grant available to all students to support venture development.
Students can apply for up to $2,500 in funding intended to help develop and advance business ventures. Ball State says funding has historically been used to conduct market surveys, create digital renderings, and earn certifications.
“We had a record-breaking number of applications this semester due to increased marketing efforts of the Pre-Seed Fund,” said Marie Thompson, program coordinator of the Entrepreneurship Center. “We have historically seen students unable to take the next step in their venture development because they personally lack the funding, yet are still too early in the process to seek out a bank loan or angel investors. The Pre-Seed Fund has allowed us to show students that their ideas are marketable and achievable while allowing them to overcome some of those financial obstacles.”
The students receiving funds are listed below:
Charlie Agnew – Agnew is receiving funding for his concept, Charlie’s Helping Hands, a local service-based business aimed at helping Muncie residents accomplish tasks around their homes. The funding will be used to purchase a snowblower to expand service offerings through the winter.
Lucas Gotceitas – Gotceitas is using the grant to expand his venture, Friggin’ Fishing. The business creates lures and bait for fishing, and the funding will be used for plastisol, the material used to make the lures, as well as marketing materials.
Michael Habegger – Habegger is receiving funding for his video production company Out The Box Media. The funding will be used to upgrade his tripod and develop a website to further market his services.
Jack Jones – Jones will use the funding to expand the services offered by his mobile laser tag company, which offers laser tag sets for corporate events and birthday parties.
Francys King – King is offering pitching lessons through her venture concept and will use the funding to purchase equipment.
Kortni Minter – Minter is expanding her lip gloss company Lucent Lips. The grant will be used to purchase a lip gloss dispenser for trade shows, continue making lip gloss, and a Shopify subscription to sell the goods online.
Hunter Seagraves – Seagraves is expanding his vintage clothing resale company Matchbox Clothing. The funding will assist in improving his marketing strategies, purchasing upgraded software, and acquiring shipping equipment.