IU professor’s cello platform wins business competition
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The Mill, Bloomington’s nonprofit center for entrepreneurship, is honoring IU Associate Professor of Music Jamie Tagg as the winner of the Crossroads Idea Competition. Celadore, Tagg’s cello platform concept, will receive $2,500 from The Mill’s Flywheel Fund as a part of the winnings.
Tagg’s business concept, Celadore, is a performance riser for cellists soloing with orchestras, billing itself as “the world’s first acoustically optimized and modular cello podium.” According to Tagg, the platform harnesses the vibration of the cello’s endpin and makes the instrument louder and clearer.
“Celadore is a perfect example of how great business ideas are born,” said Andy Lehman, head of accelerator programming at The Mill. “When someone like Jamie has expertise in a particular area, in this case musical sound and performance, they develop insights into that industry’s unique problems. And when you create a needed solution to one of those problems, that’s entrepreneurship. The key is creating a terrific solution to a pain point.”
Tagg plans to use the prize money to create a prototype design to develop a manufacturable and cost-effective product for market. The startup plans to launch the product direct to consumer and ultimately license the manufacturing.
“There is no question that these resources have set me and my company up for success as we move from a simple prototype to a commercially viable product and company!” Tagg said.
The other finalists included Kristin Cummings, Andrew Riordan, Tyler Jones, and Jack Megnin.
Crossroads Idea Competition was launched in 2020.