HiveLend was awarded Best of Boot Camp at the conclusion of Ann Arbor SPARK’s 26th Entrepreneur Boot Camp. HiveLend was chosen as winner by a panel of investors and industry experts who rated Boot Camp participants’ pitches. Ann Arbor SPARK’s Boot Camp program is funded by the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti SmartZone (LDFA).
HiveLend is a web-platform enabling communication between farmers and beekeepers through a proprietary, matching algorithm.
“Ann Arbor SPARK’s Entrepreneur Boot Camp was instrumental in HiveLend’s evolution this winter,” said Nicholas Zajciw, HiveLend founder. “The feedback we received throughout Boot Camp was invaluable and helped us to refine HiveLend as a whole. I am especially thankful for the work my drill instructor, Mark Ritz, put into ensuring our success.”
Ann Arbor SPARK’s Boot Camp process quickly and effectively validates and focuses an entrepreneur’s business idea. Compared to other entrepreneur education programs that concentrate on teaching how to write a business plan, Boot Camp gives business founders the tools to decide if their idea is worth executing.
This boot camp video highlights past winners and Ann Arbor SPARK’s impact on entrepreneurism in the Ann Arbor region.
“Entrepreneur Boot Camp is a great example of Ann Arbor SPARK’s work to develop our region’s economy today, and strengthen it for the future,” said Paul Krutko, Ann Arbor SPARK president and CEO. “Today’s startup businesses are the companies that will attract investment and create jobs tomorrow. HiveLend shows how innovation can be born out of any number of market needs, and that Ann Arbor’s entrepreneur ecosystem can nurture a range of tech companies.”
More than 100 entrepreneurs, drill instructors, and mentors participated in Ann Arbor SPARK’s 26th Entrepreneur Boot Camp. A bi-annual program, Boot Camp has assisted more than 500 companies since 2002.
Ann Arbor SPARK will host its next Entrepreneurial Boot Camp in the fall of 2015.
Watch this video for more information about SPARK’s entrepreneurial services.
Ann Arbor SPARK’s entrepreneurial services, including Boot Camp, are funded by the by the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti SmartZone (LDFA). The LDFA provides the capital needed to facilitate the development of private, high-tech enterprises and commercialization of research products being developed at the University of Michigan and Eastern Michigan University and within the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti SmartZone.
