BMC Global Alumni Success Stories
2018
Curtis Kennedy- Vertiball (University of New Brunswick)
"At the start of the 2017/2018 school year we made the decision to go full steam ahead at trying to start the business. Like many startups, we lacked the capital necessary to commercialize our first product. After hearing about a series of Business Model/Business plan competitions with cash prizes, we believed that if we worked hard at it and won some of them it would give us what we needed to get started. The BMC Global was the last competition of the circuit. From the various competitions we competed in over the course of the school year we managed to win around $38,000 in prize money. We leveraged our new source of cashflow to raise more capital through a variety of government programs and financial institution organizations. By September 2018 we had managed to raise around $400,000 of non-dilutive capital; the amount we needed for a sufficient runway to execute on our go to market strategy. In December 2018 we arrived at the final version of our product that we would take to market (Version 220). Immediately after we invested in plastic injection molds to mass produce our flagship product (vertiball). While the molds were in production we ran we ran a 30-day Kickstarter campaign that raised $61,000 CAD. The campaign served as a useful source of cashflow, but more importantly it gave is significant customer validation.
The BMC Global was an invaluable learning experience that continues to guide our efforts to this day. In a startup you are constantly forced to make decisions that you have no experience with and It is easy to get slowed down by uncertainty. In life, our best decisions are made when we go with our "gut feeling" because it is the culmination of everything we've ever learned. In a sense, the business model canvas represents the "gut feeling" of your business and when faced with hard choices it is important to trust it. At the BMC Global we learned to use the business model canvas as a roadmap to guide our decisions as it is a template that represents everything we've learned on our journey."
"At the start of the 2017/2018 school year we made the decision to go full steam ahead at trying to start the business. Like many startups, we lacked the capital necessary to commercialize our first product. After hearing about a series of Business Model/Business plan competitions with cash prizes, we believed that if we worked hard at it and won some of them it would give us what we needed to get started. The BMC Global was the last competition of the circuit. From the various competitions we competed in over the course of the school year we managed to win around $38,000 in prize money. We leveraged our new source of cashflow to raise more capital through a variety of government programs and financial institution organizations. By September 2018 we had managed to raise around $400,000 of non-dilutive capital; the amount we needed for a sufficient runway to execute on our go to market strategy. In December 2018 we arrived at the final version of our product that we would take to market (Version 220). Immediately after we invested in plastic injection molds to mass produce our flagship product (vertiball). While the molds were in production we ran we ran a 30-day Kickstarter campaign that raised $61,000 CAD. The campaign served as a useful source of cashflow, but more importantly it gave is significant customer validation.
The BMC Global was an invaluable learning experience that continues to guide our efforts to this day. In a startup you are constantly forced to make decisions that you have no experience with and It is easy to get slowed down by uncertainty. In life, our best decisions are made when we go with our "gut feeling" because it is the culmination of everything we've ever learned. In a sense, the business model canvas represents the "gut feeling" of your business and when faced with hard choices it is important to trust it. At the BMC Global we learned to use the business model canvas as a roadmap to guide our decisions as it is a template that represents everything we've learned on our journey."
Nico Aguilar- Speeko (The University of Iowa)
"Preparing for and competing in the BMC Global was truly a transformational experience for Speeko. At the competition, the judges had a broad range of expertise and gave us fantastic feedback to improve our business model. To this day we remain in close contact with one judge in particular who has helped us think through several important strategic decisions. This helped pave the way towards launching our mobile app in October 2018, which is now helping tens of thousands of users worldwide improve their public speaking skills."
"Preparing for and competing in the BMC Global was truly a transformational experience for Speeko. At the competition, the judges had a broad range of expertise and gave us fantastic feedback to improve our business model. To this day we remain in close contact with one judge in particular who has helped us think through several important strategic decisions. This helped pave the way towards launching our mobile app in October 2018, which is now helping tens of thousands of users worldwide improve their public speaking skills."
Mahdi Eghbali- Verdilife (The University of Iowa)
"VerdiLife strives to make Earth a healthier planet by replacing harmful chemicals in agriculture with all-natural materials. Our technology decomposes all types of biomass into fully organic fertilizer and pesticide for commercial agriculture purposes. Our long-term plan is to invest, install, and run several decentralized plants across the U.S. to help mitigate the negative impacts of agro-chemicals in agriculture while improving the waste management ecosystem. Since leaving the BMC Global VerdiLife has gone on to raise over $145,000 in non-diluted funding through collegiate and state-run business competitions. Our current goal is to finalize the required registrations and market our first batch of wood vinegar by the end of summer 2019."
"VerdiLife strives to make Earth a healthier planet by replacing harmful chemicals in agriculture with all-natural materials. Our technology decomposes all types of biomass into fully organic fertilizer and pesticide for commercial agriculture purposes. Our long-term plan is to invest, install, and run several decentralized plants across the U.S. to help mitigate the negative impacts of agro-chemicals in agriculture while improving the waste management ecosystem. Since leaving the BMC Global VerdiLife has gone on to raise over $145,000 in non-diluted funding through collegiate and state-run business competitions. Our current goal is to finalize the required registrations and market our first batch of wood vinegar by the end of summer 2019."
2017
Mei Wang- Instapath (Tulane University)
"After BMC Global we won a few more student business competitions. I graduated in Dec 2017, and since then I have been working for the company full-time. We were a part of Masschallenge (2018), TMCx (2018) and Y Combinator (2019) accelerators. We were awarded NSF STTR Phase I grant (2018) and Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas product development grant (2019). We are also a part of JLabs at Texas Medical Center since Jan 2019. Our team grew from 4 people to 8 people. We are launching our first research product next month and first clinical product in 2020. Winning BMC Global was our first major validation, without BMC Global we would never have been able to achieve all of these."
"After BMC Global we won a few more student business competitions. I graduated in Dec 2017, and since then I have been working for the company full-time. We were a part of Masschallenge (2018), TMCx (2018) and Y Combinator (2019) accelerators. We were awarded NSF STTR Phase I grant (2018) and Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas product development grant (2019). We are also a part of JLabs at Texas Medical Center since Jan 2019. Our team grew from 4 people to 8 people. We are launching our first research product next month and first clinical product in 2020. Winning BMC Global was our first major validation, without BMC Global we would never have been able to achieve all of these."
Camila Vivallo- Oliber (Pontifical Catholic University of Chile)
"Our experience after the BMC Global has been great! Firstable, we were very honoured to be part of such competition, and seeing how far we got with a non-tech product, among so many huge tech projects, was unbelievable and once again, made us believe even more on Oliber and how something so simple is changing so many lives.
Thanks to the BMC Global we were on different media and on the press and also gave us a different value. It validated us even more and people started to look at our company in a different way. We also connected with many people and made great relationships with other competitors, and got connected when we visited their home countries. It was an amazing experience for our company and for us to meet people with the same approach to life and entrepreneurship."
"Our experience after the BMC Global has been great! Firstable, we were very honoured to be part of such competition, and seeing how far we got with a non-tech product, among so many huge tech projects, was unbelievable and once again, made us believe even more on Oliber and how something so simple is changing so many lives.
Thanks to the BMC Global we were on different media and on the press and also gave us a different value. It validated us even more and people started to look at our company in a different way. We also connected with many people and made great relationships with other competitors, and got connected when we visited their home countries. It was an amazing experience for our company and for us to meet people with the same approach to life and entrepreneurship."
2016
Matthew Rooda- SwineTech (The University of Iowa)
"SwineTech is an animal health company that creates artificially intelligent devices that aid pork producers in creating a more efficient workplace, while ensuring that no piglet is left behind.
Winning the BMC Global helped create credibility around what we were doing and kept our business going. I was overwhelmed by how well prepared and helpful the event was for our team. We got to meet with world class advisors that helped us a lot."
"SwineTech is an animal health company that creates artificially intelligent devices that aid pork producers in creating a more efficient workplace, while ensuring that no piglet is left behind.
Winning the BMC Global helped create credibility around what we were doing and kept our business going. I was overwhelmed by how well prepared and helpful the event was for our team. We got to meet with world class advisors that helped us a lot."
Dylan Baxter- Borealis Wind (University of British Columbia)
"At the BMC Global, our company Borealis Wind Turbine Solutions received both constructive criticism and genuine encouragement from judges, spectators, and other start-ups. We took their feedback, continued our technical development, adjusted our business model, incorporated as Borealis Wind Inc., won the 2016 Fierce Founders pitch competition in Waterloo Ontario and used that funding to truly launch the company. We have raised over $900k in public funding, secured $168k in revenue during our pilot stage, and are looking to close a $2mm investment round this summer to help our company scale-up our production to 3x our past year's capabilities. The BMC Global and lean canvas helped Borealis Wind develop and concisely show our sustainable business model, operation goals, and execution plan to the public. This in turn helped us generate enough publicly funded capital to break into the closed-off wind energy industry."
"At the BMC Global, our company Borealis Wind Turbine Solutions received both constructive criticism and genuine encouragement from judges, spectators, and other start-ups. We took their feedback, continued our technical development, adjusted our business model, incorporated as Borealis Wind Inc., won the 2016 Fierce Founders pitch competition in Waterloo Ontario and used that funding to truly launch the company. We have raised over $900k in public funding, secured $168k in revenue during our pilot stage, and are looking to close a $2mm investment round this summer to help our company scale-up our production to 3x our past year's capabilities. The BMC Global and lean canvas helped Borealis Wind develop and concisely show our sustainable business model, operation goals, and execution plan to the public. This in turn helped us generate enough publicly funded capital to break into the closed-off wind energy industry."
2015
Dallas Crum- Vivid Roots (Boise State University)
"After the BMC Global we have continued to grow our business and make pivots. - Our ultimate mission has been to inspire people to live life VIVIDLY and help those in need along the way. When we started we sold gear (t-shirts, hats, water bottles) online as our revenue stream and used proceeds to help build clean water systems. We still some gear but our main focus is now taking people on life-changing Impact Adventures where they can help increase access to clean water, education and health services to underserved communities while on their trip. Competing in the BMC Global helped us to really focus on our Business Model Canvas that has still guided us today."
"After the BMC Global we have continued to grow our business and make pivots. - Our ultimate mission has been to inspire people to live life VIVIDLY and help those in need along the way. When we started we sold gear (t-shirts, hats, water bottles) online as our revenue stream and used proceeds to help build clean water systems. We still some gear but our main focus is now taking people on life-changing Impact Adventures where they can help increase access to clean water, education and health services to underserved communities while on their trip. Competing in the BMC Global helped us to really focus on our Business Model Canvas that has still guided us today."
