Edson awards $200,000 to companies designed by students

Sixteen fledgling businesses operated by Arizona State University students have received a total of $200,000 in grants from the Edson Student Entrepreneur Initiative to help them become established.

The student-owned enterprises will receive between $2,000 and $20,000 each in seed capital and will be provided office space at SkySong, ASU’s innovation center at McDowell and Scottsdale roads in Scottsdale.

Nearly 150 student entrepreneurs applied for funding this year. Winners were chosen based on an initial application process and a live presentation to a panel of seven judges.

“The presentations and business plans from the top groups were quite impressive,” said Dan Clarke, president of Specialty Retail Shops, an e-commerce company, who was one of the seven judges.

The winning ventures ranged from an online cheerleading community to a shop that manufactures high-performance skateboard components.

The Edson program was created four years ago from a $5.4 million endowment presented to the university by Orin Edson, founder of Bayliner boats, who wanted to encourage student entrepreneurs.

The program doesn’t provide class credit, and all businesses are run in the student’s free time.

Several ventures that received funding in the past have continued in business after the students left the university, said Terree Wasley, director of innovation and entrepreneurship at SkySong.

“One of our second-year companies has moved into their own commercial space and hired employees,” she said. “Another nonprofit leases its own space. Some have found out they didn’t have a market for their products. But the main point is the learning experience for the students.”

Award winners
2008-09 Edson Student Entrepreneur Initiative award winners:
• Community Snap of Az — Delivers spay and neuter programs to rural, low-income Arizona communities whose animals are at high risk of being killed because of lack of resources.
• Crisp — Designs ecologically sustainable and adjustable footwear for women.
• Desert Solar — Developing a prototype SL-1000 solar panel that generates solar thermal energy for individual homes.
• Emusicinstruction.com — Delivers live, interactive music instruction for students of all skill levels via consumer webcam technology.
• Energy Derived — Designs and manufactures an algae dewatering system for production of algae oils as an alternative energy source.
• EZ Bio — Provides biotechnology tools that aid youth in developing scientific outlook.
• FairTree Studios — A design, illustration and motion graphics studio providing creative services for the local art community.
• Genghis Skate — Specializes in the design and manufacturing of deluxe, high-performance skateboard components.
• Las Otras Hermanas — A socially conscious, equitable-trade clothing line committed to creating social change through responsible consumption. It aims to create a living wage for women producers in Mexico, provide educational opportunities for children in that community and facilitate social awareness of issues affecting women through the production of quality garments and accessories.
• Live Languages — Helps foreign-language learners by using innovative Web-based teaching tools.
• Sideline Star LLC — Connects cheerleading and dance industry participants and vendors through an online social network, offering live events, video tutorials and subscription access to premium features.
• Solar Ionix — Developing a low-cost solar-energy conversion technology called “silicon paint.”
• Spatial Analytic Microbial Imaging — Developing a new tool for imaging and analyzing microbes.
• Textfinity — Provides text-messaging services between businesses and consumers.
• Tutela Health — Provides solutions that simplify the interactions between long-term care facilities and families.
• The Virtual Teacher — Develops free innovative techniques to help K-12 teachers integrate technology into their classroom and interact with their students in a virtual environment.