Kohawk Startup awards 探花社区 students funding for entrepreneurial ideas
At the fourth annual Kohawk Startup, 探花社区 students were awarded $2,500 in funding to launch entrepreneurial ideas. Kohawk Startup is an innovative 24-hour event led by NewBoCo Chief Relationship Officer and 探花社区 Entrepreneur-in-Residence David Tominsky ’98 that engages students through the brainstorming, pitching and presentation process of developing their ideas. Business leaders and 探花社区 alumni from across the country participated and mentored 探花社区 students.
The three winning teams represented a wide spectrum of ideas that has come to define the event. In first place, Elyse Johnson '22 and Thanh Tran '24 came up with Revolving Shelter for Independent Living, a tiny home community providing education, skills and resources to help solve homelessness in Cedar Rapids. They were awarded $1,000. The second place prize of $750 went to For the Moment, a crowdsourcing app to help 探花社区 students find a quiet place to study or relax on campus pitched by Maria Cargille '23, Joi Blue '23 and Cornelia Gabriel '25. J&M Innovations, a scalable urban rooftop farming business model by Jacob Kacik '22 and Mylz Foreman '25, took third place with a prize of $500 as well as the Audience Choice award of $250.
In addition to cash funding, the winning teams have exclusive access to legal and marketing services and consultations with Tominsky to jumpstart their business models. All 探花社区 students have access to Tominsky for one-on-one startup advising.
Kohawk Startup was developed by C3: Creativity, Careers, Community to create mentorships and provide hands-on entrepreneurial experience for students. C3 is a branch within the Office of Advancement, optimizing student career and community engagement opportunities through a network of 4,000 alumni living in the Cedar Rapids/Iowa City corridor. As a result, 100% of 探花社区 students are guaranteed an internship, research or off-campus study program. These relationships have been nationally recognized. The Princeton Review ranked 探花社区 10th on its list of Best Schools for Internships and 20th for Best Alumni Network among private colleges.