Photos by Alexandra Scoville
More than 200 people gathered at Seed Spot’s headquarters in midtown Phoenix to celebrate their third class of ventures Thursday evening.
The 11 new ventures in the full-time incubation program cover industries including health, human rights, civic engagement, environment and education. Whether nonprofit or for-profit, all of the entrepreneurs aim to create innovative solutions for social ills.
“The community that comes out to support our entrepreneurs is also just inspired,” co-founder Courtney Klein Johnson said. ”It’s really interesting because every year different people come and so the community continues to grow.”
To score the opportunity to develop their businesses for four months with Seed Spot, the ventures first had to go through a rigorous application process.
The original pool of applicants numbered hundreds from around the world. A nine-person selection committee including Seed Spot alumni and leaders in companies like Intel and Kiva reviewed the applications with Seed Spot staff.
This is the smallest class of Seed Spot ventures yet, with the first numbering 13 and the second with 17.
“We took fewer companies this year, and that was intentional,” Johnson said. “We really wanted to spend more time with each of them.”
The smaller size wasn’t the only change in the selection process from the past two classes of ventures, Johnson said. Seed Spot tightened its focus this year, concentrating on health, civic engagement and human rights more than past classes.
One of the new ventures is Tiny Steps to Health, an organization that aims to create health coaching programs in doctors’ offices to help their patients with lifestyle changes, said creator Nadaa Taiyab.
“It came out of the fact of a universal thing, from an epidemic of obesity, diabetes and heart disease,” Taiyab said. “And those are conditions that can be treated by, and even prevented, and even reversed, through your lifestyle.”
Taiyab created the Health and Wellness Entrepreneurs Club at ASU, where she studies nutrition and dietetics. She also served as the vice president for a medical software company. With Tiny Steps to Health, she wants to bring her experiences together.
“I wanted to take my passion for business and for health and behavior changes and put it together to create something,” she said.
So far, Taiyab is excited to be with Seed Spot for the connections and validation of her idea.
Another entrepreneur who appreciates the validation Seed Spot brings is Kyle Underseth.
At age 15, Underseth founded his first nonprofit called One Love. He aimed for it to fund scholarships for students in need in El Salvador. But no matter the hours Underseth put into One Love, the project never worked out.
“So I thought, instead of trying to start another nonprofit, why don’t I try to start a way for people to help sustain nonprofits,” he said.
His idea, TableTop, would allow diners to partner with restaurants who need to fill seats. The diners would choose a restaurant and then an organization to receive a piece of their meal cost as a donation.
“It’s just our way of allowing people to get into communities, support local businesses and make social progress,” he said.
Underseth applied for the incubation program within 48 hours of the deadline, staying up until 2 a.m. as he struggled to finish his application with a broken arm. He never believed he’d nab a spot.
“It’s complete validation of something that you believe so strongly in,” he said. “It’s knowing that there are other people out there who believe in your idea and want to help you. That alone was one of the coolest moments.”
The 11 ventures will go through a 16-week curriculum with each week devoted to a different lesson or development goal. Their studies are helped along by mentors, industry experts and Seed Spot staff.
Aside from the main venture program, Seed Spot also offers an evening class that runs for 14 weeks that teaches a shortened version of the venture program, a support program for alumni, and a 10-day workshop for high school students starting this summer.
Between these four programs, Seed Spot has advanced more than 100 ventures, together generating more than $815,000 in capital.
When the program ends, the entrepreneurs will pitch their companies at Demo Day on June 4. Between the kickoff party and then, Seed Spot will host weekly Venture Fridays, open to the public and investors, where the ventures will practice their pitches.
Contact the reporter at ascovill@asu.edu
