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November 2023 | The Hill Institute Newsroom | |
What are we thankful for? We’re thankful for the most engaging year our Institute has ever seen, thankful for growing the number of lives we’re impacting, thankful for the powerful community of Greenville, SC, and thankful to our generous supporters, partners, and sponsors – without whom, our programs and efforts on campus and in the community would not exist.
This past month at The Hill Institute was full of Furman’s two favorite words, “innovation” and “significance.” November saw many highs, from witnessing nearly a dozen Furman students pitch some ground-breaking new ideas at our Mini Pitch Competition, to hosting a record-breaking crowd in the heart of downtown Greenville to explore AI and its role in our lives, both now and in the future.
In addition, we also celebrated the graduation of our 3rd Clemens Angel Analyst Fellowship, a night that left everyone glowingly reminiscent of the past 10 weeks.
We invite you to join us as we roll back the tapes and highlight this month’s wins and see what great things we have in store for our last month of 2023!
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Advantage Greenville
This Fall’s Advantage Greenville forum buzzed with excitement as leaders from Google, dotflo, and Build Carolina convened for an impactful discussion surrounding AI and the future of business. We started the morning with coffee and connection; our networking portion of the event brought together a broad audience ranging from business executives and civic leaders to Furman alumni, staff, and faculty.
Our lineup featured powerhouse speakers like Patrick Musau, Ph.D., of Google's AI Accelerator Performance Team, dotflo's dynamic Co-Founders and 2023 Paladin Pitch Champions, Spencer Tate ’24 and Nemath Ahmed, and the visionary Lelia King from Build Carolina. We were thrilled to have Garrett Stern of Furman University's Center for Innovative Leadership expertly moderate the spirited panel discussion, leaving our audience both inspired and educated.
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Clemens Angel Analyst Fellowship
Our prestigious Clemens Angel Analyst Fellowship Alumni gained 16 new members this past month as we celebrated the conclusion of our 3rd class. So far 33 students have successfully completed the program to date with a handful selected to take a coveted internship role with VentureSouth.
Though each cohort has brought their own unique talents, skills, and academic diversity, there has been something truly special about the 2023 Fellowship that our team will forever revere. Please join us in celebrating this year’s graduating class!
See the graduates
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Mini Pitch Competition
This falls' Mini Pitch Competition, in partnership with Furman Panhellenic and Furman University’s Student Entrepreneurship Association (FUSEA), saw its greatest number of participants to date earlier this month.
With ten stellar student pitches, our judges were hard pressed to decide the winner and recipient of our $500 prize. Jack Travis, a member of the Furman Men’s Soccer Team, creator of Cleat Clinger, took home gold for his pitch.
Special thanks to Steve Stewart, Furman’s Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship, who helped expertly prep many of these students!
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Team and Student Highlights | |
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Student Spotlight
Aubrey Zoodsma '26, a 2023 Paladin Pitch Finalist, is set to launch her venture next month! Astrea, a custom jewelry company designed for sorority members will bring elegance and quality tennis bracelets into the hands of excited sorority sisters everywhere.
When asked about her experience working with The Hill Institute, Aubrey said, “If I had to define what the “Furman Advantage” is, I’d say The Paladin Pitch Competition and The Hill Institute are it exactly!"
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Team Spotlight
Help us in celebrating Bryan Davis, Executive Director for The Hill Institute, for graduating from The Palmetto Venture Fellowship this past month. This invite-only, yearlong fellowship is designed to create more local accredited investors and expand risk-capital accessibility for early-stage startups in South Carolina.
The Palmetto Venture Fellowship, now in its second year, utilizes a comprehensive workshop series to expose participants to the intricacies associated with early-stage capital formation. To learn more about the program and to see the graduating class, please click here!
PS: Did we mention that Bryan was also just inducted into the prestigious “Marquis Who’s Who in America?” biographical registry? Read more here!
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Team Spotlight
Campus Manager for The Hill Institute, Anne Silliman '21, really put her newfound Master of Strategic Design skills to work as she redesigned our Institute’s website.
With intentionality and effective communication at its core, we hope this new website experience allows our users to learn more by diving deep into our program offerings, discover the best programs to fit a candidate’s needs, showcase stories of impact, and inform our audience of upcoming events!
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Why Entrepreneurs in Any Industry Need to Prepare for Battle
Our well-being is important to maintain in our lives, but how does an athlete's experience weigh in on how to effectively do this? In one of the latest episodes of the Class E Podcast, we talked with Chad Price, an international business consultant and entrepreneur with several successful wellness ventures.
Listen wherever you get your podcast
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Disrupting the System as an Entrepreneur
Only 2% of children who have a mother incarcerated will graduate from college, and this needs to change. In this episode of the Class E Podcast, we sat down with Jennifer Jones, the founder and executive director of the non-profit organization, Beauty Marks for Girls, which aims to disrupt this incarceration statistic with its devoted mentorship program.
Listen wherever you get your podcast
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Launch Party
Furman 101 | 5:00 - 6:30 PM
Join us on Tuesday, December 5th in Furman 101 as we recognize D’Alexander Zegarra with Instaheat, our newest recipient of the Hill Hustle Award. This award recognizes the latest achievements or milestones reached by our institute’s entrepreneurs who have graduated from one of our signature programs. Drinks & hors d’oeuvres will be served as we celebrate our award recipient!
RSVP HERE
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Open Program Applications |
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GVL Starts
This transformational 9-week experience will include mentoring from successful local entrepreneurs and business owners, coaching from experienced design thinkers, instruction from distinguished university faculty, and an investor community that’s engaged and committed to supporting aspiring entrepreneurs and business owners.
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Paladin Pitch
Paladin Pitch is an exciting event that showcases the innovative ideas of four student finalists who will pitch their new venture ideas to a panel of judges and a diverse audience of students, faculty, alumni, and community leaders.
Students compete to take home the $10,000 Johnny Flynn Paladin Pitch Award to support launching their entrepreneurial venture
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Summer Business and Innovation Boot Camp
Our dynamic 8-week program offers an immersive experience, combining a 3-week project-based curriculum focused on launching a successful business with an in-depth exploration of essential business and marketing fundamentals.
Following this, our program provides specialized consulting training, preparing students for a rewarding 4-week engagement as consultants for local early-stage startups, where they put their newly acquired skills into real-world practice.
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Thank you to our community sponsors and partners! | |
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Our operations are fully supported by generous donors and program sponsors. Please consider donating today to support our mission of creating innovative and entrepreneurially minded leaders at Furman and in the Upstate.
Interested in sponsorship opportunities?
Please email Innovation@Furman.edu
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