Keenan Center for Entrepreneurship

Six student startups receive $50,000 through President's Buckeye Accelerator

April 11, 2023

Six student-led startups received $50,000 through the President’s Buckeye Accelerator Finale.

The President’s Buckeye Accelerator is a program that is run through the Keenan Center for Entrepreneurship. Its objective is to empower Ohio State University undergraduate student founders by providing mentorship, coaching, and networking opportunities to help them successfully launch their companies. Eleven startups who participated in the program’s Boost Camp were selected to present their companies to a panel of business professionals. After deliberating, the judges selected the following startups to receive the awards:

Artisen Textiles, which works with artists across Ohio to transform their paintings into home decorations.

Insider Viz, an application which shares important insider trading data to help potential investors make informed decisions.

ORAA (Operating Room Accessibility App), a platform to improve the experience of hospital patients and increase efficiency among staff.

PROSscored Virtual, a streaming service that provides access to a variety of college sports and customizable content.

SmileChild, a mobile app designed to connect new mothers to vital resources and address disparities in infant mortality rates.

Starry Night, a company with a mission to make STEM education more accessible to kindergarten through 12th grade students in underserved communities.

Devi Dheekshita Nelakurti, a junior majoring in biomedical science, was one of the presenters for SmileChild. She says the experience she gained from participating in the six Boost Camp sessions gave her the foundation she needed to step out of her comfort zone.

Devi Dheekshita Nelakurti

In Boost Camp, we have speakers who are various business leaders and have a lot of experience. I did not know much about business terminology, but going through Boost Camp has given me confidence even though I am not from the business realm.

Devi Dheekshita Nelakurti
A junior majoring in biomedical science

SmileChild plans to use the funds they were awarded to increase their services and partner with local hospitals to work towards removing barriers that are impacting infant mortality rates.

“With our partnership with Moms2b , we hope to facilitate a statewide expansion,” Nelakurti said. "We want to address challenges mothers face like transportation, childcare services, and cost of medical services.”

Ben Ware, a junior studying computer science and engineering, is one of the student founders of Insider Viz. Ware says the award from the President’s Buckeye Accelerator will help them completely transform their business.

Ben Ware

It is really exciting because it is the opportunity to take the business to the next level. Without it, we’re just maintaining a website. With this money, we are hoping to continue to improve and see how we can make this unique data valuable to institutions.

Ben Ware
A junior studying computer science and engineering

Ware says interacting with other student founders helped foster an environment where they can challenge each other to continue improving their businesses.

“Talking with other people in the cohort and having all of those ideas in front of you really helps you improve your own process,” Ware said. “We are very thankful for all of the opportunities.”