Boston College Venture Competition produces Silicon Valley startups

New York, NY - (Zennie62's trip to TechCrunch was sponsored by Christine Smith Associates, Inc., the Premier Female Contractor in NYC.) The TechCrunch Disrupt Conference in New York City featured startups that were considered to have the best chance of "disrupting" or changing a given industry. Such a compartmentalized event makes it's easy to forget there are other organizations that support startups. One such organization is the Boston College Venture Competition (BCVC).

I learned about BCVC from Sophia Monroe, a volunteer at TechCrunch Disrupt. I ran into three of them multiple times each day and it was during those encounters that I learned about the Boston College Venture Competition.

As it turned out, Sophia Monroe is the Executive Director of BCVC, so I asked for an interview.

Boston College Venture Competition funds startups

The BCVC is a student run business plan competition at Boston College. "Next year, will be our fifth year anniversary," Sophia said, "We have three companies out in Silicon Valley right now. Two of which are funded and the third is looking for funding."

The best known of them is WePay, started by Boston College alumn Bill Clerico and Rich Aberman, who also founded BCVC. WePay allows groups to collect money online and for fundraisers,or events, or something like a bachelor party. Sophia said WePay "just raised $1.65 million from investors including Ron Conway (the founder of SV Angels)."

The second company is Wakemate, which was funded by Y Combinator (as was WePay). Wakemate produces a cell phone accessory that "will analyze your sleep to find the optimal time for you to wake up. You will feel refreshed and energized every time you wake, even from naps!" according to its website. It's developed by "Perfect Third, Inc."

The third one is called PIQC.net and is in search of funding. PIQC is an exciting visually-based student-run search engine that also needs some work. When I typed "zennie abraham" the largest bubble I got was listed as "Victorian Houses." Well, I must have done something wrong, but that aside, the three companies have exciting products and services.

Sophia said BCVC started to fill a void in the Boston College community. As much bad news comes out about our education system as a whole, this is a good news story. Boston College Venture Competition, and other programs like it, give students a chance to realize their dreams of starting a successful tech business.

Yes, one has to be a student at Boston Collage to benefit from BCVC, but if there's not a similar program at your college, contact BCVC for advice and guidance.

For more information visit their website here: BCVC.