Monday, March 24, 2008

Harvard student, alum, launch social biz site

By Brendan Lynch

Two Harvard University entrepreneurs have launched Campus Venture Network Inc. and its website, StudentBusinesses.com, a closed social network linking student entrepreneurs with investors and service providers.

Vivek Ramaswamy, a recent graduate, and Travis May, launched StudentBusinesses last year after noticing a glut of college business plan competitions. The seven-employee company said it has more than 750 members, about 250 of whom have detailed business plans.

Ramaswamy said the self-funded company is seeking seed angel funding rather than venture funding. But in the right situation, Ramaswamy said the site could offer investors benefits other than a cashout.

"We are a startup about startups," he said. "Anybody interested in investing in us may also be interested in the startups we host."

The site is free for qualified students with or without business plans, Ramaswamy said. The company plans to charge venture capitalists and service providers to join the site for access to the startups, and to sell sponsorships to companies looking to advertise.

"The idea is to become the top student platform for student entrepreneurs around the world," he said.

To that end, the startup provided a free web platform for the Harvard College Innovation Challenge, a joint production of the Harvard College Entrepreneurship Forum, Harvard's Technology & Entrepreneurship Center and Harvard Student Agencies Inc. Entrepreneurs enrolling in the competition online can choose to also join StudentBusinesses. The company is doing the same for the University of North Carolina, the Indian Institutes of Technology, and possibly others, Ramaswamy said.

Paul Bottino, executive director of the Technology & Entrepreneurship Center and an adviser to StudentBusinesses, said the platform was an improvement over last year, when applicants and judges had to e-mail each other files. Bottino said Ramaswamy and May are his kind of entrepreneur.

"They take what you've got, synthesize it and multiply it with their own initiative," he said.