Left to right: John Cassimus, a successful entrepreneur and Ole Miss supporter, UM students Dwight Barnes and Jasmine Brown, who were awarded seed money for their clothing company, and Bill Fry, chair of the Rebel Venture Capital Fund.
OXFORD, Miss. – The University of Mississippi’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship has awarded seed money to students through the newly created Rebel Venture Capital Fund, which helps with business startup costs.
Clay Dibrell, an associate professor of management and executive director of the center who also holds the William W. Gresham Jr. Entrepreneurial Lectureship, said the fund began to gain traction last spring after UM business Dean Ken Cyree suggested it. Bill Fry chaired the fund, which has raised about $35,000 in donations from UM alumni, which will be used to help students with their business ideas.
“We think about it in terms of factors of production – land, labor, capital,” Dibrell said. “So the entrepreneurs are providing the ideas and the knowledge, and the drive to get something going. Our donors wanted to give them an opportunity to try, and possibly fail, with their ideas in a nurturing environment.”
Left to right: Diane Barrentine, a Domino’s franchisee owner, and UM students Alicia Netterville and Cydney Archie, who were awarded seed money for their app and website, and Bill Fry, chair of the Rebel Venture Capital Fund.
Dibrell credits Fry with his work as chairman to get the fund started, which resulted in grants totaling $7,000 awarded to two student projects in October.
Dwight Barnes, a senior business management major from Jackson, and Jasmine Brown, a senior accounting major from Jackson, were given one of the grants to help get their clothing line started. “Chasing Ten Figures” clothing is a joint effort between Barnes and Brown, as well as Barnes’ cousin, Theodis Barnes, who lives in New Mexico. The clothing company idea was awarded $4,000.
“For us to be in the venture challenge and win, it just shows the hard work and dedication we put in is being rewarded,” Barnes said. “It just made me hungry to succeed and continue to do more and stay on the course. We’re going in the right direction. I’m very grateful for the opportunity.”
The company started in February, and the partners use digital printers for their T-shirts, and are also making baseball caps, bucket hats and hockey jerseys, among other items, Barnes said.
A proposal to launch a web platform and a mobile application that links reliable students who want to sell their services to people and businesses willing to hire them got the other grant, for $3,000. The developers of the website and mobile app, called Geeks n Gigs, hope to give students a place to get both professional and nonprofessional jobs, which can help them earn extra money or find jobs that beef up their resumes.
The venture also helps people and businesses find and hire students to perform their temporary tasks.
The website is expected to launch in January 2015. Two third-year law students, Alicia Netterville, of Greenville, and Cydney Archie, of Brandon, created the site and are preparing it for launch.
“The Rebel Venture Capital Fund has allowed us to significantly increase our marketing campaign and complete the method by which payments will be received and distributed via our system,” Archie said. “Outside financial support, the Rebel Venture Fund has provided a wealth of information and support that has made some of our growing pains easier. The fund also provided us with mentors who have offered candid and valuable advice.”
The CIE’s mission is “to inspire our students to create valuable new businesses and enhance the economic value of all businesses in the state of Mississippi through excellent teaching, exceptional service and world-class research.” Through the Rebel Venture Capital Fund, the CIE is to award grants to student projects each semester.
The next grants are slated be awarded this spring, and students are invited to present business proposals.
Applications should not be submitted until student entrepreneurs have discussed their ideas with friends and, preferably, already generated some sales or revenue, CIE officials advised. Proposals are not likely to be considered for funding if they have not generated revenues. Students seeking more information can email questions about the fund to CIE@bus.olemiss.edu.