The idea originated when Carlos Vega C03 WG14 and Zach Simkin C06 WG14, then students and co-organizers of the Penn Founders’ Club, approached Wharton MBA Student Life.
For the summer of 2015, Student Life ran a lottery to see which startups got what rooms in 2401. Given the open floorplan, entrepreneurs from the 17 different startups enjoyed a communal spirit and could yell questions across the space to each other, recalls second-year MBA Jonathan Sockol, who as co-president of the Entrepreneurship Club helped the School set up the incubator this year. His favorite memory: the excitement of move-in day.
What follows is a short description of 2015’s participating startups in 2401:
Bungalow Insurance
Founders: MBAs Zack Steifler & Tom Austin
Description: Building great insurance customer experiences; its renters insurance platform is already live.
Clean Current Solutions
Founder: MBA Ravi Singh
Description: Enables small businesses to access energy-saving LED lighting with no risk and net savings on day one.
Coshare LLC
Founder: Natalie Vane WG15
Description: Transforms vacant buildings into vibrant retail pop-up businesses.
dlux
Founders: MBAs Mike Friedman & Gregory Yeutter
Description: Light-control software for medical buildings to help residents sleep at night and perform during the day.
Deckspire
Founder: MBA Nitish Aitharaju
Description: Technology product development firm.
DocPronto
Founder: MBA Jonathan Sockol
Description: Building the “Uber of health care” to enable patients to directly contact doctors for services.
From Earth Inc.
Founders: MBAs Behrad Javed & Priyanka Aggarwal
Description: A responsible, natural oral care company.
Hatchery Ventures
Founders: MBAs Sudipta Bandyopadhyay, Greg Nemeth, Andy Salamon & Neil Assur
Description: A startup accelerator for firstyear MBAs, providing both technical talent and financing.
Herban Quality Eats
Founders: Amir Fardshisheh WG13 & Kalefe Wright WG13
Description: Fast-casual restaurant concept that will offer healthy gourmet platters based on farm-to-table ingredients.
HirePower
Founder: MBA Matt Reed
Description: Uses data analytics to improve the hiring process.
Johnny Nomads
Founders: MBAs Jessica Bisher, Anna Hooven, Ted Hooven & Adam Bisher
Description: Making a shirt for the “Johnny Nomads” of the world; their dress shirt looks the part until the jacket comes off.
Koio Collective
Founders: Johannes Quodt WG15 & Chris Wichert WG15
Description: Direct-to-consumer footwear brand for the modern traveler, handcrafted in Le Marche, Italy.
LashBee
Founders: Anjali Bhatia WG15 & Erin Soletski WG15
Description: Making semi-permanent eyelash extensions safer, faster and more accessible.
LocalAventura
Founders: Eugena Brown WG15 & Andrea Vidler WG15
Description: Marketplace for local and authentic experiences in Latin America.
Monk Collection
Founders: Rabi Shrestha WG15 & Harris Atmar WG15
Description: Combines NYC design talent with Nepal’s artisanal techniques to offer the finest cashmere products.
ReproAdvance
Founders: Camila Aguirre WG15, Nivedita Pandey WG15 & Evelyn Tee WG15
Description: Bringing fertility choice to the modern woman.
The One Health Company
Founders: Christina Lopes and MBAs Benjamin Lewis, Jason Zuniga & Brandon Yoshimura
Description: Tech-enabled research organization providing biopharma companies clinical validation.
