Success Stories: Winners and Entrepreneurs

Spore

Designed by Zarah Lakhani (Boston College), Andrea Crewe (Boston College), and Lindsey Dotson (NC State), Spore is a device that detects mold spores in the air. The team became aware of the dangers of mold exposure through the experiences of family and friends and designed an in-home mold detection device to help people maintain healthy homes. Spore placed third in the Stanford 2021-2022 Design Challenge, which included over one hundred entries across 33 countries. The theme of the 2021-2022 challenge was "Longevity-Ready Environments: Rethinking Physical Spaces for Century-Long Lives."

How It Works:

Spore’s design was inspired by the Petri dishes that are used to test for mold growth. This unique design sets this home monitor apart from the others inside the home. The rings around the inner pod invite the user to click the ring when blinking to replace the used pod.

Company Mission:

"As co-founders, we want to empower people to take control of their health and well-being. Our purpose sustains us, and this is shared by our team, partners, and mentors we choose to work with. We bring new energy and insight to a long-standing issue and approach the issue of mold from a problem-finding rather than a solution-fitting perspective. As first-time founders, we play our growth mindset to our advantage, seeking advice and feedback from industry experts and successful founders. We are committed to creating impactful change in the health and wellness industry, yet Spore is bigger than mold for us. Our growth as leaders, entrepreneurs, and individuals has been exponential over the last 6 months, and this is just the beginning."

Read more about Spore's "Design For Impact" Story here.

Learn more about where Spore is today here.

MLV

Dylan Kim is a DFI '23 alumni. After the DFI course, he founded MLV, with Timothy Liu (BC '26). MLV is a venture-backed EdTech company that focuses on helping high school students in Asia start real companies through project-based learning. Kim says that the DFI course sparked an interest in entrepreneurship, leading him to start this startup company. He says, "Schools are meant to be a place to explore and discover what you're passionate about - not an environment limited by a syllabus. Entrepreneurship to me is a vehicle to leverage and transform one's passion to help others and this is me turning my passion into a form of value creation: Empowering teenagers to fall in love with entrepreneurship, social impact, and to make a difference in the world."

How It Works:

MLV Ignite utilizes a seven-phase program (Mindset, Customer, Product, Strategy, Longevity, Story, and Demo Day), which stresses entrepreneurship. Within these stages, the program focuses on project-based learning, pitching to real investors, and building a community to empower students to unleash their creativity and develop critical career skills.

Company Mission:

The mission of MLV is to "serve as the educational resource for every teenager to discover their passions and transform them into value creation." Their vision is to "empower high school students across Southeast Asia to unleash their entrepreneurial potential and pursue their passions by starting real companies."

Learn more about MLV here.

Wheelable

Wheelable is a navigational application that empowers users with mobility impairments to navigate the urban environment. This design was created by Eugene Woo (Boston College), Hayden Duncan (Clemson), Kavya Somala (Virginia Tech), Maggie Jarrett (NC State), Rebecca Rainhart (Virginia Tech), and Victor Cummins (Boston College). Wheelable was recognized as a commended entry in the 2021-2022 RSA Student Design Awards. Wheelable addressed the Active Journeys brief of the challenge, which focused on "How might we make multi-modal travel (a combination of walking, wheeling, cycling, and sustainable rail networks) accessible and inclusive to improve the experience for all?"

How It Works:

Those with physical disabilities encounter many transportation issues in cities, such as stairs, uphill slopes, etc., which makes public transit extremely inefficient. One of the most glaring problems was wheelchair navigation in high-density, urban areas. “Wheelable” offered a solution by providing a “Google Maps” for more proficient wheelchair navigation, and more user-tailored options, by combining topological, transit, and crowdsourced obstacle data to provide the most efficient route.