The JA of Greater Washington student entrepreneurs who created “Pick-Me-Up” in 2017 have relaunched their company at the University of Virginia (UVA) and gained acceptance into the Batten Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation’s VentureLab Incubator.
The competitive, 10-month-long VentureLab Incubator program supports the development of new entrepreneurs and the growth of promising early-stage ventures. Since its first cohort in 2000, VentureLab has provided nearly $1.5 million in grants to upwards of 275 companies. Benefits of membership include a full-time summer residency, upwards of $5,000 in grant funding, and access to renowned mentors and networking opportunities, among others. Only 12 companies are selected to participate each year.
“It’s empowering and validating to see that there’s an institution willing to give us this opportunity,” said Sasha Duckworth, co-founder of Pick-Me-Up. “The summer residency affords us the time and space we haven’t had before and will allow us to hone in on our project management skills.”
Pick-Me-Up competing in the 2017 JA National Student Leadership Summit
Duckworth, Emily Smith and Kurien Thomas, former JA entrepreneurship high school students and now college students at UVA, are the co-founders of Pick-Me-Up, a company that sells mental health toolkits that help reduce anxiety and stress in young adults. JA alumni Srijay Kasturi and Zoree Jones are also credited as original founders of the startup.
As a JA company, the team made a splash representing JA of Greater Washington at the 2017 National Student Leadership Summit, the pinnacle event that brings together the top 15 JA student companies from across the nation to Washington, DC for three days of high-impact JA experiences. The students liquidated the company at the completion of the 2017 JA Company Program, but made the decision to reunite in Charlottesville, Virginia and relaunch the company last year.
(From right to left) Srijay Kasturi, Kurien Thomas, Sasha Duckworth and Emily Smith representing Pick-Me-Up at the American Evolution Innovators Cup
Since the relaunch, Pick-Me-Up won second place and a $6,000 prize in the American Evolution Innovators Cup as part of the 2019 Tom Tom Festival, and received first place and a $1,000 prize in the 2019-2020 UVA Entrepreneurship Cup.
Currently, the co-founders are meeting with a UVA law student to discuss forming an official LLC, writing company bylaws, and drafting employee agreements.
The company is also looking into building an app so that users can timestamp and track their negative feelings in real time, thus getting to the root of the problem and making conversations about mental health more productive.
“It’s inspiring that one drawing I did a long time ago was able to evolve into this,” said Thomas. “We’ve learned to fall in love with the problem, not the solution, and we’re confidently able to say why mental health is a problem.”
What’s next? Pick-Me-Up plans to compete in the Something in the Water Pitch Competition in Virginia Beach in April and continue working with professionals in Northern Virginia and Charlottesville to improve their product and business plan. The co-founders look forward to buckling down this summer to work full-time at the Incubator.
“I’m so grateful for the history we have together, not just working as co-founders, but as friends,” said Smith. “I would never have been in this situation if I hadn’t taken part in the JA Company Program.”
JA of Greater Washington is proud to see former students continue their entrepreneurial endeavors post-JA. Congratulations and good luck, team!