News

Students developed Spotlight Creators, a startup meant to filter out ubiquitous, trend-chasing social media content in favor of original artwork. The goal of the site's co-founders is to create a welcoming online community for creatives to share more authentic work.

Rochester Business Journal speaks with Johan Klarin, assistant vice president and managing director of the Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

The Democrat and Chronicle features alumni Tian Tian and Zining Chen, both 2019 entrepreneurship graduates, and their business Taichi Bubble Tea, a local company that now has a national footprint.

According to a 2023 Bloomberg article, over 5 million startup companies are founded each year in the United States. At RIT’s Albert J. Simone Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, students are working together to turn their dreams of starting companies into reality.

The Rochester Business Journal talks to Richard DeMartino, professor of management and director of the Simone Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, about education options in career areas outside of a bachelor’s degree.

WXXI’s “Connections” program features Richard DeMartino, professor of management and director for the Simone Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

This semester, five graduate students attending RIT through the Fulbright Foreign Student Program have come together in one course to grow their skills in creating and running new organizations. These students intend to use their newly enhanced skills to create positive impacts in their home countries.

RIT student Jake Downie has been “all in” for the past few years when working to advance JDocs, a startup he created with fellow computer science student Artem Goncharov. And now, a JDocs product, FlexFile, is making waves in the legal industry. Last week, FlexFile became a semifinalist to compete in ABA Techshow’s Startup Alley competition.

Student Janessa Steenberg’s plant-based Parmesan-style cheese start-up company, Panacheeza, has earned her a spot in Venture Creations’ Ignite initiative, which gives promising entrepreneurs the power they need to become successful business owners.

Peter Hogya, a computer science major in RIT’s Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences, was honored with the Herbert W. Vanden Brul Student Entrepreneurial Award at last week’s Vanden Brul Entrepreneurial Award Luncheon at Genesee Valley Club in Rochester.

In a move to further enhance an already robust innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem, RIT is partnering with the NSF’s I-Corps Hub: Interior Northeast Region. RIT will join a consortium of 10 renowned regional colleges and universities that will utilize $15 million in NSF funding over the next five years to implement and execute a cohesive innovation ecosystem that delivers inclusive models of education and workforce training.

Local businessman and entrepreneur Bernard Kozel was known for having as much passion for helping others develop their businesses as he did for developing his own. Kozel’s dedication to supporting his partners, employees, and entrepreneurs in creating success is the inspiration behind several gifts to RIT.