Blackstone LaunchPad, a Wayne State University program funded by the New Economy Initiative and the Blackstone Charitable Foundation that offers resources and guidance to student entrepreneurs and inventors, is on a mission to spur the creation of apps.
The LaunchPad is teaming up with the university’s office of economic development in a new competition open to students, faculty, staff, and alumni that challenges participants to create apps for iOS, Android, or the Web that are relevant to the university community. At stake is $5,000 in cash prizes sponsored by Detroit Labs and the Detroit Technology Exchange: $2,500 for first place, $1,500 for second place, and $1,000 for third place. The LaunchPad will also work with interested teams to get their apps to market after the competition.
Jeri Stroupe, a senior program administrator for WSU’s office of economic development, says the idea for the competition had been kicked around for at least a year as a way to solve problems and help improve campus life.