This fall, the InSITE Fellowship, a premier entrepreneurship fellowship for graduate students, partnered with Washington University in St. Louis. Over the past decade, St. Louis has become an emerging hub for entrepreneurship, technology and venture investment. With numerous startup companies, accelerator programs, incubators, and co-working spaces, St. Louis was the ideal place for InSITE to expand its programs.
After a competitive selection process, twelve inaugural St. Louis InSITE fellows were selected from a pool of approximately fifty applicants. The group consists of graduate students pursuing MBA, JD, and PhD programs at Washington University.
This semester, the fellows will complete strategic consulting projects for three promising technology startups located in the St. Louis region:
- Better Weekdays, an online platform designed to make university career services more efficient
- CrisisGO, a mobile app that helps educators and staff keep students safe during crisis situations
- Tallyfy, a mobile app that makes it easier to execute, track and improve business processes
The St. Louis InSITE chapter has already started building its brand in the local community. On October 23, 2015, InSITE hosted Gloria Kimbwala to speak about the company culture at Square, a global financial technology firm.
Square is the company behind the Square Reader, the bite-sized credit card processor loved by artisans and established businesses alike. This wildly successful mobile payments company has many ties to St. Louis. Founders Jack Dorsey (also the Co-Founder and CEO of Twitter) and Jim McKelvey are both St. Louisans, and the firm recently opened a new office in St. Louis’ innovation district. With the creation of 200 new jobs over the next five years, St. Louis will become home to Square’s third largest global office.
Throughout the coming year, the InSITE Fellows will have the opportunity to engage in networking breakfasts, educational workshops, and nationwide events. Most importantly, the students will drive impact for startup companies through high-quality consulting engagements each semester. Needless to say, the InSITE Fellowship is already making a mark on the St. Louis startup community!