Stanford Venture Studio

Stanford graduate students Tania Abedian and Kevin Hsu bonded over shared work experience, and mutual concerns about taking care of their aging grandparents. Feeling that commercially available health monitoring products for elder care were lackluster and that wearables were inconvenient to charge, often uncomfortable, and sometimes needed to be taken off, Tania and Kevin set out to build a hassle-free solution to provide the elderly population with critical health metrics. Through thoughtful design and iteration on the Venture Studio 3D printer, Tania and Kevin created a product that is simple, hands-free, and plug-and-play.

As Stanford master’s degree students, Jamie Stark and Kevin Madrigal brainstormed ways to provide a bridge out of homelessness. They were intrigued with the idea of flipping the soup kitchen on its head by enabling homeless people to grow and cook meals for others. They joined the Venture Studio, frequently using its coworking space to refine their idea. Near the end of their second year, they presented their concept, Farming Hope, at Venture Studio Demo Day, where they connected with both funders and donors who provided early support. Today, Farming Hope employs homeless people to grow and serve farm-to-table pop-up dinners in the Bay Area.

Jetpack is a peer-to-peer platform that allows college students to get the last-minute, “emergency” products they need in less than 15 minutes. By using GPS, a user-friendly platform, and student employees, Jetpack makes it easier to source a couple of aspirins, cold medicine, and other items students need right away. Founder Fatima Dicko, MBA ‘18, reached new heights as an entrepreneur by working in the Stanford Venture Studio and exchanging ideas with fellow entrepreneurs. Jetpack was accepted into StartX’s accelerator program in 2018.

DataFox’s very first wireframes were drawn on the whiteboards in the Stanford Venture Studio. Founders Mike, Alden, Ben, and Bastiaan had previously worked in finance and computer science. They set out to combine data science with human research to generate insights into millions of companies around the world and help sales, marketing, and finance professionals source relevant opportunities. They used the Stanford Venture Studio as a creative space to plant early seeds and Stanford Venture Studio’s community as potential customers, investors, and advisors to help guide them in the right direction early on.