{"id":40116,"date":"2025-11-03T14:58:02","date_gmt":"2025-11-03T19:58:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/?p=40116"},"modified":"2025-11-04T12:43:25","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T17:43:25","slug":"furmans-gvl-starts-fuels-new-wave-of-greenville-entrepreneurs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/furmans-gvl-starts-fuels-new-wave-of-greenville-entrepreneurs\/","title":{"rendered":"Furman\u2019s GVL Starts fuels new wave of Greenville entrepreneurs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Greenville\u2019s newest slate of founders had their moment in the spotlight recently at the GVL Starts Venture Showcase, with three finalists each winning a $5,000 startup grant from Furman University\u2019s Hill Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship<\/a>.<\/p>\n

GVL Starts<\/a> is a 9-week program that takes entrepreneurs\u2019 ideas and supports their development with training, connections and access to the capital needed to successfully launch. It\u2019s a bridge between Furman and Greenville\u2019s robust business community, and since 2021 has helped support the launch<\/a> and growth of more than 100 ventures.<\/p>\n

Amid cold drinks, food and bumping tunes from \u201cDJ Chief,\u201d the Venture Showcase brought Furman and the greater business community together Oct. 21 at the Greenville One Center.<\/p>\n

\"A

Competition was stiff this year with 36 entrepreneurs making a pitch in the GVL Starts Venture Showcase, a signature program for The Hill Institute. Three could walk away with $5,000 grants. Photo by Nathan Gray, Furman University.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThroughout GVL Starts, we focus on practical execution, customer discovery, business models, finance and a clear ask,\u201d said Eric Cooperman, senior director of entrepreneurship programs for the Hill Institute. \u201cThe Venture Showcase puts that work on stage in front of mentors, partners and capital, which accelerates real next steps.\u201d<\/p>\n

Three winners emerged, cinching $5,000 grants for their business ventures. Karly Cunningham pitched Good Dogs of Greenville<\/a>, a mobile app where users can explore dog-friendly business and attractions in Greenville, South Carolina. Jared Arter, founder of HOWDY!<\/a>, stitched together his own custom handmade bag business, and is teaching classes on how to make crossbody and tote bags. Oratia<\/a>\u2019s Chad Hensel offers workplaces a way to onboard new employees through AI role-play to train the team on customer profiles, products, services and more.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m constantly in awe of our founders\u2019 grit and perseverance; they lean into the entrepreneur\u2019s mindset, do the hard work and keep moving when it\u2019s not easy,\u201d Cooperman said. \u201cThat spirit, paired with a structured program and a supportive network, is how GVL Starts shows up in Greenville\u2019s startup community, helping turn ideas into companies that create revenue, jobs and momentum in the Upstate.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thirty-six of Greenville\u2019s venture founders shared their stories and four finalists pitched their businesses for three $5,000 startup grants.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":401,"featured_media":40110,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3065,81,3498],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hill-institute-for-innovation-and-entrepreneurship","category-innovation-and-entrepreneurship","category-innovation-lab"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/401"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40116"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40116\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40131,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40116\/revisions\/40131"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40110"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}