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A future in entrepreneurship may sound daunting to some, but at 51����, students are prepared to start successful businesses with the help of LaunchNET.

The Marty Erbaugh i3 Lab, LaunchNET’s summer accelerator program, has been offered to students since 2022. Participants are paid to work on their business and are provided a collaborative experience with fellow student entrepreneurs.

“We have specific projects,” said Zach Mikrut, Director of LaunchNET 51����, “ranging from business model canvas work, to prototyping, to customer interviews.” LaunchNET caters to what the students need, so the program is perfect for businesses that are just starting out. “A lot of it depends on where each business is at in their startup process,” explained Mikrut.

During the i3 Lab accelerator, students participate in group activities including business research, pitching, workshops and visiting beneficial resources in the area. Previous resources include touring Bounce Innovation Hub, a nonprofit organization in Akron that helps startups and engaging in a workshop from the Akron SEED Clinic, a legal resource at the University of Akron. The i3 Lab also includes collaborative programming opportunities from Design Innovation, including workshops and mentoring with the Elliot DI Faculty Fellows and priority access to Reactor lab spaces.

The i3 Lab is named for its core focus on three actions: Ideate, Innovate, and Incubate.

“The whole space is named after Marty Erbaugh. Marty was an early advisor and supporter of LaunchNET. He was a trustee for the Burton D. Morgan Foundation, and he was an entrepreneur,” explained Mikrut. “The i3 phrasing was intended to both honor some of what he did from a business and advising perspective but also really try and capture the energy that we hope to see from the businesses in the space.”

Mikrut has observed the camaraderie between the students that work together in the i3 lab. Whether it’s by asking critical questions, providing helpful suggestions, or just bonding over their shared ambitions, the students gain collaborative experience that can help their businesses flourish.

“One of the best ways that entrepreneurs can succeed is when they’re talking with each other,” he explained. “Even if they’re coming from different businesses and different places, they’re the ones that are going through that experience firsthand. An advisor can say anything but an entrepreneur or peer can help you that much more.”

Many students who have worked with LaunchNET and the i3 Lab accelerator program have gone on to have successful careers and entrepreneurial endeavors of their own after graduation. One May 2024 graduate, Semilore Akintelure, shared his experience working with LaunchNET as a student.

“LaunchNET, in and of itself, was an actual community of entrepreneurs that I still hold onto to this day,” Akintelure said. He described the team as, “great mentors and great foundational people that I am so glad I met at the start of my entrepreneurship journey”

Akintelure credits his time at the i3 Lab for the structure he has now, saying “None of that foundation would be possible without LaunchNET.” 

Akintelure’s start-up, , helps businesses organize data in a faster and more efficient way, through the use of AI. He is also still working on his media company, making music and videos.

Another alumnus, Nicholas Huger, shared how his experience with the i3 Lab helped start his business.

Participating in the summer accelerator program allowed him to gain experience with the more technical aspects of entrepreneurship.

“I really do think the program I went through was fantastic,” Huger said, “because it got me started from the back end of things with doing research.”

The accelerator motivated him, because it helped him with the parts of entrepreneurship he wasn’t so familiar with. He learned about making his business plan, finding target markets and doing research to see what consumers would want.

During his time at Kent, Huger was in the concept stage of his business, , which was named after the blue-footed booby bird. He pivoted around and refined a lot of things before it became what it is today.

Huger described Boobys as a “mobile coffee and mocktail trailer” that is currently working toward expanding into canned mocktails and doing distribution from their website and breweries. The menu offers a selection of mocktails, coffees, lemonades, iced energy drinks, and teas.

Huger’s advice to student entrepreneurs is simple. “Connect with people,” he said. “Put yourself out there. That’s what’s really worked from my experience.” 

The i3 Lab 2026 summer accelerator will take place for five weeks in June and two weeks in July. Specific dates, as well as where to apply, are available on the website. Applications close March 8th.