Mechanical engineering student Vikrant Tiwari spends most of each day working on his Ph.D. at Carolina—and the rest of the day (and night) working on his really cool idea for a cell phone software company.

I met Tiwari in the University’s Columbia Technology Incubator where at least 35 student entrepreneurs have set up shop since 2002 when the Student Incubator Program began. It’s been a win-win for everyone, says Technology Incubator executive director Joel Stevenson.

“The incubator has helped dozens of full-time entrepreneurs nurture their companies and create more than 550 technology-related jobs,” Stevenson said.

“But we noticed that it wasn’t just full-time entrepreneurs
who wanted to start businesses. A lot of students had interesting ideas for service and technology businesses so we started a program to welcome them to the incubator.”

The Technology Incubator’s offices are buzzing with entrepreneurial energy, and 10 of them house student entrepreneurs from Carolina and Midlands Technical College, which is partnering with the University.

Tiwari, a New Delhi, India, native, is in one of those small offices with a big idea for transforming a cell phone into what he calls a “digital wallet.” The day I visited Tiwari, he seemed modestly hopeful that his company, Celliz, could one day make it big. What’s the idea behind Celliz?

“We’re writing software for cell phones for things other than making calls,” he said. “The idea is that your cell phone could be used to digitally purchase and electronically receive tickets to concerts, movies, or sporting events or download discount coupons from retailers while you’re shopping in their stores.

“We’re also working on software that would cater to the needs of students, such as an emergency alert system. You could also use your cell phone to check out books at the library—a digital barcode could be built in—and to pay bills like a debit card.”

Tiwari’s idea for turning a cell phone into a digital wallet makes sense: Why carry around paper in the form of coupons, tickets, or cash when your cell phone could easily be programmed to do double or triple duty? “Being part of the incubator gives you the incentive to be more serious about an idea,” Tiwari said.

As word has spread about the Student Incubator Program, the quality of students’ business plans improved. Their proposals are reviewed by a Student Government panel, and then vetted by the Technology Incubator’s advisory board. Students invited to the incubator get two years of free rent and utilities, plus $1,000 in seed money from the University’s Research Foundation.

That was all Clint McKoy needed to get his company, Urban Media, up and running. Incubator director Stevenson advised McKoy to find a niche and stick with it. His niche: building Web sites with virtual tours of homes being marketed by real estate developers. “We’re trying to get the business as efficient and productive as possible,” he said. “We’ve worked hard, and our clients are happy and referring us to others.”

“It’s a great opportunity for students,” said Agata Chydzinski, program logistician for the Technology Incubator. “It’s eye opening for them to try to take something from an idea or
a micro-scale operation to a full-scale business.”

Josh Hackler, a newly minted international business graduate from Carolina’s Moore School of Business, spent a short stint in Spain to study the language, then came home with plans to launch an import company that would introduce wine and gourmet food lovers to Spanish products.

His company, Spanish Vines, has an exclusive distribution arrangement with a Spanish vineyard and has imported 15,000 bottles of red and white wine to Columbia. Hackler also plans to import Spanish cheese and gourmet ham, distributing them to high-end restaurants and stores.

“Agata and Joel have given me a lot of good advice, and I feel confident to consult them,” Hackler said.

Turns out that it doesn’t take much to fan the flames of students’ entrepreneurial spark. But it does take a lot of mentoring to help them transform their ideas into real, revenue-generating businesses. And that, Stevenson and Chydzinski say, is what the Technology Incubator is for.