INCubatoredu is a year-long program offered at Frenship High School that offers students an authentic entrepreneurship experience. In this program, students can create a product or service to benefit the world around them.  

Every year, they host a Mentor Match Day where community members come in to hear the students pitch and then serve as mentors to the groups throughout the year. They will provide support and guidance to the teams as they navigate through the year. 

The mentors are real entrepreneurs and business experts and strive to guide student teams through the Lean Startup process of developing hypotheses about a business concept, testing those hypotheses, adapting, and more.  

This year, the INCubatoredu program has grown through the year to 36 students enrolled, allowing a split into two classes.  

“I’ve seen growth in the awareness of students hearing about the program from former students and recognizing the opportunity that this class really offers,” stated INCubatoredu teacher Lauren Denning. 

The students have some really interesting ideas this year: a water bottle and app to help get kids more hydrated, a latched and charging air pod case, car software to notify you of first responders, a self-repairing concrete pill, supplement subscription service, an app to help eliminate food waste, natural energy source for athletes, and a spray for food to keep flies away. 

Denning stated that she receives positive feedback from anyone who gets involved with the program. Other teachers, administration, parents, and community members were impressed with the program and expressed how they believe the program is beneficial to all students.  

“The students are solving real world problems,” said Denning. “They are being empathetic to the needs and values of others, understanding networking and teamwork, understanding financial situations, and then presenting those ideas in a formal setting. I truly believe it is beneficial for every student no matter what direction they want to go.” 

Now that the Mentor Match Day is complete, they begin the process of figuring out who the customers will be and exploring how to solve this ‘problem’ for them. They will then begin looking at building and testing the prototypes to test assumptions in their Business Model Canvas. They will use that data and information to continue to prepare a final pitch to investors later in the year.