UCI Alum Accepted into Blackstone LaunchPad’s Summer Startup Fellowship

UC Irvine recent alum Zachary Little was recently selected to participate in Blackstone LaunchPad’s Summer Startup Fellowship, an eight-week program that helps startup founders advance their companies. Out of 300 applicants, 50 of the most promising student entrepreneurs were chosen from Launchpad’s network of 24 colleges and universities. The program was developed in response to obstacles caused by the coronavirus.

“I was fortunate enough to participate in Blackstone Launchpad Propel program in New York at the end of 2019 and that experience surrounded me with other young founders, more experienced mentors and a community of people on the same path that I am,” said Little. “After that experience, I knew that I was about to be a part of something special with the summer fellowship.”

While a student at UCI, Little utilized the ANTrepreneur Center’s resources and worked as a consultant for fellow student entrepreneurs through the center for several years.

“Zachary has been a model student entrepreneur during his time at UCI,” said Jaune Odombrown, ANTrepreneur Center manager. “I’m committed to empower and embolden Zachary to grow his startup through mentorship and guidance throughout these next eight weeks.”

Blackstone Charitable Foundation has dedicated $250,000 for the program and those 50 startup founders selected will each receive $5,000 in non-dilutive grant funding.

Little, founder of Checkup Health Technologies, developed proprietary informatics to create a software platform that helps users acquire, track and analyze 80 percent of their biological data that affects wellness and longevity of one’s health. His app collects data from measuring key biomarkers, such as blood, urine and stool samples, in addition to utilizing data collected from fitness wearables like FitBit and Apple Watch, to develop a wellness track for the user. With his fellowship and grant, Little plans to work on customer development for Checkup, with the goal of producing a market-validated ideal customer.

“It’s crazy to me that the average person knows more about the health of their car than the health of their own body,” said Little. “I need to fix this.”

Learn more about the ANTrepreneur Center.

*Main Image: Julie Kennedy, UCI Beall Applied Innovation

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