The biggest assist? Honing the elevator pitch.
“Paul [Orlando] and his team mentored us on how to succinctly explain our venture to potential partners,” said Vivianna Camarillo (Dornsife ’21), co-executive director of Frontida. Learning how to craft a pithy elevator pitch has helped them win numerous pitch competitions on campus, including the Social Venture Pitch Competition in 2022, in which they won $15,000.
This summer these skills paid off in an even bigger way. The United Nations’ Development Program, UNDP, chose Frontida Records as one of its featured 100 digital solutions of note through its Digital X Initiative.
“That I was even able to approach UNDP to discuss Frontida Records is in significant part owed to what I learned at the Incubator, said Camarillo. The resulting exposure has spiked conversion rates and attracted larger interest in the company. For example, Frontida is currently in consideration to partner with a large European Union-led trauma initiative focused on refugees from Ukraine.
The recognition has opened other doors as well. The company will be working with 10 community clinics in The Gambia this coming November and will be working with NGOs in the Philippines in January. The startup is developing its presence in refugee regions serving Ukrainians displaced by Russia’s ongoing invasion.
Paul Orlando, director of the Greif Incubator and an adjunct professor of entrepreneurship, said admitting Frontida to its incubator program was a no-brainer.
“We receive a lot of applicants to the Marshall/Greif Incubator and the Frontida Records team stood out as passionate about helping refugees gain access to medical care – an important problem area,” he said. “Others had approached this problem but without the same understanding that the Frontida team developed over time from direct on-site experience. We were happy to help them develop and grow their solution along the way.”
The mentorship Frontida Records received from the Greif Incubator continues giving.
“Paul is the kind of mentor you want because he not only generously invests in your business with abundant ideas, network, and resources, but he also genuinely cares for the founders as people,” said Yen, recalling how Orlando dropped what he was doing to walk around campus with her and co-founder Laura Roed to talk about Frontida’s progress. “Even though we’ve been out for a year now, he still keeps in touch and offers us resources and ideas.”