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A recent estimate for the total global freshwater is 35,000,000 cubic kilometers. Sounds like a lot right? Not quite. Humans depend on freshwater to survive, but unfortunately it only accounts for 2.5% of the Earth’s total water volume. Geophysicists and climatologists maintain that changes in climate conditions and stresses on water supply from overconsumption of groundwater resources and population growth will bring 45% of the world’s population below the Basic Water Requirement (BWR) by 2050. Water supply is difficult to adjust because renewable freshwater sources such as rain and groundwater are highly variable with respect to meteorological and geographical factors. Currently, households and farmers are consuming freshwater at rates that are below the sustainable yield.

The scientific facts beg the fearsome question: will the world run out of water? Environmental entrepreneurs would like to think the answer is no. A University of Ottawa student’s desalination process to extract drinking water from seawater took the $10,000 top prize this week at the Eastern Ontario Technology Venture Challenge competition. Large-scale desalination typically requires large amounts of energy as well as specialized, expensive infrastructure, making it very costly compared to the use of fresh water from rivers or groundwater, but founder Mohammed Rasool Qtaishat (pictured right) claims that his technology is more efficient and cost effective than competing desalination technologies. His startup Water For All, has already obtained funding including $286,000 in from the Middle East Desalination Research Center in Oman. (more…)

The majority of startup incubators, such as Y Combinator, require entrepreneurs to give up small percentages of equity in exchange for small amounts of seed financing, usually in the range of $15,000. While they are usually tremendous opportunities to work alongside seasoned entrepreneurs and venture capitalists, it is still questionable whether or not they actually increase the entrepreneur’s chance of success and if it is worth giving up their equity. The connections that are made along the way are valuable, but as these firms take on more projects (Y Combinator has seeded over 80 companies) the returns for entrepreneurs diminish as those resources are spread thinner over time.

Obsidian Launch takes a different approach. Resources are focused for a longer period of time. The entrepreneur doesn’t have to give up any equity either! Well, they do have to give up “phantom equity,” but this it’s not the same. Instead of taking shares, Obsidian Launch takes a percentage of earnings for a specified amount of time. In exchange, Obsidian Launch provides a team of professionals such as accountants, lawyers, and entrepreneurs to accelerate the growth, revenue, and profits of the company that it has undertaken. The success of Obsidian Launch is more closely tied to the success of a young entrepreneur’s company, creating a much larger incentive for the company to make the startup successful. Fewer companies are taken on in a given time period, allowing the entrepreneur to work closer with the firm. (more…)

Aaron Belsh of PhatDeals recently informed us of the winners of the UCSB Technology Management Program New Venture Competition. A total of $25,000 was distributed to five winners in different categories. Taking “Most Fundable Idea” and “Dow Materials Use” categories ($10,000 and $5,000, respectively) this year was Nitride Solutions, a startup developing products used for fabrication of ultraviolet LEDs. These LEDs are sold to companies needing to sterilize medical devices or doing biological detection. The team of student entrepreneurs is comprised of Troy Baker, who is doing postdoctoral work in materials engineering, and David Pricco, who is finishing an undergraduate degree in business economics.

The award for “Best Business Plan” ($4,000) went to Green Pieces, a modular green-home building company that purportedly reduces costs by 15 percent and construction waste by 40 percent while allowing a home to be built in half the normal time. The company has already obtained $500K in funding. Green Pieces, which also won the Audience Choice award ($2,000), is led by Kelly Schmandt who is getting her masters in the Bren School of Environmental Science and Managment at UCSB.

Finally, InFlowMed, led in part by mechanical engineer Alex Williams, took home “Best Pitch” ($4,000) and split the Audience choice award. The company makes software that prevents harmful drug interactions by checking prescriptions quickly for doctors at “point of care” in hospitals. They’re planning to develop their product on EMR (Electronic Medical Record) devices.

All of these companies are incredibly impressive and I look forward to learning more details about their operations and future plans. I’ve been in touch with most of the founders so look out for full profile pieces with more details this week!

StudentBusinesses.com is excited to announce the launch of a new column, in which we will feature some of the most promising startups on our site. This week, we have selected two startups that each target college students and could improve your performance in school - but in completely different ways.

Founded by a PhD candidate at Stanford Medical School, Think Gum LLC has created a chewing gum that they believe can improve your energy level and enhance your memory:

Think Gum LLC is a wholesale chewing gum company that supplies its customers with chewing gum designed to boost mental performance. The candy-coated, sugar-free chewing gum is flavored and scented with rosemary, peppermint and other brain-boosting herbs and herbal extracts.

The company has already sold over 150,000 units, and they face a substantial opportunity: if the gum is actually effective, it could take the place of energy drinks and be used by countless high school students studying for their SATs, college students working on problem sets, or professionals preparing for a presentation. Furthermore, the price seems very reasonable (you can buy Think Gum at $0.16 per piece online), making the product within reach for students. Product manufacturing businesses like this one generally don’t come from students and are often tough to scale, but with an intriguing product and a smart team, there is a significant opportunity for them to keep growing.

As you write your next paper with the help of some Think Gum, you may also want to turn to EasyBib, a startup founded by (more…)

Facebook is the obvious one, but there are plenty of other startups that have sprung from Harvard University students and recent graduates. They’re attracting millions of visitors to their websites and millions of dollars in funding. Facebook has certainly spawned an immediate copycat phenomenon, but what about Microsoft? Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard, but we didn’t see his classmates drooling with envy and doing the same. The times have certainly changed; it’s easier with the evolution of the web, flattening of economies, and the glamorization of young moguls in the media. It’s irrefutable that building your assets is far more valuable than building someone else’s. Why build someone else’s dream when you can build yours.

We’ve covered some of the companies that grew out of Harvard, including Facebook, IvyInsiders, and uProdigy, but who are some of the others? Trip Adler, a 2006 graduate who watched Mark move to Silicon Valley, started an online document-sharing company called Scribd. Scribd now employs 12 people, attracts over 11 million visitors, and has raised nearly $4 million from Redpoint Ventures and several over firms. He was inspired by Facebook and realized he could build his own company. A handful of other recent grads have started Kirkland North Inc., Drop.io, Labmeeting Inc., iLike, and Indaba Music.

Despite the growth of entrepreneurship, noted by a record 55 entries for their business plan competition this year compared to 10 to 18 for past years and the success of these businesses, Harvard is still considered “behind” due to its once “relatively sleep start-up culture” described in a Wall Street Journal article. They “shunned a cozy relationship between academics and industry.” Paul Graham, the founder of Y Combinator who also holds a doctoral degree from Harvard, thinks so too: “Harvard is very noticeably behind.” They are starting to catch up though and finally discarded their rule that forces students to notify and get their dorm room businesses approved.

Both Google and Yahoo came out of Stanford University, which also happened to lease land to Hewlett-Packard Co. College startup culture isn’t new, the fever is just finally catching on. Who will be the next College Mogul?

You want a RoboScooter, you just don’t know it yet. The MIT-designed lightweight, folding, electric scooter is one their labs latest innovative creations that is bound to revolutionize urban mobility. The prototype of the new design, which was unveiled at the Milan Auto Show a couple of months ago, is a product of MIT’s Smart Cities Group run by professors and students. Their goal is to reduce the negative effects of extensive vehicle use, road congestion, air pollution, traffic noise, excessive consumption of space for parking, and ultimately reduce carbon emissions to slow global warming. No wonder they were a semifinalist at the MIT $100k.

They are working with manufacturers in Taiwan and Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute. Motor scooters are already popular abroad in European and Asian cities and it’s about time that someone is doing something to reduce traffic congestion in these major cities. RoboScooter is an improvement because it is green and designed in such a way that eliminates the powertrain with the motors directly inside each of the two wheels. This makes it possible for the scooter to be folded up into half its size and making it easier to be stored in crowded urban environments.

If the scooter isn’t impressive enough, the team designed and accomplished the project in a mere eight months “from a blank sheet to a built concept.” Plans in the future not only center on selling these but creating systems where communities can share or rent from spots throughout the city Zip Car style. Check out the video to see it in action:

I just met the founders of Social Boston Sports at the Boston Young Entrepreneur meet up and got to listen to their pitch. First off, if you live in Boston I highly recommend BYE because of their strong network of passionate entrepreneurs. Justin Obey and Brian Shaw, two 2006 Bentley College graduates, just quit their jobs to build their company that hosts social activities, adventurous trips, sporting leagues, bar crawls, and generally fun events as an alternative way for young professionals (target age range of 21 – 35) to meet new people.

Other entrepreneurs and young professionals at the meeting were quite fond of the idea and eager to join their dodge ball league to release stress from work and let loose. For those of you who don’t like being pegged in the face with rubber balls there are also soccer, softball, kickball, and flag football leagues. Justin came up with the idea at college when he was on the Red Bull street team and helped plan pub crawls through the city. Since their February 2007 launch they have experienced 800% growth in membership and have hosted over 50 different events that range from white water rafting to corporate events and parties with over 200 people. (more…)

I witnessed the excitement of Poll Everywhere, an inexpensive audience response system, when I attended the MIT Clean Energy Entrepreneurship Prize and the MIT $100k last week. The live interactive text messaging polling service had people captivated and engaged as the audience eagerly watched the percentages on the bar chart fluctuate as votes poured in from phones to determine the crowd favorite and who would win $10,000 (Covalent Solar won). Suddenly, the host had to move on with his presentation and announced that the chart would be back up in a few minutes. The audience suddenly turned into an angry mob screaming for the service to be brought back up; they wanted to know who would win the prize and if they had voted for the team that was everyone else’s favorite too. They were too eager to know and it drove them crazy. They loved it.

It’s ironic that the polling service that is supposed to help determine a favorite actually becomes the crowd’s favorite itself. (more…)

If you’re a college student looking for an internship, then you should take note of InternshipRatings.com. I recently wrote about them after meeting with the founders, Stephanie and Lauren. They just launched “Take Note” a group edited blog about internship opportunities and professional advice for those aiming to land one. Like most startups, InternshipRatings.com has had trouble driving traffic to their site and acquiring users. Part of the difficulty comes from the actual marketing, but then extends to a greater problem of giving users valuable information to keep them coming back. The blog offers a quick solution for both problems. It provides more content that will help bring more eyeballs by giving search engines more pages to find and display in relevant search results, and students looking for internships may add the RSS feed to their reader and come back more often to view articles and gain valuable advice for their search. The blog is well written since articles are by professionals who know the industry. Articles seem to be coming out once every week. I would recommend more frequent posts so that search engines are being pinged everyday and readers don’t forget to check every week. It is crucial to fulfill user’s expectations that they will be able to find something new during every visit, no matter when that is. The continual improving and launching of new features is a smart move for any startup. This should help them a bit.

Ricky Van Veen shares the wisdom of the Technological Age for aspiring Web entrepreneurs.

Twenty nine years after they formed a musical group, the Beastie Boys still call themselves “boys,” though they have certainly toned down the animal-like behavior. A mere nine years after CollegeHumor went online, the “boys” are starting to resemble young adults. In 2006, the parent company of CollegeHumor, Connected Ventures, which also owns of Busted Tees and Vimeo, was acquired by Barry Diller’s Interactive Corporation. Today CollegeHumor shares an office with the likes of Match.com and Evite in IAC’s new headquarters designed by superstar architect Frank Gehry located on Manhattan’s West side.

Being part of a large conglomerate hasn’t stopped CollegeHumor from doing what they do best; wasting the time of millions of American men and women every month. At last count, the site had over nine million unique visitors each month. As a brand Collegehumor is as strong as ever, though they have a few more resources at their disposal now: “As part of a public company, there’s a lot of accountability and reporting that needs to get done. When you’re a private independent company, you’re a bit more agile.”

Not only has CollegHumor found a winning formula for time wasting in user-generated content, they have also found a way to make money from the pranks, skits and wet t-shirt contests.