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The Louis H. Stumberg New Venture Competition, �԰�����’s annual entrepreneurial competition, provides students various opportunities to get involved with businesses in the community. Companies like give student entrepreneurs guidance on creating and maintaining startups. Since 2011, �԰�����’s mutually beneficial partnership with Geekdom has helped cultivate a community of innovation and creativity on campus and in the broader San Antonio area. 

“We have partnered with Geekdom directly on a variety of programs as founding members, such as Students + Startups and San Antonio Startup Week. We were part of launching, growing, and continuing these programs for years,” says Carmen Aramanda, interim director of the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. “Geekdom invites our students to participate in their incubator programs, startup weekend programs, and attend their numerous events, all free. It's a great way for students to connect with the local startup community and build opportunities for their future.”

Geekdom has worked with �԰����� for 12 years, both as a sponsor and a partner for the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Geekdom is a company focused on providing resources, support, and space to startups in the San Antonio area. Having helped launch startups that have created over 2,489 jobs since its inception, the company prides itself on its collaborative entrepreneurial community.

“We love working with �԰�����! The caliber of the ventures we see coming out of �԰����� and engaging with our programs have been top-notch,” says Charles Woodin, CEO of Geekdom. “This partnership is key to helping these talented founders find the resources they need to continue to build their company here in San Antonio.”

One of the major benefits to working with Geekdom is their office space in downtown San Antonio, complete with a resource library, access to an event center, a conference room, support from the Geekdom job board, mentorship opportunities, and more. 

AJ Bishop ’22, a member of Range Rehab, one of the two winning startups of the 2022 Stumberg Competition, was able to grow his startup thanks to the opportunities and connections Geekdom provided during the Stumberg Summer Accelerator.

“Being part of the �԰����� accelerator and the Geekdom incubator helped me make a lot of connections in the San Antonio business community,” Bishop says. “There’s a mentor at Geekdom who’s a consultant for small businesses, and she offered me a weekly meeting for free all throughout the summer. That would probably be my most valuable connection. And then we also got a lot of connections just from the networking events to find physical therapists who would be willing to take our device in for trials.”

Fellow 2022 winners of the Stumberg Competition ReCap also benefited from the Geekdom connection. “We met with new entrepreneurs who had successfully started up there, and there was no shortage of people who were experts in their field that we could just walk up and talk to,” says Alexandra Garcia ’24, co-founder of Recap. “In diverse fields, including everything from marketing to design to machine learning—the connections have been absolutely phenomenal.”

Geekdom’s entrepreneurial support program falls in line with the spirit of the Stumberg Competition with their mutual goals of creating opportunities for ambitious young professionals. By pairing with companies like Geekdom, �԰����� continues to enrich its community through connection and innovation. 

“Geekdom's mission is closely aligned with �԰�����'s initial move to San Antonio at the request of the Chamber of Commerce,” Aramanda says. “Working with Geekdom helps us foster opportunities for the community, our alumni, and most importantly, our students.”