Young Business Leader Develops Affordable Tool to Remove Common Mud Dauber Nests

Clayton Rasche, 18, of Baton Rouge, LA, is one of this year's competitors in the i.Invest National Youth Business Competition. Clayton is the founder of The Dobber Digger, a tool that removes dirt dauber nests, a form of wasp common throughout the United States that build their nests out of the mud, causing a major problem for homeowners.

We spoke with Clayton to learn more about the business venture:

Tell us about your startup:

I have been in the exterior cleaning industry for five years. This experience presented a common issue with hard-to-remove dirt dauber nests. The Dobber Digger will be established as a Limited Liability Company with the expectation of rapid expansion in the exterior cleaning product industry. This simple, yet exciting new tool will create a fast, affordable, and simple way to remove pesky dirt dauber nests in a 3-step method: scrape, scrub, rinse.

Who or what inspired you to start Dobber Digger?

I have worked in the exterior cleaning industry with my dad's small company for five years. We've always needed a tool that can remove nests with ease. So, I researched to see what kind of tools existed for removing dauber nests, and I was surprised to find nothing of the sort. That is when I came up with the idea to invent the Dobber Digger, a tool that removes dirt dauber nests.

How will Dobber Digger impact the world?

The Dobber Digger creates a safe, fast, and affordable way to remove dirt dauber nests from your home! We, personally, conducted a survey of 100 Louisiana residents, and 97% agreed that there needs to be a tool for the removal of dauber nests. I love the south, and Louisiana at heart. I was born here and love my community. I want people to be proud of the look of their homes and not have to spend a lot of money to do so.

What are the next steps?

We are seeking funding to start the company. Our funding will go towards marketing and manufacturing costs, along with additional promotional items, such as t-shirts and a website.

To learn more about the Dobber Digger, visit their website, http://dobberdigger.com. To mentor or offer support, email info@i-investcompetition.com.

Texas Students Form Network of Investment Clubs Geared to Teach Financial Skills to High Schoolers

Shivam Siddaiya, 16, along with his team members, John Rho, 17, Grant Stapleton, 17, and Rishi Niranjan, 17, all of Plano, Texas, are one of this year's competitors in the i.Invest National Youth Business Competition. The team members are the cofounders of CASH Club Corp., a student-founded network of investment clubs built for high school students to improve their financial literacy.

We spoke with the cofounders to learn more about the business venture:

Tell us about your business/product:

CASH Club is an ever-expanding network of investment clubs across high-schools all over the world designed to provide students with opportunities to develop their financial knowledge. Currently, we have established nearly 30 branches across the world including two in India and one in Dubai. Our proprietary curriculum is specifically catered towards high school students and has been tried and tested for two years. CASH Club consists of two primary components: in-classroom learning and extracurricular competition. We host bi-weekly school club meetings, presenting our curriculum to educate fellow students about the stock market, which can then be used to advance performance in our branch-wide stock market game. We host two games per school year during the Fall and Spring semesters, each of which offers a cash prize to the top participants.

What inspired you to start CASH Club Corp.?

CASH Club was founded as a high school investment club in 2018 at Shepton High School. Our first year saw over a hundred members and a dozen meetings, culminating in an ultimate investment competition championship. Above all, we focused on delivering a quality curriculum in addition to an active application of investment principles. The very next summer, we soon expanded across the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, and by the end of the year, we even opened a branch in New Jersey and India. Since then, our emphasis has been on spreading our mission across the nation, spreading financial knowledge and professional opportunities wherever we go.

How will CASH Club Corp. impact the world?

The stock market is an excellent tool to harness a secure financial future, which, in turn, can lead to greater opportunities in life. Sadly, according to Princeton research: 75% of millennials report that they don't invest because they don't know enough about the markets. This lack of investment is not due to a lack of interest, but rather due to a lack of exposure and opportunity. Around the world, high schools suffer from a lack of finance-based programs to teach students the fundamentals of investment. CASH Club Corp. aims to fix this problem by enabling students to start stock-investment clubs at their schools, providing them with a bite-sized curriculum covering the basics of the stock market, and empowering them to apply their knowledge through engaging stock simulation competitions on a mobile app.

What are the next steps?

The company is seeking funding to be put towards fulfilling our fundamental purpose of educating the next generation of investors. Funds will help cover the operational costs of developing a new curriculum, hosting weekly club meetings across multiple schools, and expanding our organization. Since CASH Club aims to create investment clubs at every high school in the world, funds will also be critical in powering various channels of marketing, including social media, mail, flyers, and news platforms.

To learn more about CASH Club Corp., visit their website, https://www.cashclubcorp.info/, or their Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/cashclub.corp. To mentor or offer support, email info@i-investcompetition.com.

Youth Startup Creates Mobile App to Connect Charities to Donating Users and Volunteers

Rishab Siddamshetty, 15, Aadi Khasgiwala, 15, Akash Raghunathan, 15, and Aaron Liu, 15, all from Dallas, TX, are one of this year's competitors in the i.Invest National Youth Business Competition. The team members are the cofounders of MyWish. MyWish integrates simplicity with innovation to provide charities with a simple solution to acquire supplies, money, and volunteers.

We spoke with Aaron, Akash, Aadi, and Rishab to learn more about the business venture:

Tell us about your business:

Every charity needs three things: supplies, money, and volunteers. Our app, MyWish, solves these issues by hosting a user-friendly interface that connects charities to donors, so philanthropists can donate money and supplies to their favorite charities. Also, our multifarious platform allows charities to create public profiles, allowing for volunteers to connect with them directly through our app’s chat function. In order to cover the costs of hosting this platform, the supplier is charged $3.00 for supply-based transactions and 4% for cash-based transactions. MyWish also allows for an in-app subscription which includes an unlimited wish list, a more advanced profile, and guaranteed advertisement on the MyWish homepage. Essentially, our app aims to provide a more long-term solution for charities by creating strong communities as opposed to one-time transactions.

Who or what inspired you to start MyWish?

MyWish was formed to learn about charity’s needs and wishes and brainstorm how our team could help fulfill them. Many of our team members were inspired by an underprivileged community center that we volunteered at, and we were disappointed that so many people waste items that charities could be utilizing. As we went through our development phase, our team thought about the various competitors in the field, such as Giftster, Offer-Up, and more. Our team built MyWish with a goal to help charities, as opposed to any of our other competitors.

How will MyWish impact the world?

The growth of users will benefit charities by giving them the ability to get the supplies and volunteers they need with a single click. Volunteers and donors will also benefit by having a user-friendly platform to reach the forefront of philanthropy. Using MyWish, more people will learn about these organizations, and in turn, more people will supply them with the everyday materials they desperately need. Our product strives to help charities. It is reported that nearly 5,000 charities are forced to close their doors every year and shut down due to a lack of supplies, volunteers, and money. Our company can help alleviate the struggles charities face daily by providing a platform for more people to donate, supply, and contact these charities.

What are the next steps?

We are seeking $15,000 to fund advertising and marketing our product; in additional to financing additional app development, server hosting, and cover further personal expenses.

To mentor or support, email info@i-investcompetition.com.