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Photo of Brite founders Lukas Thackery, Martin Craig Dombrowski and Nate Wimer posing.

Brite Ideas

Brite Ideas

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The future’s looking Brite for West Virginia University alumni Lukas Thackery, Martin Craig Dombrowski and Nate Wimer.

In 2023, the trio came up with a bright, or rather, Brite idea to start a business that proactively identifies college students' needs through an app that rewards students for sharing real-time feedback.

As an MBA graduate from WVU's John Chambers College of Business and Economics, Thackery recognized that Brite needed a strategic plan that valued experimentation. 

That led him and his co-founders to Vantage Ventures.

“Vantage Ventures and its director, Dr. Ryan Angus, helped our team by making us continuously challenge our business model assumptions,” Thackery said. “Their mindset kept us nimble and adaptable, driving our growth and success.”

Since launching in 2023, Brite has expanded to five college towns, giving away over $10,000 in prizes from more than 100 local businesses. In November 2024, the company received $150,000 from Wing 2 Wing Ventures, enabling them to build their engineering team and accelerate growth.

So, what’s next for Brite?

According to Thackery, Brite aims to launch new university partnerships designed to reduce student attrition through data-driven insights by spring 2025.

Do you have an entrepreneurial idea you want to pursue? Apply today to the spring cohort of Vantage Ventures’ startup accelerator!

Written by: Emma Higgins

Mountaineers Sans Frontières

Students working with the Robbins Center for Global Business and Strategy took part in an experiential learning project that combined local service with international impact. 

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Paul Speaker Appointed Fred T. Tattersall Distinguished Teaching Chair in Finance

Paul Speaker, professor in the Finance department, has been appointed as the Fred T. Tattersall Distinguished Teaching Chair in Finance for the Chambers College.

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The Future is Innovative Females

In an effort to reach innovative and entrepreneurial females throughout the state, the WVU Morris L. Hayhurst LaunchLab hosted its Second Annual Women Innovate Pitch Competition. Ten women entered the virtual competition in October in hopes of winning prizes up to $5,000 to turn their idea into a reality. The contestants had to consider every aspect of their pitch – everything from production to advertising – and field questions from the all-female panel of judges. First place went to Anna Cummings, a business management major and entrepreneurship minor from Ashburn, Virginia, whose pitch identified an unaddressed need for a device to help earring-wearers attach their earring backtracks. “The Women Innovate Pitch Competition is an important opportunity for women entrepreneurs,” said Carrie White, executive director of the Morris L. Hayhurst LaunchLab. “The LaunchLab is here to provide support to all student innovators. However, historically we have seen fewer female clients as compared to male. This event is designed to level that field. The first year we held it, we saw our female entrepreneurs increase by 20 percent. We want to provide encouragement to all WVU students who wish to create something new!” 

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First Pitch

Supported by Silicon Valley CEO Ray Zinn, the first ZinnStarter Pitch Competition, hosted by the LaunchLab, gave aspiring collegiate entrepreneurs an opportunity to win cash to build their ideas into the next groundbreaking product or business. Winners included: First place ($2,500): Emma Adams, WVU animal and nutritional sciences major, and her business idea PetRecord, which provides universal medical records for pets in emergency situations; second place ($1,500): Cameron Keefe, global supply chain management major, and her idea ThermoRoller, which combines physical massage with temperature control to relieve sore muscle pain; and third place ($1,000) to the team of Austin Davis, Anne Byer and Emily Thomas, from the University of Charleston, and their idea Second Chance, a program that helps give active control back to people with quadriplegia and paraplegia. 

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Governor’s Computer Science Institute Logs Into Reynolds Hall

In June (2024), high school students from across West Virginia gathered on WVU’s campus to take part in the Governor’s Computer Science Institute, a state-sponsored program to help techie teens learn more about their passion. 

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