Listen to this articleFundamentals:
- A recent Rowan University graduate has won $30,000 in the Roller New Business Competition to help expand his new greeting card business.
- The competition is organized by the Rowan Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and aims to prepare students for the entrepreneurial process.
- A recent investment from the Rowan Innovation Venture Fund will enable the competition to extend financial support to the winning student companies.
For Anna DeMasi, success is assured.
The Rowan University graduate recently received $30,000 to help grow her greeting card business, Lunchbox Cards, from a student start-up to a growing company.
DeMasi will start a full-time job in recruiting and sales in Philadelphia next month, but thanks to the Roller New Venture Competition, she’ll be able to start her own business on the side. As a winner of the competition, which took place on campus on April 19, DeMasi received $5,000 from Rowan University’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and a $25,000 convertible note option from the Rowan Innovation Venture Fund.
Considering that the Lunchbox Card concept was born less than a year ago, that’s quite an achievement for a 21-year-old.
Demasi said the idea for the brand was born from his mother’s habit of putting a handwritten note in his brother’s lunchbox every day after he was born 14 years ago.
“They were my mother’s way of showing me that she still loved and supported me, even though much of her attention was focused on my brother. It was an extension of that love outside the home and helped build the foundation for the strong, healthy relationship we share today,” DeMasi said.
“I didn’t know she had saved each card until recently when the family moved and she showed them to me again. [Rowan] “Professor Greg Payton mentioned it in class one day and told me I had to do something with it,” she said.
Start Running
Demasi first presented the idea for Lunchbox Cards in April 2023 while attending the Rowan Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center’s New Venture Expo.
“The feedback we received was amazing,” she recalls. “People were so interested in our cards and wanted to create stories similar to the ones my mom and I were sharing. After the expo, I started to really start building my business and brand.”
From there, DeMasi attended Rowan University’s summer accelerator program and began looking for the right resources to figure out the product direction and bring the cards to market.
Demasi, who has a degree in marketing, described the lunchbox cards as “vitamins for the soul” that provide children with love, support and encouragement every day.
“What makes our cards different from ordinary cards is the artwork. Each card features a design hand-painted by my mom,” she says. “We also have a unique packaging element that protects the cards from the dirt of your child’s lunchbox, so you can store each card just like my mom did for me.”
The cards come with pre-written messages but also have space for the sender to add a few lines of their own, Demasi said, adding, “Our cards allow parents to express their love in a special way and at the same time save time.”
One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned about the business world from others in my position is to be open to ideas and be open to guidance.
– Anna Demasi, Founder of Lunchbox Card Co., Ltd.
Lunch Box Cards plans to generate revenue from two streams: B2B sales and B2C sales.
The subscription-based B2C model is based on the school year, as many parents only pack lunches for their children during the school year. DeMasi envisions 50 cards being delivered every two months to ensure there is enough for each week during the school year.
For B2B channels, Lunchbox Cards plans to work with schools and other childcare facilities to buy the cards in bulk. Pricing is still being determined, DeMasi said.
Lunch Box Cards competed against four other student startups in the 17th annual New Venture Competition.
- fin, An AI-powered financial advice mobile app and website that aims to “make financial wellness accessible to everyone.” (Kevin Crawford, Computer Science ’24)
- Bobi Cover, It’s an antioxidant-rich, allergy-free granola bar coated with superfoods. (Harrison Nastasi, Business School ’26, Justin Iannelli, Marketing School ’26)
- FlowGood Technologies, Eco-friendly, compostable straws made from all-natural ingredients (Jerek Garcia, Communications ’24, Florinda Good-Gonzales, Accounting ’23)
- Circles, A gamified goal-setting app for college students and young adults (Aiden Tamazian, Mechanical Engineering ’26, Sydney Wiredu, Chemistry and Neuroscience ’26)
Get a head start
The competition, organized by the Rowan Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, aims to prepare students for the entrepreneurial process and give them the opportunity to operate in a collaborative and competitive environment. It also gives students the opportunity to win cash prizes for their businesses.
To enter the competition, students must meet several requirements, including attending a series of mandatory workshops on business models, customer discovery and development, finance, and presentation skills.
Teams are then assigned a mentor to work on the feasibility of their concept and business plan during the preparation period. Teams that advance to the semi-finals will be required to submit a video presentation and a business plan.
From there, five applicants will be selected to progress to the final competition where they will pitch their ideas in front of a panel of industry-leading judges and an audience.
This year’s judges were Linda Rohrer, president of Rohrer & Vail Real Estate, former chair of the Rowan University Board of Trustees and supporter of the university; Matt Edson, founding dean of Rowan University’s Shriver College of Veterinary Medicine; Isabel Kent, CEO of Philadelphia Startup Leaders; and Marty Rosica, owner of Hawkes & Company.
Jessica Vattima, assistant director of the Rowan Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and an adjunct professor in the Department of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, said the finalists were evaluated “based on a combination of how well the problem was identified and validated, the solution, market and competition identified, key financials and the overall viability and presentation of the business.”
While the judges were impressed with all the finalists, Vattima said they saw the potential in Demasi’s business. “The judges really admired her story and that’s what made Lunchbox Card stand out from the competition,” Vattima said, describing the concept as a “unique and amazing product.”
Bobica Bars took second place, winning $2,500, and Circlez won third place with $1,000.
Funding increase
Since its inception 17 years ago, the competition (previously known as the Business Plan Competition) has awarded more than $130,000 to students looking to turn their business ideas into reality. Until last year, winners were awarded $4,000, but an additional equity investment from the Rowan Innovation Venture Fund has allowed the competition to expand funding to winning student companies.
At the time, RIVF board chairman Michael Connallon said he hoped increasing the amount of funding awarded in the annual competition would make an already fertile ground for student startups even more attractive.
“For some companies, this award alone will be enough to reach their next milestone, but the additional investment and support from RIVF will help them accelerate their expansion further. Further support for student-led ventures is a key component of our growth strategy for the entire university and community ecosystem,” explained Connaron, the JPMorgan Chase executive director.
RIVF was established 10 years ago by the Rowan University Board of Trustees Foundation with $5 million to support new, scalable companies and strengthen Southern New Jersey’s economy. In 2022, the endowment will grow to $25 million, making it the largest endowment of any public university in the region.
Since 2015, RIVF has supported more than a dozen local and regional startups, many of which were launched by university students and faculty.
The breakdown is more than $2.4 million to life sciences companies, more than $1.2 million to software and mobile app companies, approximately $450,000 to telecommunications startups, and $150,000 to entrepreneurs in the food and beverage sector.
Initial recipients include:
- Half a day, Founded by Mike Lombard and Kayvon Jahanbakhsh, two Roller College of Business graduates and winners of the 2018 Roller New Business Competition, the company produces a line of healthy tea beverages that are now sold in more than 2,000 retailers in the U.S., including Target, Whole Foods, Wawa and Publix stores.
- Express Cell, The Philadelphia-based company is using DNA editing technology to create cell lines to improve drug development and biological research.
- MRIMath, A health science company co-founded by Rowan University faculty, it provides doctors with critical information about life-saving procedures, including radiation and surgical treatments for brain tumors.
After the competition ended, DeMasi said the $30,000 prize money “will help grow our business in a variety of ways.”
“This will allow us to create and finalize the first packs of cards that will be released soon, including finalizing the graphics and production costs, as well as obtaining certain legal elements necessary to protect our heart vitamins,” said the Berlin native, with the goal of launching them by the start of the 2024-25 school year next fall.
As she prepares to launch her first product, Demasi shares, “I always refer to these cards as ‘my babies,’ and they are special cards that my mom made for me, so I want to make sure every detail is absolutely perfect before launching. Through RCIE, I have had the opportunity to connect with so many incredible business leaders and experts who have offered to help and mentor me with the product launch of Lunch Box Cards.”
Reflecting on the experience, DeMasi said it was a challenging but rewarding endeavor.
“I had a lot of low confidence in myself as an entrepreneur and felt like it wasn’t for me, but participating in the competition helped me to build that confidence and overcome the voice in my head that was telling me it wasn’t for me,” she said. “One of my professors, Greg Payton, always tells me that entrepreneurs find opportunity in chaos, and I think that’s exactly how Lunchbox Cards was born.”
“One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned about the business world from people in my shoes is to be open to ideas and accept guidance. It can be very difficult to see your own brand or product from an outside perspective. Sometimes we are so immersed in the product and know it so well that we don’t see it in the same way that the consumer does, and that’s not always a good thing,” she continued.
“Getting feedback from colleagues, other business owners, and experts often leads to breakthroughs,” DeMasi recalls. “At one point, I was stuck on my presentation, but when I spoke with other small business owners and professors, I was able to take some of the things they said and get a whole new perspective on how to approach my idea.”
