Cheese venture’s founder named Ignite recipient
Janessa Steenberg is the first recipient of RIT Venture Creation’s Ignite initiative. The Rochester Institute of Technology student is the founder of Panacheeza, a plant-based Parmesan-style cheese startup.
Her focus on bringing the cheese product to market caught the attention of mentors at the Venture Creations business incubator.
Janeesa Steenberg (Photos: Panacheeza)
Ignite is designed to target high-capacity, student-run businesses and allows the use of resources offered through the incubator including access to mentors, office space and funding, among others, officials say. Students can develop their business over a period of 18 months. Ignite is supported by RIT alums Jim Swift and Mike Browne.
“I saw a gap in the opportunities for students to take their ideas to the next level,” says Browne, founder and partner of Fiscal Partners, which provides expert bookkeeping, controller and advisory services. “Venture Creations was in need of a resource pool, and I thought this would be a great program to help foster. I was happy to be able to help work through the strategies to making this a reality. It’s truly a launch pad for our students.”
For Swift, CEO of information and analytics company Buxton, it was an opportunity to impact thriving startups.
“I don’t have specific expectations for the Ignite program, but I do have hopes for the program,” he says. “I want to provide an avenue for entrepreneurs to be able to navigate through the ups and downs.
“There is an intellectual, fact-based piece to this, but there is also emotion behind this,” he notes. “Be patient, yet urgent at the same time, if that makes sense. Entrepreneurs need to learn how to harness their emotions and, hopefully, we can help with that, too. Mike and I will do whatever we can to smooth out the bumps in the road.”
For Steenberg, it was the lack of options that spurred her to launch Panacheeza.
“Within the last five years, I became so…
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