This year, About Boulder is teaming up with Quintessentials for one unbelievable partnership. Quintessentials is a company that delivers personal care items to students on behalf of their parents, giving them all the things they need to survive their freshman year of college! I’m sure you’re wondering how this incredible partnership started, and that’s what Quintessentials founder Travis Parke is telling us today.

“I suppose it all started in the fall of 2013 when Keira and I met each other in a Business of Entrepreneurship class. She – being far better at studying than I – helped me understand readings and in turn pass pop quizzes. So when we met again the following spring semester in a Business Plan writing class, it was only natural we created a group around a business idea that was the precursor of what QuintEssentials is today. QuintEssentials delivers personal care items to college students on behalf of their parents, think of it as the useful care package service.

As the class progressed, our business became more concrete and we began preparing for a pseudo-Shark Tank investor presentation. We had a solid business plan, a great presentation ready to go, and zero understanding of finance. Being woefully unprepared on the numbers front, I approached my friend Jeremy whom I had known for four years. Jeremy shared the same passion for entrepreneurship, and unlike Keira and I, also held a passion for spreadsheets; and with that he was part of the founding team.

Pitch day in the class was a great success, and it was there that we met Scott Armstrong (the man behind About Boulder) and immediately hit it off. It didn’t take long to see the mutual benefits of a partnership between QuintEssentials and AboutBoulder.com. Today, Scott and our team have an amazing working relationship that would never have been formed if not for a chance encounter. Scott Armstrong was one of three judges for the cross-campus entrepreneurial competition at the Leeds School of Business.

Our Team has recently graduated from the Catalyze CU program, an eight week accelerator through the University, that has helped QuintEssentials gain a lot of exposure around the Boulder startup community. We launch in three weeks here at the University of Colorado with the support of Scott and AboutBoulder.com, and soon enough QuintEssentials will be taking over the college care package scene at a school near you!”

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Sam Skelton Chief Technology Officer