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For some lucky student entrepreneurs, the chance to see their business ideas grow into a mighty company is just around the corner. That’s because the Dolan School of Business has officially announced the investor panel that will help students fund and launch their business ideas at the sixth annual Fairfield StartUp Showcase on April 6 .

“This year’s lineup of student teams has been working on their pitches every week since December, this time under the tutelage of an impressive lineup of experts,” said Chris Huntley, PhD, associate professor and program director of Fairfield StartUp. “We’re lucky to have the students working with our Entrepreneur-in-Residence Scott DePetris ’99, Investor-in-Residence Phil Cagnassola ’92 and Bob Dorf, nationally-acclaimed startup coach and author.”

Before students can earn seed money to put towards their business ideas they will have to go before the investor panel of five investors in a Shark Tank -style competition, to not only pitch their plans, but also negotiate live.

Dean and Professor of the Dolan School Donald Gibson, PhD, shared that the investor panel will offer an array of experience that is sure to enhance students’ business plans and help them be successful.

“This is an esteemed investor panel with expertise in a wide range of entrepreneurial ventures,” he said. “These panelists will be able to challenge our students on their business plans, and encourage them in ways that will enhance their chances of success. We’re excited to have such a great group of investors engaged in this exciting showcase of Fairfield talent.”

Meet the 2017 StartUp Showcase Investor Panel:

Adam Belardino ’06
Adam Belardino is a financial services executive with Barnum Financial Group. Prior to joining Barnum, Adam worked for MetLife in the Service, Strategy and Planning team within IB Operations and Services. Since 2010, he has been a part of an elite group of advisors who earned MetLife Premier Client Group’s Platinum Advisor Recognition - a high honor bestowed to a select set of top producers. Adam graduated from ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ÊÓƵÎÞÏÞÖƹۿ´ with a BS in economics and a BA in political science.

Joseph Bronson ' 70
Joe Bronson is currently principal and CEO of TheBronsonGroup, LLC, a business advisory group focused on operational and financial consulting. In addition, he is a strategic advisor to Cowen Group, Inc. investment banking firm and a member of the Board of Trustees of ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ÊÓƵÎÞÏÞÖƹۿ´. Joe is a CPA and holds a BS in accounting from ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ÊÓƵÎÞÏÞÖƹۿ´ and an MBA from the University of Connecticut. He was inducted into the UConn Business School Hall of Fame in 2006.

Hugh Davis '95
Hugh Davis is a co-founder of Critical Mix and is responsible for setting and executing strategy, leading the company to reach 43rd on the Inc. 500 list of the fastest growing private companies in America in 2015. Hugh is an entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in developing internet businesses. Prior to founding Critical Mix, he played a significant role in transforming Greenfield Online from a two-person start-up into a global, 600+ employee, publicly traded company (Nasdaq:SRVY), which was subsequently sold to the Microsoft Corporation. Hugh is experienced in managing operations, strategy, marketing and entrepreneurship. He graduated from ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ÊÓƵÎÞÏÞÖƹۿ´ with a BS in economics.

Michael Garvey ’89
Michael Garvey founded License Monitor, Inc. in 1999, a provider of proactive license monitoring and risk management services, and currently serves as a managing director. He is an active investor in public and private ventures and an avid entrepreneur, involved in three other business ventures in the past two decades from conception to funding and implementation. Mike received his BA in marketing and management of information systems from ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ÊÓƵÎÞÏÞÖƹۿ´.

Irina Novoselsky
Irina Novoselsky is president of Novitex Enterprise Solutions, the leading provider of innovative, cloud-based solutions in the document outsourcing industry. Prior to Novitex, she was an Investment Strategist at Dubin & Co., an investment professional at Apollo Global Management in the Private Equity Group and an investment professional at Morgan Stanley in the M&A group. Irina is an executive committee member of Novitex and also a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization, an invitation-only, global network of young chief executives. She graduated from the Stern School of Business at New York University.

Don’t delay! Reserve your spot at the Showcase on April 6. Doors open at 6 p.m. at the Quick Center.