Students’ learning makes a million-dollar impact

Jim Kitchen’s Entrepreneurship and Business Planning class at UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School has become a transformative experience for students who aspire to create a startup venture of their own. In spring 2025, his students reached a significant milestone: They generated over $1 million in net profits.

Kitchen’s three-credit course provides students with a comprehensive understanding of entrepreneurship, equipping them with the tools and skills necessary to conceive, plan, execute and scale a successful business. Throughout the semester, they work in teams to develop business ventures and apply what they’ve learned in real-world settings. In two class projects students experience the challenges and triumphs of launching an actual business, making it one of the most sought-after courses in the Undergraduate Business Program (UBP) curriculum.

“One of the most important takeaways from this course is to do good while doing well. So many students are emphatically career-obsessed, and in this course I’m trying to teach them entrepreneurial hard skills while patterning balance and contentment.”

The funds they raised made possible the wish of Jayden through Make-A-Wish Eastern North Carolina. Jayden was diagnosed with a brain tumor when he was 13, and ultimately was left without the ability to blink his left eye. He tried several different eye patches that didn’t keep his eye closed, so he decided to create his own. Through his wish experience, Jayden participated in a two-day BME/Business boot camp with the Lampe Joint Biomedical Engineering Department at UNC-Chapel Hill and NC State. At the end of the boot camp, Jayden left with a functioning prototype, a 3D printer and materials to print his own eye patch.

A seasoned entrepreneur and educator, Kitchen has been teaching the class for 15 years. Reflecting on its success, Kitchen says he’s “continually amazed by the energy and creativity students bring to the classroom. They are some of the brightest minds, and it’s inspiring to see them take the tools and lessons from this course and implement them practically. Watching them generate over $1 million in net profits has been one of the highlights of my entrepreneurial and academic careers.”

The profits generated by students have supported a variety of nonprofit initiatives, benefiting the Community Empowerment Fund (CEF), the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Public School Foundation, Make-A-Wish of Eastern North Carolina and Innovate Carolina’s 1789 Student Venture Fund.

While the profits help address local needs, Kitchen’s students learn lifelong lessons.

Empowering students to give back

As one of the primary beneficiaries of the course’s profits over the past decade, Make-A-Wish of Eastern North Carolina has been able to grant the wishes of dozens of North Carolina children facing life-threatening conditions, bringing hope and joy to families during challenging times.

Mary Elizabeth Bennett, director of development at Make-A-Wish, praises their collaboration with Kitchen’s classes. “Granting a child’s wish is far more than just a special experience—it’s about creating a moment of pure happiness and allowing a child and family to feel seen, valued and empowered,” she says. “The ventures and the profits these student teams have created have been such an inspiration to the organization and the families, and we are beyond thankful.”

Ekin Aygen (BSBA ’26) gained lifelong connections in the course as well as a deeper understanding of entrepreneurship. “I learned that it’s good to create profit with purpose—and that business and philanthropy can go hand in hand. I now find myself thinking about potential business ideas with a focus on solving real-world pain points. I’ve truly embraced the mindset that anything is possible if you approach it with empathy, purpose, and grit and I have the class to thank for that.”

Innovate Carolina’s student venture fund and social impact

Another significant beneficiary over the past 10 years, the 1789 Student Venture Fund, provides seed funding for Carolina students to explore and launch their commercial startups or social ventures at the earliest stages.

Innovate Carolina, UNC-Chapel Hill’s central team for innovation, entrepreneurship and economic development, operates the 1789 Hub community and the 1789 Student Venture Fund, providing access to resources and interactions that engage students in developing entrepreneurial mindsets, skills and ideas. Through the 1789 Student Venture Fund, Innovate Carolina fosters a cross-departmental approach to entrepreneurship education, providing UNC-Chapel Hill students with dynamic, hands-on experiences that set a benchmark in higher education.

According to Sheryl Waddell, director of economic development and innovation hubs at Innovate Carolina, the funding creates opportunities for students to engage with the innovation ecosystem through pathways like mentorship, internships, and competitions, helping them thrive and grow. “The fund enables students to focus on refining their ideas and finding innovative solutions that can have a profound human, social or economic impact,” says Waddell.

“Jim Kitchen’s course is such a key part of the innovation ecosystem at UNC-Chapel Hill. The students who come out of his course are not only equipped with the skills to succeed in business, but they also learn the importance of giving back and supporting other ventures in the process. The generous gifts made by the students to the 1789 Hub have been invaluable in helping UNC students get their ventures off the ground.”

Anise Robinson, Innovate Carolina student engagement manager

Sasha Surkin (BSBA ’25) has benefited from the fund and is the founder of WeyeZE, a personalized corrective-lens eyeglasses kit with the goal of improving the accessibility and affordability of quality vision care.

“1789 Student Venture Fund’s financial support has enabled my startup to grow within a supportive and innovative entrepreneurial ecosystem. With the funding, WeyeZE has been able to launch our product in our first pilot program and enable people to have clear vision that couldn’t have had it before,” says Surkin. “This has made a huge impact on the progress WeyeZE has made with our research and development and building out our supply chain.”

“The impact of the profits we generate is felt far beyond our classrooms,” says Kitchen. “It’s creating a ripple effect, where our students go out and create positive change in the world. Every dollar of profit generated represents an opportunity, whether it’s helping a child’s wish come true or providing critical seed funding to an innovative startup. I’m incredibly proud of what they have accomplished, and I can’t wait to see what comes next for each of them.”

This remarkable million-dollar milestone underscores the powerful intersection of business, philanthropy and innovation. The legacy of Kitchen’s course continues to inspire students to develop ideas that not only succeed in the marketplace but also help transform North Carolina communities.

This article was written by Innovate Carolina.

Read about a 2014 class project for  Make-A-Wish® Eastern North Carolina and a 2019 project for Pee Wee Homes.