Bench Top Innovations remains popular, despite no permanent business launch in years

Five years ago, Bench Top Innovations struggled to gather 13 students for its first year-long cohort, where seniors from any major collaborate to develop and launch a food product. 

Among those 13 was then-senior Grace Mittl, whose favorite high-protein snack – roasted, seasoned chickpeas – would inspire Absurd Snacks, a line of packaged trail mixes free from the top nine food allergens. 

Since then, Bench Top Innovations has become one of the University of Richmond’s most coveted courses. Over a hundred rising seniors vied for one of its 16 spots last spring, making the program more selective than the university itself.

This year’s cohort spent the fall semester creating four different canned coffees or teas, pitching each on Oct. 28 at the annual Great Bake-Off. Now, students are rebranding and preparing to launch the winning drink – a canned coffee with electrolytes and 20 grams of protein, which the class renamed from Korra to Rali. 

But unlike Mittl, who declined a job offer to develop Absurd Snacks and continues to reside in Richmond as its CEO, some of this year’s Bench Top Innovations students have already said they are unlikely to take that risk. 

“I don’t know if I think so early on in my career I would want to have my own startup,” said class member Meg Macauley. “The grind is real.”

Rali’s class-elected CEO, Matt Lynch, similarly said he had no plan to stay with the company long-term and will instead work in marketing at L’Oréal in New York City next year.

Despite the program’s popularity, its past three cohorts all closed their companies’ doors soon after graduation. These companies include Envee dressing, NOOSH spread and Twin Tails Brews tea. Of the four launched products, only Absurd Snacks remains active.

Macauley and Lynch explained, though, that Bench Top Innovations is about more than pushing students into full-time entrepreneurial roles. They said its value lies not in creating companies and jobs, but in the unique opportunity for hands-on experience.  

Lynch called the course unlike any other offered at UR, saying it was worth taking regardless of students’ future plans. 

“It’ll teach you a lot of soft skills that you wouldn’t normally get in the classroom,” he said. “It challenges you to be critical thinkers, to be problem solvers, and obviously working with students from all different backgrounds across campus is a really unique experience.” He added, “All these skills definitely would be applicable, no matter where.” 

When Bench Top Innovations’ creator and marketing professor Joel Mier pored over students’ applications in the spring, he was not searching for fully-realized entrepreneurs, he said, but for “accidental” ones. 

“What we wanted to build was something for the person who didn’t go down the entrepreneurship track,” Mier said, explaining the motivations behind the class. “We want the person who, you know, looks at the program and says, ‘This could be interesting. I’m not sure if that’s the life for me, but I want to experience this.’”

Given the kind of student Bench Top Innovations aims to attract, Mier said he is happy no matter what a cohort decides to do with their company. 

“We do not do this to spin off businesses. If that happens – Great. We love it. If it doesn’t – We love it” he said., “It’s really the experience and the lessons learned through that year-long program that will make them better professionals, better communicators.” 

While Mittl said she would love for another student to follow in her footsteps, she encouraged them to do so thoughtfully. 

“It really is an all-or-nothing kind of endeavor,” she said, saying that building a business can consume all of a person’s time. “It’s not the right path for everyone, and that is totally fine.” 

Like Mier, Mittl said the experience students gain in Bench Top Innovations serves them professionally regardless of where they end up. 

“You get so much experience across marketing, [operations], and how to build a website, and even down to the most important thing of how to create safe food and how to build community,” Mittl said. “What better way to learn how to do something than to just do it and figure it out?” 

As they head into winter break, Macauley, Lynch and the rest of the Bench Top Innovations team are refining Rali with a Chicago manufacturer and determining where and when the product will be available. 

Contact contributor Emma Beardsley at emma.beardsley@richmond.edu