Nikhil Kundra started Teechy, a business that offers technology support.
The 22-year-old also helped create Partender, which offers a faster way for bartenders to complete their bar inventory accurately. Instead of inventory taking about six hours, Partender reduces the time to 30 minutes.
Kundra said his success comes from what he is learning as a graduate student at the Thomas S. Johnson Master of Science in Entrepreneurship Program at the Hough Graduate School of Business, which has been selected as a finalist for the 2012 United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship.
The winner will be announced in New Orleans during the USASBE's annual conference, which will be held from Jan. 12 to 15.
Past winners include Harvard University, Indiana University and the University of Texas.
The 30-credit program at UF, which lasts for 10 months, includes a trip to Dublin, Ireland.
During one class in MSE, a group of students create and launch a business by the end of the program.
"Our students are immersed in entrepreneur culture," said MSE Program Director Chris Tassin. "When they graduate, they know what they are doing."
Kelly Riley, a 23-year-old graduate student in the program, is working with her group on BarkUp!, a socially responsible business that creates dog apparel.
"This class makes us aware of opportunities out there besides corporate America," Riley said.
Kundra said that with the introduction of Grooveshark, he sees Gainesville starting to follow into a trend of entrepreneurial businesses.
"I've always had ideas," Kundra said. "Now classes are teaching me how to manage, how to change and how to think differently."
Kundra plans on continuing his businesses.
"Everything I do in class intertwines with what I'm starting," he said.
