Pressure washing business cleans up at Idea Accelerator

UGA Idea Accelerator awards $2,500 to help student expand business started as a summer side hustle
By Merritt Melancon
Posted
Judges and finalists at the 2024 Spring Idea Accelerator Demo Day gather on the Studio 225 Pitch Deck with the winner holding a large novelty check.
Judges Kaitlin Hagan, from left, Tom Robertson and Roseann Harpold congratulate Dood Ice Cream founders Dhavan Gandhi, Nandan Remala; Limi founder Ashley Carter and Idea Accelerator winner Kaden Husney, founder of The Real Under Pressure.

It’s pollen season in Georgia, and no one’s happier than UGA second-year student Kaden Husney.

For the last five years, Husney’s business — The Real Under Pressure — has helped homeowners and businesses around north Fulton County clear away pollen, grime and mildew.

On April 10, he cleaned up at UGA Entrepreneurship’s final Idea Accelerator Demo Day of the 2023-24 school year, taking home $2,500 to help fund new equipment and advertising.

The new equipment, Husney told judges, will help him tackle new commercial and school system jobs he has lined up for the summer.

“I love these sweaty startups,” Idea Accelerator judge and fellow student entrepreneur Roseann Harpold, who launched Hauntfest in 2023.

“I think it’s so awesome that you’re already doing this and making money at it,” she added. “We don’t want you to be afraid to hire someone to help you. I know you’re a student; I’m a student trying to run a business too. It can be helpful to have someone on your team.”

Harpold, who will receive a UGA Entrepreneurship Certificate when she graduates with degrees in biology and psychology this May, launched her spring horror festival Hauntfest in the Idea Accelerator program in 2022. Her fellow Idea Accelerator judge Kaitlin Lutz Hagan went through the program before starting her construction staffing service NewCrew. Tom Robertson, founder of education software company Cogent Education, also served as a judge.

The UGA Idea Accelerator is a four-week, intensive business workshop pairing UGA student startups with entrepreneurs who coach them in customer discovery, financial literacy and investor readiness. The UGA Entrepreneurship Program works with two cohorts of entrepreneurs each semester. Since its inception, 861 teams have gone through the Idea Accelerator program.

The Real Under Pressure was one of six teams to pitch in front of judges at this cohort’s Demo Day, including:

  • Limi, an interactive public speaking academy for low-income at-risk students aged 13-20 (in person) by Professional MBA candidate Ashley Carter (second place)
  • Dood Ice Cream, an ice cream subscription service co-founded by second-year, intended finance major Dhavan Gandhi and Nandan Remala (third place)
  • Exposing LSAT, a LSAT tutoring service founded by third-year political science student Kia Hailey
  • Boom Sports Consulting, a recruitment data analytics consulting firm geared toward Division II and Division III colleges, founded by fourth-year finance student Will Cumbie
  • Refresh, a service helping families reduce food waste, founded by recent nonprofit management graduate Katie Schwind

Another five teams presented at this semester’s first Idea Accelerator Demo Day on Feb. 28. Bandit Rides, a hyper-local golf cart taxi service launched by second-year engineering student Cade Jones, won the prize that night.