Nik Ingersoll

United States of America | Total Awards: 2 | Total Score: 7

Nik was born and raised in the rural farmland of Western Nebraska. He grew on a dirt road across from fields of sheep, cattle, horses and straw, without a lot of money, no college fund, no stocks and no fallback plan. At the age of 14, he had decided that no matter what it took he was going to go to California to go to college. He had never had a lapse in having a job since the age of 13; saving up every dollar so he could realize that dream. From paper routes to branding cattle, shaving sheep and selling gum - every dollar from every job counted. Despite the stanch opposition from his parents, he packed up and drove to California immediately after graduating high school to go to college. In college, he worked a full time job and hustled side projects, painting acrylic and oil pieces and sold them at galleries and eBay. He started designing packaging, logos, websites and things for small to medium sized businesses which grew into coding and designing websites from scratch for himself and for clients. He then started offering internet marketing services too and before long I was being asked to do more things than I was capable of handling. That's when Ingersoll co-founded an interactive marketing firm with two partners. Still in undergrad at SDSU he co-founded the Augmented Reality technology company and branding house, Candy Lab in 2010 where he served as Chief Information Officer. He co-authored and filed a patent on the mobile augmented reality technology. (USPTO 61/652,032). In 2012, still in college, Nik went on to co-found Barnana with the vision to create the brand synonymous with the curved yellow fruit that we all know and love, the banana. There, he currently serves as Co-Founder & Chief Marketing Officer and personally designed and developed the brand and packaging from scratch. Ingersoll also speaks on entrepreneurship, marketing and design at conferences, high schools, universities and others. In 2016, he was listed on the prestigious Forbes 30 Under 30 List. Their annual list of 30 young, game-changing entrepreneurs around the world. In 2014, Ingersoll was named one of the Top Entrepreneurs To Watch by Food Navigator USA. During his undergraduate studies, he was presented a Certificate Of Recognition by the California State Legislature by California State Senator Darrel Steinberg. Candy Lab was accepted into DEMO Launchpad program and Nik was honored as a presenter and alumni in Silicon Valley.