Aspiring entrepreneurs often go to great lengths to boost their creativity and connections. Now, a trio of students hope to raise enough money to become the first Atlantic Canadians to travel on a Startup Bus.

Similar in concept to the Startup Weekend, the Startup Bus hosts entrepreneurs for 72 hours, with the aim of allowing new networks and ideas to flourish. The difference, in this case, is that the venue travels.

The Halifax trio, who are all students at Dalhousie University, aim to join a food and beverage themed bus that departs Tampa, Fla. on May 15 and travels to Boulder, Colo. over the following three days. They are now raising money for the trip through this crowdfunding campaign.

Yoon Park, a fourth-year management student, said the bus experience allows participants to meet would-be entrepreneurs with diverse backgrounds and experiences. Participants have the common goal of launching a startup by the end of the journey.

“I believe we need a student-initiated idea that is fun to get Atlantic Canadian students interested in entrepreneurship,” said Park, a Korean-Canadian.

“People have started paying attention to entrepreneurship, but it still sounds too monumental to most students. A lot of students in Atlantic Canada have a conservative approach to their career, and this is where we want to inspire a change.

“They intend to study hard and get a job at a big company and the company will take care of them forever, but that’s not the case.”

Park and the other Dal students — Norwegian Tobias Oedegaard, a second-year management student, and American-Canadian Isaac Greenberg, who is in his second year studying economics and sustainability — intend to document their journey on social media.

Their accounts will include video of life on the bus, which will stop overnight en route to Boulder. Once at their destination, teams will pitch their ideas to stakeholders and be mentored by industry leaders.

Each team’s progress will be documented online. The event also has a virtual stock market for trading shares in each startup as it develops.

The trio hope that Atlantic Canada will be represented with a bus of its own in next year’s competition.

“To make that happen we need a success story,” Park said.

Oedegaard and Greenberg are already establishing a tempeh business in Halifax and intend to explore the intersection of the food and tech industries as they travel to Boulder.

Tempeh is an Indonesian soy protein similar to tofu. The duo are poised to begin distribution of their product to local vendors in the coming weeks.

They hope the Startup Bus will introduce them to people who can advise on supply routes, and connect them to suppliers and other contacts in the U.S.

The three are joining the bus together but don’t have to form a team, as participants will split into groups after pitching ideas during the first hours of the trip.

“As soon as the journey starts, we all introduce ourselves. People pitch their ideas and skills and teams are formed on the bus,” Park said.

The Startup Bus was founded in Australia in 2010.

Since then, the group has held 14 events on four continents, driving across 26 countries.

The Dal trio originally wanted to begin their own journey on a bus from Halifax, but realized it was too expensive.

So, they intend to fly to Tampa to join the food and beverage bus.

They need $5,100 to fund the trip. So far, they have secured $1,200 from stakeholders at Dalhousie. They intend to try crowd-funding next, while also reaching out to local businesses for sponsorship.

Park said he is hopeful they will raise the rest of the money. You can contribute to their campaign here.