FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Ayden Owens-Delerme labored as a student athlete before and after the advent of name, image and likeness legislation made it possible for college students to profit from their athletic careers. Now he's turned those disparate experiences into a startup that's designed to help college athletes launch and manage their brands.  

DapUp, formed in the U of A New Venture Development Program, is an online platform that allows businesses to pair up with athletes from their favorite teams, hire them directly and design custom campaigns.  

An All-American for the Razorback track and field team, Owens-Delerme said he was inspired to form DapUp to help solve the "disorganized mess" that exists in the wake of NIL legislation. 

DapUp "eliminates the friction and ambiguity around brand-athlete partnerships," Owens-Delerme said. 

Owens-Delerme worked together with classmates John David Goins, Shadrach Ibinola, and Analiz Rodriguez during the company's early stages before officially launching DapUp. As founder, Owens-Delerme owns DapUp outright and now runs the company with his brother, Quintin. 

Although he always harbored the entrepreneurial spirit, Owens-Delerme said the New Venture Development course enveloped him in the world of startups, from its lexicon to its funding opportunities, while teaching him how to execute his idea. 

"(NVD) was one of the best classes I've ever taken, if not the best in my academic career," Owens-Delerme said. "It challenged me to take this idea and create something with it." 

An intensive, incubator-like sequence of courses, the New Venture Development program helps students develop the knowledge and skills to bring new innovations to society — whether by creating their own company, working for a startup, taking a greater role in an established company or founding a non-profit. Coursework includes identifying new venture opportunities, evaluating their feasibility and developing a business plan for a new entrepreneurial venture.   

The courses are co-taught by Sarah Goforth, executive director of the Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, and David Hinton, executive director of Technology Ventures.  

"I've got to credit Sarah and David, both my professors, for showing me the concept of entrepreneurship," Owens-Delerme said.  

Goforth noted that Owens-Delerme possessed "every entrepreneurial attribute I can think of: persistence, openness to feedback, creativity, resilience, and a humble kind of inner confidence." 

"Most of all, once he understood the problem he was solving and saw the market need, he was determined to build, rather than ruminate or wait for someone to hand him a check," Goforth said. "That's what it takes to succeed."  

Owens-Delerme entered the collegiate sports world in 2018, eventually wrapping up his career at Arkansas. As a graduate student competing for the Razorbacks, he earned a Master of Business Administration from Walton College and Graduate Certificate in Entrepreneurship from OEI.  

He said his tenure as a student athlete made him acutely aware of the pain points of athletes, which was "critical in making an app that caters to their needs to help them grow their brand." 

DapUp is currently raising capital for a national rollout. The initial launch was limited to U of A students, but the demand "was immediate," Owens-Delerme said. 

He's already got an answer for student athletes trying to navigate the tumultuous world of NIL: "When they're asking, 'where are these NIL deals?' The answer: They're on DapUp." 

About the U of A Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation: The Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation creates and curates innovation and entrepreneurship experiences for students across all disciplines. Through the Brewer Family Entrepreneurship Hub, McMillon Innovation Studio, Startup Village, and Greenhouse at the Bentonville Collaborative, the Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation provides free workshops and programs — including social and corporate innovation design teams, venture internships, competitions and startup coaching. A unit of the Sam M. Walton College of Business and Division of Economic Development, the Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation  also offers on-demand support for students who will be innovators within existing organizations and entrepreneurs who start something new.