Julia Haber, founder of WAYV, closes $20,000 Dorm Room Fund seed investment
Julia Haber ’18, founder of WAYV, a venture she started as a student at Syracuse University, has closed on $20,000 in seed funding from the Dorm Room Fund to create immersive experiences that connect brands directly with students in dynamic ways, in their own backyards.
As a student, Haber studied how Millennials and Gen Z create content and influence on social media, including interning at Snapchat in Los Angeles. That led her to creating WAYV – a venture that tricks out spaces as immersive popup retail spaces to give brand partners unique spaces to engage with college students who are influencers in fashion, technology and other sectors. Haber worked with the Blackstone LaunchPad powered by Techstars and the Center for Digital Media Entrepreneurship at Newhouse to win second place in the Panasci Business Plan Competition for WAYV, and launched with a beta project with Rent the Runway this past April at Syracuse University.
From there, Haber incubated WAYV at The Wing in Soho (pictured above), a network of community work spaces designed just for women entrepreneurs. Now, she is taking her idea to college campuses and building audiences of influencers engaging them in immersive popup experiences.
Haber firmly believes that there is nothing more meaningful than in-person communication. “Millennials and Gen Z really love the popup shop culture because they crave sharing and participation with brands.”