The USC Viterbi Startup Garage opened its doors in summer 2013 with the goal of spawning a wave of dynamic, high-tech companies in Southern California that could blossom into the next Amazon or Google. The Startup Garage’s 10 inaugural teams—all led or co-founded by USC Viterbi students and alumni—received seed capital, mentoring, legal advice, office space in Marina Del Rey, and other strategic resources to help them succeed.

So what happened when these young entrepreneurs graduated from the security of the Startup Garage? Many of them went out and raised millions of dollars, underscoring the accelerator’s success and value in helping to transform ideas into viable businesses. To date, five companies that graduated from the Startup Garage’s first class have raised a total of more than $6.6 million in follow-on capital.

AIO Robotics — Manufacturer of the Zeus, the world’s first all-in-one 3-D printer that prints, scans, copies and faxes. Forbes.com called Zeus “a game changer.”
Capital raised: $500,000

MediaHound Inc. — Creator of an app that helps consumers search for, collect and share their favorite entertainment content, from books to music to video games.
Capital raised: $4.5 million

Moving Analytics — Co-founded by Gaurav Sukhatme, chair of the USC Viterbi Department of Computer Science, the Movn app encourages people with recent heart surgeries to exercise.
Capital raised: $125,000

Taggler — An online marketplace that brings together screenprinters and customers looking for customized T-shirts at a good price. College customers include Georgetown, UC Berkeley, Stanford and Wisconsin.
Capital raised: $500,000

Tilofy — Creator of the Watsup app, which matches location information with data from multiple social media platforms and other online resources to deliver a real-time view of what’s happening nearby, from cool restaurants to plays, poetry readings and lectures. Forbes.com described Watsup as “a mobile technology [that] brings us one step closer to omniscience.”
Capital raised: $1 million