I don’t know what to say. Really sad and the chances are high that they have stolen your idea. It’s hard to do anything legally and there would be cost implications too.
I would just say don’t lose hope, you are never defeated untill you accept defeat.

What sort of “company” polishes your ideas and helps you get funding? Are you sure the testimonials are real or are they just on their websites? Do they have any other startups that have demonstrable success like being acquired?

It’s not surprising that another company is doing a similar thing as you, depending on the idea it might be quite obvious, or it might be that they started their own thing and the company you hired is a scam at best. Without more context it’s impossible to know.

You accept the fact you made a mistake, mentally pick yourself up, dust yourself down and get on with the next thing. Carrying forward what you have learned.

If you can come up with one scheme, you can come up with another. It may even be better, much better, since you’ve learned a bit now.

My advice (as a university student too) is to try and do everything through student societies, alumni networks, and through ‘official’ channels. If you are paying a company/professional to get involved they should sign a non-disclosure practise which happens at every stage of small, medium and large-sized companies with any type of IP.

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I think the secret sauce is this is maybe discussing ideas generally, at a conceptual level rather than explaining step by step to strangers/people you do not trust.

Are you married to that idea, or want to start a tech company? It’s very possible to gain customers and provide a solution without building custom software as your starting point.

If the problem is painful enough, you could provide a solution that customers will pay for today. You can then use this early revenue to fund the building software. Which will hopefully allow for an increase in revenue and potential scale.

Depending on your idea, many tactics will allow you to do this.

Here are a few examples:
- Use humans to provide the service manually and progressively automate the work
- Use no-code to solve a smaller part of the problem
- Presell the solution to someone who was thinking about building something similar in-house

There are many more tactics out there, and you can get creative and develop some of your own.

This will also open up more options for building your tech. You will have funding to hire an agency. Or have the kind of traction that will attract a better technical co-founder.

Another option would be to apply to an accelerator.

Sounds very suspicious on their part

I’d document everything and talk to a lawyer. And I’d do it soon.

Thanks all for positive response. I can’t waste much time on it now. I’d see legal scene but most likely will look for cofounder even more desperately, getting pre-mvp sign ups or validation. I already have couple of accelerators interested but they either require strong technical team or prototype. ( need even stronger pitch for tech cofounder now)

Bygones be bygones, it was half payment and I was supposed to give them my go-to-market strategy, marketing plan , data on audience, niche and related demographics. So yea some silver lining there ig.

Pm with some details. I am currently searching for a project I can work on next to my regular job. If you have a solid idea and it can be built as a web app I could build you an MVP over the course of a few weeks.

I have been tricked by 2 university ‘Incubators’, that support young entrepreneurs, but in reality they do the bare minimum until you succeed and they can slap your logo on to their website. I don’t know, either I’ve read so many books that their advice was a fraction of what I already knew or they’re genuinely shit. However these incubators are great for making connections and networking, but that’s a bi product of being in a room of entrepreneurial people.

I’d love to offer you some advice:

1. You don’t have to be Techy to succeed online, Jeff Bezos started Amazon as a the least technical website. He would wait for an order, go find the book at a nearby bookstore, and ship it to the customer at a markup.

Related to your issue:

1. IF they’ve created a product that’s similar to yours, you need to go right back to the contract you signed, because they may have already added that “any product that is produced through the program is owned by the University”.

2. Just cause someone else has your product doesn’t means it’s dead. Uber is a better app because they had to compete with Taxi services and their other competitors. Door dash came after Uber eats, and had a record breaking Market Share increase from their launch to now. Never before seen has a company that joined the market second beat the leading company. Use your outside perspective of their product to better refine your product.

3. Work fast and work harder, universities are known for creating products that are over marketed and under delivered. My college marketed “THE BEST HACKATHON EVER”. The Hackathon was a pre recorded lecture from a business professor teaching his students, that you had to watch then create a slide show using the teachings. It was shameful and horrific.

Good luck and get the most out of their program so that you don’t waste an opportunity that 10k brought you. 90% of startups fail, but the more startups you start, the more experience you build onto the next one.

I’m sorry this happened to you! I don’t have a ton of tech skills either, but I specialize in consumer psychology and neuroscience so I can help you with brand positioning and audience alignment. I think you should still pursue your idea, just focus on your USP and think of ways that you can improve upon what those frauds came up with! It’s all a learning experience and things will go up from here! 🙏🏼

It’s a tricky situation, and you might want to talk to a lawyer about the company possibly stealing your idea, if it concerns you. You’ll also want to meet new people outside your usual group, especially in tech, to find a co-founder. Learning a bit of tech yourself could help, and there are plenty of free resources for that. Since funds are low, think about crowdfunding or starting small. Also, try to get advice from experienced entrepreneurs. Hang in there and keep pushing forward! I recommend you to check this article out. https://www.cuppa.so/post/college-degree-vs-real-world-experience-which-matters-more

Bro, You Went Down The Wrong Line. You Should Have Used A Mentor That You Can Trust ,. I Mean Always Look Up To A Person who is Well Established And Financially Stable By That I do not mean He Will Not Copy Your Idea But Chances Of Being Robbed Are Always Less. For Your Pitch And Co-Founder Finding You Should Have Used LinkedIn And Y-Combinator Co-Founder Matching but Now What Is Done Is Done . Now, You Have These Options :

1. You Should Talk To Them And Should Tell Them That It Was Me That Brought This To Your Table And Ask Them To Either Back Off From This Or You Should Demand Your Equity Because The Fundamental Work Was Done By You.
2. Secondly , You Can Sue Them . Simple Enough
3. Just Windup Your Things Get Yourself A Really Good Outsourcing Companion Look For Loop Holes In Your Model And Build Better Than Before And Fast . It Is Not About Who Did It First Its About Who Did It Better.