In a match made in heaven, third-year Northeastern students Chloe Welch, a business administration and economics student, and Hanna Elzaridi, a business administration student with a minor in nutrition, have gone from first-year roommates to co-founders. The pair is launching SOAR Vending, a protein powder vending machine to be installed in Marino Recreation Center this semester.

Inspired by their love of fitness, Welch, whose concentrations are in finance and entrepreneurship, and Elzaridi, whose concentrations are in international business, health management and entrepreneurship, looked to improve the protein powder industry. 

“At first, we wanted to create another line of protein powder,” Elzaridi said. “But then we thought, let’s make something that can change the business model of the industry.” 

As a result, their vending machine idea was born. 

Working through the Sherman Center Venture Co-op, Welch and Elzaridi are making the final tweaks to the machine, which is currently housed in the maker space in Hayden Hall. The machine, which originally distributed Jelly Belly Jelly Beans through canisters, has since been modified to offer five different vegan and whey protein flavors. The two considered creating their own line of protein for the machine as well, but ultimately decided against it. 

“If you go up to the protein powder vending machine and it’s your first time seeing this concept, it’s hard enough just with the machine,” Elzaridi said. 

Instead, SOAR Vending will distribute brands that students may already recognize, including Optimum Nutrition and PEScience, to create a level of comfort and familiarity using the machine. 

Although they have received some funding, SOAR Vending is mostly financially supported by its co-founders. Welch and Elzaridi purchased the vending machine themselves from an Italian company. 

The entrepreneurs received a prototype grant from Northeastern’s student-led venture accelerator, IDEA, and placed second in the Husky Start-up Challenge. The pair have plans to enter the IDEA Go stage, the accelerator’s final stage in which SOAR Vending can earn up to $10,000 in grant funds. 

Despite studying outside of the College of Engineering, the SOAR Vending team receives mentoring from Mark Sivak, an associate engineering professor, and Ted Johnson, the director of the Sherman Center for Engineering Entrepreneurship Education.

When they needed help with the logistics of dispensing the powder through the new machine, Welch and Elzaridi reached out to Sivak early in the fall semester. 

“Protein powder on demand, I think it makes a lot of sense,” Sivak said. “It’s an interesting use case for schools and universities but also for travel. They’re making it very easy for people to access protein powder and giving them a variety of choices.” 

The majority of SOAR’s marketing of the product has focused on the customer and accessibility.

“We are going off of the fact that protein powder is a daily staple for a lot of people,” Elzaridi said. “Once they get used to it and like it, they become recurring customers.” 

Their free marketing strategy includes posting fliers across campus with QR codes to enter a free serving raffle and offering initial free servings to on-campus sports, clubs and fraternities. SOAR plans to focus on the consumer by asking students to vote on rotating flavors and brands.

“One thing we learned early on in the Sherman Co-op process is just how lonely being a founder can be,” Johnson said. “What’s great about Hanna and Chloe is that they have a built-in support system as founders. It allows them to push through challenges together.” 

To combat this loneliness, Welch and Elzaridi work together on all aspects of the product including marketing and design.

Once the finishing touches on the machine are complete, students can find SOAR Vending in Marino right outside of Wollaston’s Market. The pair are planning to measure success by the feedback received after the launch rather than the finances. 

Marino is the first stop for SOAR Vending, but the start-up already has plans to buy a new high-tech machine with a touch screen and expand beyond Northeastern. 

“We want to buy a few more machines and expand to other universities in the Boston area,” Welch said. “We reached out to ten universities to test the waters and they were all really supportive. From there it would go into investing and trying to grow the company on a larger scale.” 

Northeastern students can get their protein powder fix through SOAR Vending in Marino later this spring.