RICHMOND, Va. -- What started as a graduate school project is set to become a new canned beverage business in Richmond.

Catherine Emblidge and Celeste Chance are launching Everything But The Booze, a new non-alcoholic cocktail company.

The duo are currently students at VCU’s advertising graduate school, The Brandcenter, where they had a group assignment to develop a new business. Inspired in part by a classmate who didn’t drink and felt left out at parties, Emblidge and Chance’s group decided to conceptualize a non-alcoholic cocktail.

Now, even though the class project is over, Emblidge and Chance are keeping EBTB going. They recently struck a deal with Garden Grove Brewing Co. & Urban Winery in Carytown to produce EBTB’s drinks, and launched a Kickstarter with a target of $2,500 to give the company some startup funding.