Daniel Vidal has seen success with a Web-based startup, and he wants to give other budding Suffolk entrepreneurs a boost by helping them network with other alumni business leaders.

The 2009 Suffolk University graduate has applied what he learned in the Sawyer Business School entrepreneurship program to the real world as CEO and founder of ArtVenue, a Web site for artists.

ArtVenue creates a new avenue for artists to offer their work for sale on the walls of businesses in the Boston area and beyond.

Innovation award 

Vidal’s young business won $50,000 in the 2011 business competition sponsored by MassChallenge, a Boston-area nonprofit organization focused on encouraging innovation.

“I’ve had an entrepreneurial spirit from the time I sold candy in grade school,” says Vidal, who grew up in a family of artists.

He was initially drawn to Suffolk because of the opportunity to study at the University’s Madrid campus, where he started his higher education journey. Eventually the Boston native returned to the home campus.

“Once I started the entrepreneurship program, Professor George Moker instantly became my go-to faculty member,” recalls Vidal, who earned a bachelor of science in business administration degree. “He was actively engaged with his students and always made himself available.

“He still remains an adviser to me. I seek his advice even now when I have questions about my own business.”

A venture & a vision 

And Vidal also is helping Business School students as a founding members of Suffolk Ventures, a new alumni group aimed at connecting current business students with successful alumni in the field.

At the same time he is expanding ArtVenue into the New York market, where “the demand and opportunity are so high.”

Vidal vision is to “democratize the art market” by taking the final product and decision-making away from gallery owners and museum curators and into the hands of artists and businesses.

“My goal is to help artists realize their dream of showing their artwork in a public setting and having businesses select the particular art that works best for them,” he says.

Vidal shared his story with other young alumni who were recognized for their career accomplishments at a “10 Under 10” reception in April. All 10 of the alumni honored earned their Suffolk University degrees within the past decade.