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| Swartz Center Entrepreneurship Bootcamp!
Date: Friday, September 5, 2025
The Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship is excited to announce this year's Entrepreneurship Bootcamp, a one-day glimpse into entrepreneurship at CMU and around Pittsburgh, which is set for
Friday, September 5.
Learn about what CMU has to offer regarding entrepreneurship, funding and programming, while enjoying snacks, networking and a keynote speaker.
Sponsored by: CMU Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship, Graduate Entrepreneurship Club, Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Association, Scottie Ventures, Sigma Eta Pi and ScottyLabs
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| Get Ready for CMU Startup Week!
Date: September 24–26, 2025
We’re launching something big. Introducing CMU Startup Week—a three-day celebration of entrepreneurship, innovation and the unstoppable energy of the CMU startup ecosystem!
From AI and robotics venture showcases to a startup job fair, tech talks, talent connections and deep tech breakthroughs, this campus-wide extravaganza will bring together students, faculty, founders, investors and innovators from every corner of Carnegie Mellon University.
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'Lab to Market' Speaker Announced!
Abhay Parasnis—Founder & CEO of Typeface, former CTO of Adobe and General Partner at Salience Capital—will be the Keynote speaker for the CMU Lab to Market event on September 25, 2025.
As the visionary behind Typeface—the generative AI startup that reached unicorn status ($1B+ valuation) in under 18 months—Abhay is helping define the future of enterprise creativity. His leadership at Adobe, where he served as CTO and CPO, shaped product strategy at scale, and today, as GP at Salience Capital, he’s backing the next wave of deep tech innovation.
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| Search Announcement - Associate Vice President/Executive Director, CMU
Swartz Center
Carnegie Mellon University has officially announced a global search for a new Associate Vice President for Entrepreneurship and Executive Director of the Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship.
To guide this important search, a search advisory committee has been assembled that includes faculty, alumni and leaders from across the university and broader entrepreneurial community.
Learn more about the role and the search process here.
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CMU Alumnus Guillermo Gutierre Announces EcoMercantile
Eco Mercantile Corporation, co-founded by 2021 James R. Swartz Entrepreneurial Fellow Guillermo Gutierrez and Manish Mishra—both CMU Environmental Engineering alumni—are developing a multi-sensor scanner that leverages data to quickly identify metals and their properties for the recycling and manufacturing industries. These industries are plagued by slow and manual processes that leave value on the table. By implementing automation, the company enables efficiencies that can lead to a more resilient manufacturing sector and a sustainable supply chain for metals.
Over the last year, Gutierrez and Mishra completed the Labstart Fellowship accelerator in Oakland, CA, pitched at San Franciso and New York Climate weeks and most recently participated in the UC Venture Lab Accelerator, where they pitched to the Cincinnati community of investors, business leaders and startup ecosystem supporters.
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| Wearable Robotics Firm Inks Distribution Deal for European Sales
Local wearable robotics company Humotech announced it has inked a partnership with a Netherlands-based biomedical distributor, expanding the growing company's reach in the European market.
Humotech was first founded by President and CEO Josh Caputo, Ph.D. in 2015, spinning out of Ph.D. research that he had been pursuing at Carnegie Mellon University's Experimental
Biomechatronics Laboratory.
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Launching Soon! CMU Startup Locammend
Founded by CMU alumna and CEO Catherine Li, CMU-registered startup Locammend began with two current School of Computer Science engineers, Angelina Chang (CS/HCI double major) and Keira Leal (Statistics/ML). Locammend provides the simplest way to receive and share trusted service provider recommendations, enabling users to create a network of trusted referrals with people they trust, helping them search for service providers even when they forget their names.
Locammend will launch around August 22 or late August. The company currently has over 700 customers on waitlist, along with partnerships in progress with Pittsburgh’s South Side Chamber of Commerce, Bentonville Community, Coldwell Banker Real Estate and more.
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Daedalia, Inc. Gets Committed Investment of $1M
from a16z Speedrun
CMU Swartz Center startup Daedalia, Inc. founded by James R. Swartz Entrepreneurial Fellow Michael Shang, has made it into a16z Speedrun SR005 with $1M commited investment! Last week, his team flew to Los Angeles, CA and went through an exciting kickoff along with fifty other startup teams from all over the world. In his own words: “Swartz is home base for me, and I am forever grateful for all the invaluable support provided by all people at the Swartz Center! Now with comparison, our Swartz is absolutely a world-class innovation hub!
Shang states, "We are building intriguing, independent AI companions on phones using game tech + AI".
Congratulations Michael on all of your success!
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Call for Applications!
Investor-ready? Apply to pitch at Pittsburgh’s premier Startup-Week event
Calling all AI, robotics, health tech, and deep tech founders. Applications are now open to pitch at AI & Robotics Venture Day, an exclusive investor showcase taking place on September 24 in Pittsburgh as part of CMU Start-Up Week!
Co-hosted by Carnegie Mellon University and Innovation Works, this one-day event connects venture-backable startups with top investors focused on intelligent and physical technologies.
Apply by August 17 to be considered.
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Date: Friday, August 8, 2025
Time: 3:00-7:00 PM | ET
Location: Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship
Welcome to the series of events with PITTSBURGH UNLOCKED, where you will learn from various community leaders and startups about their Startup Ecosystem. Pittsburgh Unlocked connects entrepreneurs with innovation centers and entrepreneurs across the region to increase knowledge and access.
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Dates: August 28 and September 25, 2025
The Swank Special Projects Team Invites the CMU Swartz Center and CMU/Pittsburgh entrepreneurship community to a friendly game of Pickleball on August 28 and September 25 from 7:00-8:30 AM at Washington's Landing.
Email jaimel@swankco.com to RSVP!
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| Date: September 11-12, 2025
Location: Bakery Square and Hazelwood Green, Pittsburgh
The race for AI adoption, commercialization and market leadership is on. Join the world’s leading researchers, innovators and adopters and explore how AI is transforming healthcare, manufacturing, defense, finance, robotics and beyond!
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| CONNECTS/START SMART LAW SEMINARS
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| Can't make a CONNECTS? Watch on our YouTube channel.
See the full schedule and register for ALL of the seminars here!
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The CONNECTS/START SMART LAW Seminars have ended for the Spring semester and will resume in the Fall.
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The mission of 99 Tartans is to partner with the highest potential, early-stage CMU alumni companies and accelerate their success through access to capital and networks. Find out more.
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CMU ENTREPRENEURSHIP CLUBS
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| Click the images to find out more about each of the Clubs!
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CMU T&E Seattle Hub Summer Kickoff
Date: Wednesday, August 13, 2025
Time: 6:00 - 8:00 PM | PDT
Location: Stoup Brewing - Capitol Hill
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CMU T&E Boston Summer Mixer
Date: Wednesday, August 20, 2025
Time: 6:00 - 8:30 PM | EDT
Location: The Charles River Speedway
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| The CMU T&E has a jobs board, available for people across the community to share and seek new opportunities in the startup and entrepreneurship ecosystem. Find out more and visit the website here.
The CMU Tech & Entrepreneurship group aims to build a bridge between CMU students and alumni across the startup and tech continuum. With main chapters in NYC, Pittsburgh, and SF, we offer a range of in-person and online events and programming in the form of panels, workshops, founder/investor engagements, startup support, and socials to foster collaboration, innovation, and networking opportunities.
Join 7,000+ Tartans on our Slack workspace and mailing list for resources and updates on how you can engage in the community and CMU entrepreneurial ecosystem.
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The following companies help directly support our programming and entrepreneurs.
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| Pillsbury and Steptoe & Johnson, PLLC are holding office hours for the CMU Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship. The office hours are for any interested CMU graduate, undergraduate or alumni interested in entrepreneurship or connecting with members of the Swartz Center network.
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Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
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Legal Services Weekly Virtual Office Hours with Matt Kirmayer
Mondays 1:00-3:00 PM ET (10-12 PT)
Matt Kirmayer of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, is offering office hours for newly established startup and emerging companies. Matt specializes in representing technology startups and emerging growth companies, assisting with entity formation, fundraising and overall growth needs. Startup companies with a founder who is a CMU graduate, undergraduate or alumni is eligible to register for
an appointment. Complete the Signup Form for a 30 minute session by the Thursday prior to your
desired appointment.
Contact Daria Stokes or Sean Mawhinney for office hours outside of these regular hours.
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Steptoe & Johnson PLLC
Steptoe & Johnson PLLC is a multi-jurisdictional, full-service law firm that takes a progressive approach to providing counsel at each stage of a client’s life cycle. Our dedicated team works closely with our clients to form entities, advise on the most advantageous entity type, and design and negotiate joint ventures and mergers and acquisitions. If a client has a dispute, Steptoe & Johnson has a team of business and product liability litigators and labor and employment lawyers to guide clients through these often stressful and disruptive situations.
Steptoe & Johnson brings a strong skillset for data privacy, cyber security and intellectual property matters which are frequent concerns for startups and technology companies. We offer competitive and flexible rates and aim to provide value to our clients.
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HOW TO WORK OUT OF THE SWARTZ CENTER
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Swartz Center Education and Resources
No matter what phase of the entrepreneurship cycle you're in, there are programs and resources at the Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship that will take your idea to the next level. Find out more.
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Project Olympus Incubator Program
Want more help with finding product/market fit, developing your business model, making connections and attracting funding? Project Olympus will team you up with a business coach to develop a personalized ‘roadmap. Find out more.
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COMMUNITY OPPORTUNITIES/RESOURCES
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FIND OUT WHAT OUR PARTNERS ARE DOING
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Have startup news or opportunities to share? Have questions about the Swartz Center Weekly Bulletin? Send news, opportunities or questions to Sonya Ford, Program Manager.
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Carnegie Mellon University Swartz Center For Entrepreneurship
5000 Forbes Avenue | Pittsburgh, PA 15213-3890 |
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