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| Calling All Current CMU Student Entrepreneurs!
Compete for $60K Investment at the 2023 McGinnis
Venture Competition
*Students who start applications by December 1 are eligible for a coach!
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| The CMU Swartz Center is excited to announce that registration for the 2023 McGinnis Venture Competition will open on Tuesday, November 1, 2022.
The McGinnis Venture Competition is a platform exclusively for Carnegie Mellon University’s global community of student entrepreneurs, bringing together the best and brightest to compete for $60K in investments. All participants receive coaching, valuable feedback and an opportunity to raise capital. The multi-round competition begins with two virtual rounds and will culminate in a final live-round celebration on March 21, 2023. Read the requirements and guidelines here.
Students who register and start their application by December 1, 2022 will be guaranteed an assigned coach for the competition.
Attend A Virtual Info Session
Come learn about the 2023 McGinnis Venture Competition, find out important deadlines and details and hear from past winners about their experiences. Advanced registration is required. Zoom information will be sent to all registered attendees the day before the event.
Tuesday, November 15, 2022
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM | EST
Register
A second info session will be held in January.
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| REFASHIOND Investors Explain Why They Invested in
Wisy Platforms, Inc.
In a recent dissertation, investors from REFASHIOND share why they invested in the global retail intelligence platform and VentureBridge '19 participant, Wisy Platforms, Inc., founded by Min Chen, CEO.
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| Fox Robotics Raises $20M in Funding
Fox Robotics, an Austin, TX-based autonomous forklift company founded by CMU alumnus and CEO Peter Anderson-Sprecher, has announced it has raised $20M in funding. The round was led by BMW I Ventures, with participation from Zebra Technologies, Japan Airlines & Translink Innovation Fund, Foothill Ventures, Menlo Ventures, ENIAC Ventures and SignalFire.
Fox Robotics develops, manufactures and sells intelligent autonomous forklift trailer unloaders to reduce forklift operating costs and to automate them.
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| Stellar Pizza Announces $16.5M Series A Round Led by
Jay Z's Venture Capital Firm
Stellar Pizza on Monday announced a $16.5M Series A financing round, led by Jay-Z’s venture capital firm Marcy Venture Partners. The automated pizza truck, co-founded by CMU alumni Brian Langone and James Wahawisan, previously raised $9M in fundraising rounds led by Root Ventures, with participation from Crosslink Capital and Collaborative Fund.
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TiendaPago Raises $12M in Series B Funding
TiendaPago, a Mexico and Peru-based short-term credits lender, has raised $12M in Series B funding. Led by Tepper School of Business alumnus and CEO Dan Cohen, TiendaPago is a fintech company that operates in Mexico and Peru, providing short-term credit to small convenience stores in the region to buy stock from established Consumer Good Companies and distributors.
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Turning Tartans Into Successful Entrepreneurs
Carnegie Mellon University alumni are making their mark in finance, augmented reality, baking and environmental justice. During November’s National Entrepreneurship Month, CMU is celebrating the Tartan entrepreneurs around the world who are bringing groundbreaking ideas to market and building successful startup businesses.
To date, the CMU community has launched over 400 startups and created over 152 spinoff companies. "Carnegie Mellon offers incredible support to our students, faculty and alumni startups that help set them up for entrepreneurial success,” says Dave Mawhinney, executive director of CMU’s
Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship.
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CMU Founded 'Revolution Cooking' Selected to Oprah's Favorite Things List
One year ago, CMU alumnus Tom Klaff introduced InstaGLO® and the Revolution Cooking to the world, unlocking a better toasting experience through speed—to sear the bread rather than dehydrate it—for a crispy outside yet soft, tender inside. The company has recently been selected for
Oprah's Favorite Things list.
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CMU Swartz Center's Project Olympus Incubator Announces November Cohort of Its Customer Discovery Kickstart Program
The Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship’s Project Olympus Incubator has accepted 13 startup teams to its November cohort of the Customer Discovery Kickstart, a program for early-stage startups to explore the feasibility of their business ideas. See more about the accepted teams here.
Startup teams in the 5 week program, which started November 2nd, will learn about the fundamentals of customer discovery, including conducting customer discovery interviews and will receive coaching from experienced Entrepreneurs-in-Residence. Teams include undergraduates, graduate students, and alumni from many CMU schools and departments including Dietrich College, School of Computer Science, College of Engineering, Tepper School of Business, and Heinz College.
There will be a Spring cohort which will begin in February. For information about the next Kickstart cohort and how to apply, register for the upcoming info session.
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|  | From left: Daniel Gorziglia, VP of Engineering at Maven; Colman Isner, Tepper School of Business; Sarah Abrams, Dietrich; Roshni Surpur, Information Systems and Deniz Birlikci, School of
Computer Science.
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Innovation Scholars Visit Maven Machines
As part of their Proseminar In Entrepreneurial Leadership course, some of the 2022-24 Innovation Scholars visited Maven Machines, a leading trucking fleet management and transportation dispatch software provider in Pittsburgh, last Friday. The visit included a tour led by CMU alumni Innovation Scholar and VP of Enginering Daniel Gorziglia and an opportunity for the students to ask questions after hearing about Maven's journey. Daniel was also in character for Maven's Halloween party in the above photo, which took place for their staff later that day.
Additional visits to PIttsburgh startups will take place during the Spring semester.
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| CMU Graduate Students!
Applications for the CSL Project Course are Open
Applications are now being accepted for the Corporate Startup Lab Project Course, a twelve-unit, semester-long course that pairs graduate student teams with corporate partners. There are at least
two sections:
• The first section meets on Tuesday evenings at 6:30-9:30 PM; EST
• The second section meets on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons at the Tepper School, with four teams that will be dedicated to Optum.
Past sponsors have included Bosch, Optum, Philips Respironics, Giant Eagle and numo (PNC's fintech accelerator). The final cohort companies will be finalized in the coming weeks. Each of these companies will have a new product or service that they are looking to explore with a student team this Spring. There are no "classroom projects."
Interviews will be conducted with the student applicant and two instructors. Email questions to
Hallie Johnson, Program Manager.
Early applications are strongly encouraged!
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| CSL Forum 2022: Technology for Innovation's Sake
Date: November 16-17, 2022 | 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM ET
Location: Tepper Quad, 4765 Forbes Avenue
Simmons Auditorium, 1st Floor
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A common critique, “Oh, that is just technology for innovation’s sake” has unfortunately been applicable to an increasing number of projects. However, there have also been technology initiatives that have unlocked massive value for customers and ultimately transformed enterprises.
Join us for another exciting CSL Forum and find out how technology can and must play the role of a key enabler of transformative innovation. See the event flyer.
Contact Sean Mawhinney at smawhinn@andrew.cmu.edu with questions.
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| Pwc and Steptoe & Johnson, PLLC are holding office hours in person at the Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship for any interested CMU graduate, undergraduate or alumni interested in entrepreneurship or members of the Swartz Center network.
Upcoming 'In Person' Office Hours
Location: Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship, Tepper Quad, 3rd Floor,
Suite 3700
PwC Office Hours - Trust and Consulting Solutions
When: The following Wednesdays at 12-5PM | ET
November 9, 2022
December 7, 2022
January 4, 2023
February 1, 2023
March 1, 2023
April 5, 2023
May 3, 2023
June 7, 2023
Steptoe & Johnson, PLLC - Legal Services Office Hours
When: Every Thursday between 12-4pm | ET
Walk-ins accepted. Registration NOT required!
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CONNECTS/START SMART LAW Seminars
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| See the full Fall 2022 schedule here.
Can't make a CONNECTS? Watch on our YouTube channel.
All CONNECTS events will be hosted in-person at the Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship, Tepper Quad, 3rd Level. A virtual option will also be available.
Advanced registration is required. Zoom information will be sent to all registered attendees the day before the event. Please note that the sessions will be recorded.
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 11/8
Register
Creating a Successful Video Pitch (Brian Stazel, CMU, Multi Media)
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Register
Pitching Innovation to the C-Suite (Melissa Murphy, Tepper School of Business, Professor of Marketing)
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Register
START SMART LAW: How to Form Your Startup: Part 2: Legal Roadmap Workshop (Stephanie Dangel, Pitt Law School and David Lehman, K&L Gates)
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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. Please visit and find out more.
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CMU ENTREPRENEURSHIP CLUBS
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CMU Future Founders Dinner, San Francisco, CA
Date: Thursday, November 10, 2022
Time: 6-8:30 PM | PST
Interested in launching a startup soon or recently started one?
Join us for a fun evening with a handpicked group of twelve CMU founders and aspiring founders. We'll have dinner in small groups with curated discussion topics. Find out more about the event.
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The CMU Tech & Entrepreneurship group connects the CMU community, alumni and students, to build an entrepreneurial culture and provide resources for the community to succeed. There are multiple region-based chapters within the group. Find out more and join the CMU T&E blog,
The CMU Tech Entrepreneur!
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SWARTZ CENTER PATRONS
The following companies help directly support our programming and entrepreneurs.
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| PATRON SPOTLIGHT
Cowen
Cowen Inc. (“Cowen” or the “Company”) is a diversified financial services firm that operates through two business segments: a broker dealer and an investment management division. The Company’s broker dealer division offers investment banking services, equity research, sales and trading, prime brokerage, global clearing and commission management services. Cowen’s investment management division builds on Cowen’s core insights by developing differentiated, actively managed investment strategies that seek to meet the dynamic needs of our clients.
Founded in 1918, the firm is headquartered in New York and has offices worldwide. Learn more
at Cowen.com.
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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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McGinnis Venture Competition
The McGinnis Venture Competition, a platform exclusively for Carnegie Mellon University's community of student entrepreneurs, brings together Carnegie Mellon's best and brightest student entrepreneurs to compete for $60K in investments. All participants receive crucial interaction with alumni entrepreneurs and venture capitalists, an opportunity to raise capital and valuable feedback about ventures.
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FIND OUT WHAT OUR PARTNERS ARE DOING
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Carnegie Mellon University Swartz Center For Entrepreneurship
5000 Forbes Avenue | Pittsburgh, PA 15213-3890 |
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