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Register for the Swartz Center's Entrepreneurship Bootcamp!
Date: Saturday, September 7, 2024
Time: 1:00 - 5:00 PM | ET
Location: Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship, Tepper School of Business, 3rd Floor
4765 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Come join us for another exciting Entrepreneurship Bootcamp, a fall semester, one-day glimpse into entrepreneurship at CMU and Pittsburgh for all incoming CMU students. See the full schedule here.
At the recent CMU Graduate Resource Fair held on August 14, incoming graduate students from multiple disciplines flocked the Swartz Center table for information about Entrepreneurship Bootcamp
and how to register, as well as other programs.
Sponsored by: Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship and Graduate Entrepreneurship Club
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Announcing our keynote speaker, Xunjie Zhang, founder of Shift Robotics Moonwalker Shoes!
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| Meredith Meyer Grelli Appointed New Director of
Project Olympus
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| Meredith Meyer Grelli has taught over a thousand students about entrepreneurship since joining Carnegie Mellon University full-time as an assistant teaching professor of entrepreneurship at the Tepper School of Business. She is dedicated to helping people navigate business development, no matter the stage.
She will now take on a new role, succeeding Kit Needham as Assistant Dean for Entrepreneurship Initiatives and Director of Project Olympus. In her words, "It's an honor to carry forth Kit's work and Lenore Blum's vision for supporting entrepreneurial efforts of our faculty, students, staff and community members".
Meredith will continue her faculty role at the Tepper School of Business, and her EIR role at the CMU Swartz Center, embracing CMU’s interdisciplinary spirit.
Congratulations Meredith, from all of us at the CMU Swartz Center!
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|  | Sitewiz team from left: Rohit Malhotra, Ram Potham and Drake Som
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| Sitewiz Accepted into Alpha Lab's Newest Cohort
Sitewiz, co-founded by Ram Potham, an Innovation Scholar with the CMU Swartz Center, Rohit Malhotra and Drake Som, is an end-to-end digital optimization solution offering AI-driven actionable suggestions and personalizations to boost conversion rates and average order values. The company has been accepted into Alpha Lab's newest cohort, as mentioned in their recent blog.
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| Pumbhirri Studios Founder Isha Hans Launches Kickstarter: 3-in-1 Artwork - Play and Display
Isha Hans, CMU Master of Design alumna and James R. Swartz Entrepreneurial Fellow, has brought together her love for experience design, art and entrepreneurship with her company Pumbhirri, and has launched a special product on Kickstarter.
Isha realized that art prints often end up as passive decorations, lacking a personal connection with their owners. As an artist herself, she wanted to change that and has created an interactive experience: you piece together three artworks as a puzzle, then frame them to create art that feels personal and meaningful. Isha is eager to share her play and display experience with the world, and her goal with the Kickstarter campaign is to raise capital for production costs. Visit the Kickstarter to support Isha as she embarks on her fundraising goals!
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| Transfr Launches Career Exploration 2.0 to Guide Students from the Classroom to to In-Demand-Jobs
Career Exploration 2.0 by Transfr provides immersive learning opportunities to guide learners from the classroom to meaningful careers. Founded by CEO Bharani Rajakumar, Transfr empowers learners through a comprehsensive career development platform to navigate new career paths, enhance job satisfaction, and adapt to the evolving job market. The company was recently named the 2024 "Best World-Changing Idea, North America" by Fast Company.
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Brew Gentlemen to Open Braddock Public House In Former Superior Motors Space
After running pop-ups out of the space on occasion throughout the past year, Brew Gentlemen, co-founded by Carnegie Mellon University alumni Matthew Katase and Asa Foster, is set to open the Braddock Public House by the end of the summer. Located at the former Superior Motors restaurant, the brewpub will feature beers from Brew Gentlemen and other local craft producers.
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| RK Mellon Foundation Awards $1.4M to Pitch
Competition Winners, Including CMU Startups
The Richard King Mellon Foundation has announced the winners of its third Social-Impact Pitch Competition. Four young Pittsburgh-area companies received a combined $1.4M from the region's largest foundation, three that have founders tied to Carnegie Mellon University including: People's Energy Analytics (1st place, $500K); Marinus Analytics (2nd place, $400K) and Troutwood, Inc. (3rd place, $300K).
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| VentureBridge Startup Update!
Halo Expands with New Partners, CEO Anna Fuller Named to Leading Industry Awards Panel
Halo, a CMU Swartz Center VentureBridge startup, is an AI shopping agent for busy moms. The company recently announced partnerships with ten new brands, bringing the total listed on their platform to over 450. Halo uses AI/ML to deliver highly-curated deal drops, resulting in conversion and purchase frequency rates that are 10x industry benchmarks.
Halo is founded by CMU alumna Anna Fuller (Tepper 2018, VentureBridge 2024). This summer, Anna was named to the expert judges panel for the 2024 Babies Best Awards, honoring the most trusted products and newest innovations in the Mom and baby space.
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| Announcing the Fall 2024 CONNECTS Seminar Series!
The CMU Swartz Center has announced the Fall 2024 CONNECTS seminar series. These seminars enhance the experiential education of any individual interested in innovation and entrepreneurship. Tailored mainly for students to help take their ideas from conception to commercialization, the seminars run throughout the academic year. Teams looking for talent and talent looking for teams can CONNECT at these events.
All CONNECTS events will be hosted in-person at the Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship. A virtual option will also be available. See the flyer with the full lineup here (pdf).
Advanced registration is required.
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|  | 2023-25 Swartz Fellows in front of the Tepper School of Business
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Apply for the 2024-26 James R. Swartz Fellows Program!
The Swartz Center has opened applications for the 2024-26 James R. Swartz Entrepreneurial Fellows program. Applications will be open through Sunday, October 13, 2024 at 11:59 pm ET.
This highly selective, two-year program for CMU graduate students, develops the students entrepreneurial potential and leadership skills through hands-on experiences, networking, mentoring and courses in entrepreneurship. The program's core is a mentored summer internship with a top-tier VC-backed startup within the high-tech, high-growth environment of California's Silicon Valley and San Francisco.
Attend an Info Session to learn more about the program and to hear from current Swartz Fellows:
September 9 | 12:30 PM ET
Register
October 10 | 12:30 PM ET
Register
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Date: Thursday, September 5, 2024
Time: 12-1:30 PM | ET
Location: Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Ave, Scott Hall,
Bosch Spark Conference Room
Join the Scott Institute for Energy Innovation for an insightful session where CMU experts will discuss leveraging campus resources for startup creation and navigating Pittsburgh's dynamic startup ecosystem. Speakers include: Anita Jesionowski, Senior Director of Research Partnerships and Entrepreneurship at the College of Engineering; Dave Mawhinney, Executive Director of the Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship and the Donald H. Jones Center for Entrepreneurship; and Cindy Chepanoske, Director of Technology Licensing at CTTEC.
Attendance is FREE. Lunch will be provided!
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The James R. Swartz Entrepreneurial Leadership
Series presents:
Beyond Models–Applying AI and Data Science Effectively with
Dr. Alfred Spector
Date: Thursday, September 12, 2024
Time: 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM | ET
Location: Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship, Tepper School of Business, 4765 Forbes Avenue, 3rd Floor
Join the CMU Swartz Center for a special James R. Swartz Entrepreneurial Leadership Series talk featuring Dr. Alfred Spector, Visiting Scholar at MIT and Senior Advisor at Blackstone.
Dr. Spector's career has led him from innovation in large scale, networked computing systems to broad engineering and research leadership. Recently, he co-authored a Cambridge University Press textbook, “Data Science in Context: Foundations, Challenges, Opportunities.”
This event is co-hosted with the CMU School of Computer Science.
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VentureBridge Demo Day 2024: Three City Tour
San Francisco Bay Area, Pittsburgh and New York
The CMU VentureBridge (VB) program, an initiative of the Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship, is excited to present VentureBridge ’24 Demo Day in three cities: San Francisco Bay Area (September 18), Pittsburgh (September 25), and New York City (October 2).
The in-person events will feature presentations from the VentureBridge ’24 cohort of startups and select VentureBridge alumni startups. The presentations will be followed by a networking reception. Learn more about the VB portfolio here.
(Please note that the San Francisco Bay Area and New York City events are investor only events)
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Register for the VentureBridge Tech Talk & Job Fair
on September 24!
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Date: Thursday, September 26, 2024
Time: 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM | ET
Location: Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship, Tepper School of Business, 4765 Forbes Avenue, 3rd Floor
Join the Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship for the 2024 AI & Robotics Venture Fair. Meet the region's leading AI & Robotics companies & explore investment opportunities.
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| CONNECTS/START SMART LAW SEMINARS
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Can't make a CONNECTS? Watch on our YouTube channel.
Find out more and see the full schedule.
The CONNECTS seminars will return 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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| Save the date!
T&E Pittsburgh:
End-of-Summer Happy Hour
Date and time: Saturday, September 7 (Evening)
Location: Off-campus venue (Brewery TBD)
Join us for the CMU T&E End-of-Summer Happy Hour, immediately following the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp. We're planning a fantastic evening at a local brewery, where you can unwind, connect, and celebrate the end of summer with fellow entrepreneurs and CMU alumni.
Stay tuned for more details!
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Date: Tuesday, September 10, 2024
Time: 6-8 PM EST
Location: Boston, Massachusetts (Exact location provided upon registration)
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| 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. Find out more and
get involved!
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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 for office hours outside of these regular hours.
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| PATRON SPOTLIGHT
PwC: Building trust for today and tomorrow
Our purpose—to build trust in society and solve important problems—is at the core of everything we do. It guides how we serve our clients, our people and the world. To help our clients build trust and deliver sustained outcomes, PwC provides professional services across two segments: Trust Solutions and Consulting Solutions. Within these segments we bring a range of capabilities to help organizations solve faster, solve more and realize more value. These capabilities include cloud and digital, deals, ESG, cybersecurity and privacy, governance/boards, risk, transformation, tax services and more. Across our global network of over 295K professionals in 156 countries, we are committed to advancing quality in everything we do.
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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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