|
|
It's Almost Here!
The McGinnis Venture Competition Final Round Celebration
Date: Tuesday, March 18,2025
Location: CMU Swartz Center, 4765 Forbes Avenue, Tepper Quad, 3rd Fl.
Join us at the CMU Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship for the McGinnis Venture Competition Final Round Celebration on March 18! Help cheer on the final round graduate and undergraduate teams to victory and attend the award ceremony and networking reception.
Social Enterprise Prize Pitch Competition
Date: Monday, March 17, 2025
The Social Enterprise Prize Pitch Competition is new this year and a part of the McGinnis Competition. It will be held on March 17, and the winners will present at the McGinnis final round event on March 18.
| |
|  | Dave Mawhinney accepting induction into the Dealmakers Hall of Fame
| |
| | |
CMU Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship Founding Executive Director Dave Mawhinney Inducted Into Dealmakers Pittsburgh Hall of Fame
The Smart Business Dealmakers Conference was held last week on Thursday, February 27 at the Wyndham Grand Hotel in Pittsburgh's downtown. The conference connects entrepreneurs, investors and advisers for a day of dynamic content and networking in top U.S. business markets. The conference also recognizes members of the community who have made significant contributions to the region. Dave Mawhinney, founding Executive Director of the Carnegie Mellon Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship, was honored with a Pittsburgh Hall of Fame award for his contributions to Entrepreneurship in the region.
Also among the honorees were Carnegie Mellon University alumnus Jim Gibbs, founder of MeterFeeder and John Thornton, CEO of Astrobotic Technology, Inc.
| |
Carnegie Mellon University Alumnus Alan Frank Inducted Into Pittsburgh Basketball Club Hall of Fame
Alan Frank, a good friend of the CMU Swartz Center, was inducted into the Pittsburgh Basketball Club Men's Hall of Fame this past weekend. Alan was an MVP of high school basketball at Pittsburgh's Schenley High School and the leading scorer in the city of Pittsburgh. He earned a scholarship to Carnegie Tech, (now Carnegie Mellon University) and set a single-game regulation time scoring record that lasted from 1957 to 2022. Alan is CEO at The HomeBingo Network, Inc. and CEO/Founder of Colorball Rewarded Advertising in Pittsburgh. Colorball provides storefront retailers with its unique marketing and advertising "method", which draws new visitors into retail stores. Visitors can then play five colorball pick-3 or pick-4 games for free everyday on Colorball e-tablets, winning prizes of $100 or $1K instantly.
"Alan Frank is living proof that the Swartz Center will be here for our alumni for their entire life. Alan graduated CMU in 1957, yet he is a resilient and determined entrepreneur, who in 2025, still adds to the value of our Swartz Center/CMU alumni network everyday. I am proud to call Alan my friend", says Dave Mawhinney, founding Executive Director at the Swartz Center.
| |
Carnegie Mellon University Undergraduate Team Wins Second Place at VCIC
Six members of CMU's Scottie Ventures competition team represented Carnegie Mellon University at the VCIC Regionals held at American University in Washington D.C. Pictured above (from left to right): Ethan KK Yeo, Jiya Gupta, Darren Grendi (Advisor), Deepti Aggarwal, Can Oguz, Anish Jain, Saarthak Gupta.
VCIC is the world’s largest venture capital competition with a total of 48 undergraduate teams competing across 8 regionals. In a three-stage tournament, teams simulate a variety of important VC work, from conducting due diligence sessions with real startups to building and defending a term sheet to a panel of judges and industry professionals.
| |
| AlphaLab Selects 15 Startups for First Combined Cohort
AlphaLab, the accelerator of Innovation Works helping entrepreneurs accelerate their path to market, has selected fifteen companies, including some CMU founded startups, to join its first combined cohort. The CMU companies include BAM!, founded by Kaitlyn Chow, also an Innovation Scholar, Korion Health, co-founded by Anna Li, MD Ph.D., dually majored at CMU and the University of Pittsburgh, with Akshaya Anand, and Hardly, co-founded by CEO Allison Braund-Harris. Hardly has also been accepted into Techstars 2025 Workforce Development Cohort.
The companies will receive up to $100K in investment, sector-specific expertise through specialized tracks, intensive training in customer acquisition and founder-led sales, hands-on fundraising preparation and an immersive, on-site cohort experience.
| |
2024 Most Disruptive MBA Startups: Sabana, Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper)
Sabana, was recently selected to the 2024 Most Disruptive MBA Startups by Poets&Quants. Sabana, co-founded by Tepper School of Business MBA Ruben Antonio Quesada, also a James R. Swartz Entrepreneurial Fellow, and Saket Kulkarni, is a data management platform designed to enhance collaboration and streamline the process of material/product selection and construction specifications for architects and design engineers.
| |
| Fluid Reality a Finalist for SXSW Pitch
SXSW Pitch is a platform that allows early-stage technology startups to pitch their product and/or services to industry technology experts, high-profile media personnel, and venture capitalists/angel investors. Joe Mullenbach, PhD, co-founder and CEO of Fluid Reality, is a finalist and will present the company in the Robotics, Web3, Voice & Extended Reality Technology category on Sunday, March 9. The winner will be announced at the SXSW Pitch Awards Ceremony, also on Sunday, March 9.
The Swartz Center is cheering on Fluid Reality, maker of compact actuator components for consumer and enterprise electronic devices and VentureBridge participant, as one of five robotics and XR finalists from across the world taking the stage. Joe will be conducting demos at a special meetup on Monday, March 10. Find out more here.
| |
Join the Gumbo Pilot – AI-Powered Web Data for Your Business
Do you rely on web data but struggle to gather and structure it effectively? Carnegie Mellon University startup, Gumbo, helps businesses turn unstructured web data into clean, customized datasets at scale.
As a pilot user, you will receive exclusive early access to the platform. Whether you're tracking market trends, aggregating research or monitoring competitors, Gumbo makes it effortless.
Sign up to join!
| |
| 2025 Cleantech Open Northeast Pittsburgh Kickoff Party
Date: Wednesday, March 12, 2025
Time: 5:30-7:30 PM | ET
Location: Swartz Center, Tepper Quad, 3rd Fl, 4765 Forbes Avenue, Suite 3700
Join Cleantech Open Northeast for an evening of refreshments, celebration and opportunity at Carnegie Mellon University's Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship. This event is co-hosted by the CMU Swartz Center and the Scott Institute for Energy Innovation.
| |
Join the next Funders & Founders Talk on March 13!
Directions to Roberts Hall (pdf)
| |
| Ask Gigascale Anything: Climate Founder Office Hours
w/ Philipp Hoffmann
Date: Monday, March 24, 2025
Time: 12-1:30 PM ET
Location: Swartz Center, 4765 Forbes Avenue, Tepper Quad, 3rd Floor
Gigascale Capital is a trusted partner in scaling scientifically-sound climate solutions for impact. The company backs founders transforming the world's largest sectors and making clean solutions the obvious choice. Join Gigascale's Research & Venture Scout, Philipp Hoffmann, to get your questions answered in a special small, group office hours session over lunch.
| |
| Register for CMU Energy Week 2025
CMU Energy Week 2025 will take place March 25-27. The event will bring energy and sustainability leaders, including scholars, investors and entrepreneurs from across the nation to CMU to combine forces and exchange ideas on the intersection of AI + Energy. See the full agenda for Energy Week and register by March 14, 2025.
| |
Deadline Extended: Apply to the Pegasus Accelerate
Program by March 11!
| |
| Apply to the VentureBridge 2025 Accelerator!
Are you a CMU alumni working on a startup? Apply to the CMU VentureBridge 2025 accelerator in Pittsburgh, San Francisco, and New York for funding, 1:1 support, founder roundtables, weekly talks with VCs and introductions to mentors and advisors.
Attend the next information session on March 3!
| |
CMU Student Founders!
Apply to the Gebhardt Sandbox Fund by March 31
The CMU Swartz Center is proud to announce the Gebhardt Sandbox Fund. Current Carnegie Mellon University undergraduate and professional master student founders are eligible to apply to this new fund and receive idea stage funding of $1K with opportunities for follow-on funding.
Applications will be open through March 31, 2025.
| |
|  | 2024-26 Innovation Scholars at Google Vetnures during the 2025 Entrepreneurship Trek
| |
| | |
| Applications Open for the 2025-27 Undergraduate
Innovation Scholars Program!
The undergraduate Innovation Scholars program, open to rising juniors, fosters innovation and entrepreneurship and seeks to increase the number of successful startup companies initiated by or involving Carnegie Mellon University’s undergraduate students. Innovation Scholars complete a two-year program integrating academic coursework, work experience at a startup company, networking and mentorship—given as well as received. Students are also eligible for a $6K stipend to work on their own startup over the summer of 2025.
Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until Saturday, April 5 at 11:59 PM ET. Due to the competitive nature of the program, early applications are encouraged.
Open to CMU sophomores going into their junior year.
Virtual Info Session:
Wednesday, March 19 - 12:30 PM ET
Register
| |
| Applications Open for the NSF I-Corps
AI/Robotics Regional Cohort
This special AI/Robotics focused NSF I-Corps Regional cohort is run by the CMU Swartz Center's Project Olympus and the Mid-Atlantic I-Corps Hub. The program is open to deep tech research and academic based teams/entrepreneurs who are looking into commercializing innovations in Artificial Intelligence and Robotics. The cohort will integrate industry specific guidance and expertise for AI/Robotics with traditional I-Corps Training. All sessions are virtual and in eastern time.
Session 1: April 11th, 9am-12pm
Session 2: April 18th, 9am-12pm
Session 3: April 25th, 9am-12pm
The first step is to complete the required online prep course. Two virtual info sessions will be held on Wednesday, February 26; 2-3pm ET and Wednesday, March 12; 11:00am-12:00pm ET.
The deadline to apply is March 31. Apply early, space is limited!
| |
| CONNECTS/START SMART LAW SEMINARS
| |
| Can't make a CONNECTS? Watch on our YouTube channel.
Find out more and see the full schedule.
| |
|  3/13
REGISTER
How to Come Up with Ideas Worth Pursuing (Mar Hershenson, Managing Partner, Pear VC)
| |
| | |
START SMART LAW:
3/20
REGISTER
How to Structure Your Capital Raise - Part I: The Fundamentals (Virtual)
| |
|
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.
| |
CMU ENTREPRENEURSHIP CLUBS
| |
| Click the images to see upcoming Club events!
| |
| 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!
| |
The following companies help directly support our programming and entrepreneurs.
| |
| 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.
| |
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
| |
|
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.
| |
Goodwin
Goodwin is a full service law firm with practice areas and expertise specifically tailored to represent startup companies in all of their legal needs including IP, corporate, employment, contracts, transactions, litigation, and much more. The Firm has put in place special startup-friendly pricing packages uniquely designed for Carnegie Mellon University companies.
| |
HOW TO WORK OUT OF THE SWARTZ CENTER
| |
| |
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.
| | |
| |
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.
| | |
COMMUNITY OPPORTUNITIES/RESOURCES
| |
FIND OUT WHAT OUR PARTNERS ARE DOING
| |
|
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.
| |
|
|
|
Carnegie Mellon University Swartz Center For Entrepreneurship
5000 Forbes Avenue | Pittsburgh, PA 15213-3890 |
|
|
|
