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|  | Dwight Baumann, director of Carnegie Mellon’s Center for Entrepreneurial Development (Carnegie Mellon University archives)
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The Birth of the University as Innovation Incubator:
Carnegie Mellon Received One of the First
University Incubators
Back in the 70's, Carnegie Mellon had all the components that experts believed were necessary for innovation: strong engineering, a world-class business school, novel approaches to urban planning with a focus on community needs and a tradition of industrial design and the practical arts. CMU leaders claimed that the school was smaller, younger, more interdisciplinary and more agile than MIT.
The main reason that CMU received an NSF Innovation Center, however, was its director, Dwight Baumann. Baumann exemplified a new kind of educator-entrepreneur.
Director of Carnegie Mellon’s Center for Entrepreneurial Development, Baumann believed that a modern university should provide entrepreneurial education. Baumann’s goal was to establish entrepreneurship education as a core function of a modern technological university.
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Gecko Robotics Reaches Unicorn Status Doubling Valuation to Over $1B
Gecko Robotics announced this week that it has raised $125M in Series D funding, raising its valuation to $1.25B, which means the Pittsburgh-based company has reached unicorn status. Co-founded by Jake Loosararian and CMU alumnus and CPO Troy Demmer, Gecko uses robots and AI to help organizations including the U.S. military inspect and monitor critical infrastructure.
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Tepper School of Business Alumni Receive
2025 Tepper Alumni Awards
The Tepper School Alumni Awards recognize excellence in the alumni community for outstanding career accomplishments or achievements and for impressive service to the school and alumni community. At a special ceremony held on May 3, three Tepper School alumni—two founders and an accomplished product marketing lead, received alumni awards.
Lifetime Achievement Award
• John Levinson, Founder and President, Westway Capital (McGinnis Venture Competition judge, funder of the Moonshot Boardroom, mentor and investor for the CMU Swartz Center
Recent Masters Alumni Award
• Anna Fuller, Founder of Halo (VentureBridge company)
• Stephen Feyer, Senior Product Marketing Manager - Competitive Intelligence, WalkMe - (James R. Swartz Entrepreneurial Fellow and mentor, CMU Swartz Center)
Congratulations to all of the awardees!
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| CMU Startup Troupe AI is Hiring Software Engineers
Troupe, co-founded by CMU Tepper School of Business alumnus and CEO Austin Webb, is an AI-as-a-Service for marketing and sales teams focused on quantifying "what you are saying to the market" for the first time.
At Troupe, AI teammates do the work of a team of experts analyzing all of its users' external communications, so they can instantly measure consistency, as well as identify what’s working, what’s not, and what to do about it—increasing their pipeline velocity and win rates from top to bottom of funnel.
Overall, Troupe consists of repeat founders, backed by repeat founders, and the team would love to share more about the entirely new GTM future they are building.
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| Apply to the TiE Women Program by June 15!
Applications are now open for the TiE Women Program 2025, an incredible opportunity for women founders to showcase their innovative business ideas on a global stage.
If you are a woman entrepreneur with a passion for innovation and a drive to make a difference, you are encouraged to apply to participate in this prestigious program.
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Adapt & Innovate: Entrepreneurial Leadership in a Rapidly Changing World
What does it take to scale a startup on the global stage?
Date: June 18, 2025
Time: 8:30 AM | ET
Join us for an inspiring conversation with Aaron Tan (CEO & Co-Founder, Carro) and Dhruvil Sanghvi (CEO & Founder, LogiNext)—two visionary Carnegie Mellon University alumni who are redefining mobility, logistics and tech innovation across Asia and beyond.
From AI and digital infrastructure to resilient leadership in times of disruption, they’ll share lessons from their journeys building high-growth companies in fast-moving markets.
Moderated by CMU professor Meredith Meyer Grelli, Assistant Dean of Entrepreneurship Initiatives.
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Pittsburgh Search Community Meetup!
Date: Thursday, June 26, 2025
Time: 5:30 - 7:30 PM | ET
Location: Lawrence Hall, 4609 Butler Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15201
Welcome to the Pittsburgh Search Community Meetup! Join us at Lawrence Hall for an evening of networking and learning. This event, which has been organized by Tepper School of Business MBA alumnus Jack Boyle, is a perfect opportunity to share your experiences and connect with like-minded individuals who are exploring or operating in the space.
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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 see upcoming Club events!
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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 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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