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| Calling All Current CMU Student Entrepreneurs! Compete for $60K Investment at the 2023 McGinnis Venture Competition
Registration Opens Tuesday, November 1, 2022!
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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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CMU Spinoff Bolster Closes $15M Financing Round
Co-founded by Carnegie Mellon University alumnus and CEO Abhishek Dubey, Bolster, Inc. has closed a $15M financing round to help more global companies detect and remediate digital threats in minutes. The funding is led by Cervin, Liberty Global Ventures and Cheyenne Ventures with participation from previous investors Thomvest Ventures and Crosslink Capital. The funding will help fuel additional company growth to help more worldwide customers detect and remediate threats across the web, social media and app stores.
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RoboBurger, Inc. Raises $10M Funding for World's First Robot Burger In A Box
RoboBurger Inc., a New Jersey-based maker of the first robot burger vending machine is in the news. Founded by Tepper School of Business alumnus Audley Wilson, the startup has secured $10M in seed 2 funding via a partnership with private equity firm Promethean Investments. The funding will allow RoboBurger Inc, which grills, toasts, adds condiments and assembles a burger in four minutes, to grow and scale production of RoboBurger Mark 2 units.
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| Bob Dobkin, Robert and Kathleen Dobkin Intuitive Foundation, seated sixth from left
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VentureBridge and Intuitive Founders Program Founders Have Dinner with Intuitive Foundation Founder, Bob Dobkin
This past week, the founders of the VentureBridge and Intuitive Founders programs came together for a special dinner with Bob Dobkin, Founder of the Robert and Kathleen Dobkin Intuitive Foundation and CTO and Co-Founder of Linear Technologies (acquired by Analog Devices).
The Swartz Center would like to thank Bob Dobkin, Gabe Fenton and Brian Nuttall for supporting the founders, who are alumni of Carnegie Mellon, MIT, Stanford and Berkeley.
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| Damola Idowu (left), Isaiah Rodgers (center) and Wole Idowu (right)
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The Swartz Center Hosts Carnegie Mellon's Black and Latino Business Association's Entrepreneurship Panel
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The CMU Swartz Center hosted an entrepreneurship panel on Wednesday, October 26, 2022, organized by 2022-24 Innovation Scholar Isaiah Rodgers, who is the Professional Development Chair of CMU's Black and Latino Business Association (BLBA). The panelists included Damola and Wole Iduwu, co-founders of Toyz Electronics, Nadyli Nuñez, Executive Director of Ascender and the Swartz Center's Executive Director, Dave Mawhinney and Sonya Ford, Program Manager.
Damola, Wole and Nadyli shared their personal stories and entrepreneurial experiences, which helped to propel them into their current roles.
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Nadyli Nuñez presenting at the BLBA event
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Last Call!
Applications for the Swartz Fellows Program Due by Monday, October 31!
Applications for the 2022-23 Swartz Entrepreneurial Fellows program are open through Monday, October 31, 2022. This initiative fast-tracks the careers of Carnegie Mellon University's first year graduate students who are passionate about entrepreneurship. Applications must be fully submitted by 11:59 PM ET.
Due to the competitive nature of the program and the limitation of 12 slots available, interviews will be based on the strength of the candidates' application and CMU program diversity.
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| CMU Graduate Students! Applications Open for the CSL Project Course
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 virtually on Tuesday evenings at 6:30-9:30 PM; EST • The second section meets on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, with four teams that will be dedicated to one company.
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 they are looking to explore with a student team this Spring. There are no "classroom projects."
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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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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11/1 Register
Financial Modeling (Phil Compton, Locomation)
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Early Stage Fundraising From Silicon Valley Investors: Terminology, Milestones, Expectations (Kelly Coyne, Chalet)
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Launching Hardware Startups with Monozukuri, (Nobuhiro Seki, Monozukuri Ventures)
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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, November10, 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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| VentureBridge Program
The VentureBridge program is an initiative of the Swartz Center, exclusively focused on helping Carnegie Mellon alumni founders succeed in their entrepreneurial ventures. The program provides seed funding, office space, access to a large network of mentors and innovators and help with startup growth and future larger scale fundraising rounds.
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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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