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NovoLINC Secures Investments to Assist AI Computing with Groundbreaking Thermal Interface Technology
NovoLINC, a thermal technology startup spun out of Carnegie Mellon University, announced seed funding led by M Ventures, with participation from Foothill Ventures and TDK Ventures. NovoLINC, co-founded by MechE professor Sheng Shen, CSO and PhD student and Innovation Commercialization Fellow and CTO Rui Cheng, offers breakthrough nanocomposite thermal solutions that reduce thermal resistance to an industry-record low.
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Leaficient Partners with The Chef’s Garden to
Revolutionize Farming with AI-Driven Solutions
Leaficient, a fast-growing leader in agricultural technology co-founded by CMU alumnus and CEO Brian Stancil, is excited to announce the expansion of a partnership with The Chef’s Garden, a supplier of specialty produce for the world’s most discerning chefs. The expansion of this collaboration highlights the commitment of Leaficient and The Chef’s Garden to transform farming practices and enhance growers’ capabilities using artificial intelligence (AI) and computer vision.
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| TalkMeUp Founder JJ Xu Shares Thoughts On Being an Immigrant Founder in Pittsburgh
In a recent story published in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, JJ Xu, who grew up in China and now lives in Crafton, discusses how she started her AI-based communication firm TalkeMeUp while a student in the MBA program at CMU's Tepper School of Business. Growing up in China, JJ was inspired by Hollywood movies such as “Mission Impossible” she watched in a theater run by her grandfather.“ The gist of the movies and what the directors presented is the still the same,” she says. “The good people always win eventually. Work hard and hold onto your dream.”
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The 2025 McGinnis Venture Competition Applicants Attend Mixer at the Swartz Center
The CMU Swartz Center hosted a mixer on Wednesday, January 22 for the students who have applied to the 2025 McGinnis Venture Competition. The deadline to apply was on Tuesday, January 14 and the mixer, which was attended by over 80 students, was a great way for them to meet and network.
Round two of the competition will begin on January 30.
The final round pitches will be held on Tuesday, March 18, 2025.
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SWARTZ CENTER SUCCESS STORIES
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The Swartz Center has provided growth and financial resources for hundreds of students, faculty and alumni who have created great companies that positively affect the way people live. To celebrate, the Swartz Center interviewed six startup founders in 2024, as part of its 'Success Stories', who talk about their journey to founding their companies and give advice to CMU Entrepreneurs.
Founded by Alison Alvarez, BlastPoint is a B2B provider of customer intelligence and analytics solutions that companies across sectors rely on to optimize revenue growth.
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|  | Apply by January 28!
Have a startup idea? Join the CMU Incubator, an 8-week program that allows you to work with a team, build a startup and turn an idea into reality. Both the UEA and Scotty Labs will help you gain the necessary business and technical skills to present your company on Demo Day! Scan the image above for more information and to apply!
| |  | CMU Venture Challenge Info Session
January 28 | 5-6 PM ET
Join the UEA for a CMU VC Info Session to learn more about the CMU Venture Challenge from one of last year’s winners and how to apply. Food will be provided!
CMU VC is open to all CMU undergraduates and students from colleges across the country. Applications close soon!
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Happening Today!
Y Combinator @ the CMU Swartz Center
Date: Friday, January 24, 2025
Time: 2-3 PM ET
Location: Swartz Center, 4765 Forbes Avenue, Tepper Quad, 3rd Floor
No RSVP Required | IN PERSON ONLY!
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| Date: February 1, 2025
Time: 10:00 AM | ET
Location: Swartz Center, 4765 Forbes Avenue, Tepper Quad, 3rd Floor
Dr. Rorry Brenner, a CMU SCS alumnus and founder of Perforated AI, will be hosting a hackathon centered around utilizing Perforated AI's innovative PyTorch extension to enhance machine learning projects. The event will be held at The Swartz Center, with a one-day coding session on February 1st, followed by seven weeks off to allow for model training and parameter tuning. The hackathon will then conclude with a presentation day on March 22nd.
Unlike traditional hackathons that require building a project from scratch to solve a specific problem, this event encourages participants to optimize existing projects, including ongoing research or open-source PyTorch repositories. Perforated AI is offering $6K in cash prizes for the best optimizations.
For more information contact Dr. Brenner at rorry@perforatedai.com.
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| 41239APPLICATION DEADLINES
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| Applications Open for 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 an information session on February 3 or March 3, 2025.
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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.
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|  1/29
REGISTER
Keys to Building a Successful and Sellable Startup (Kelley Lynch, CFO, sovaSage, Inc.)
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REGISTER
Splitting the Founders Pie & Other Aspects of Equity Compensation (Frank Demmler, Statup Whisperer)
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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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| Date: February 7-9, 2025
Time: 6:00 PM | ET
Location: Register to See Address
Learn how to think, work and build like a startup in 54 thrilling hours. Techstars Startup Weekend is an exciting and immersive foray into the world of startups. Over an action-packed three days, you’ll meet fellow builders, mentors, investors, co-founders and sponsors to show you how to get more done faster-- and, maybe even start that Business.
We welcome anyone in the Pittsburgh region: students, passionate problem-solvers, aspiring entrepreneurs and more to join us for a fun, insightful and transformative experience to kickstart your entrepreneurial journey.
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T&E Boston:
VentureBridge Info Session & Pitch Practice
Date: Thursday, February 13, 2025
Time: 6-8:30 PM EST
Location: Sense, 485 Mass Ave, #3, Cambridge, MA
Discover how VentureBridge, CMU’s premier startup accelerator, supports alumni founders with seed funding, mentorship and a powerful network. This session includes an overview of the program, details about the 2025 application cycle and a pitch practice session.
Interested in pitching? Let us know to reserve a spot!
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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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| 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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