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| CORE SWARTZ CENTER EVENTS, PROGRAM DEADLINES & ANNOUNCEMENTS
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CMU Students! Join us on Friday, August 28
The Swartz Center is excited to invite all CMU students to this year's Entrepreneurship Bootcamp, a one-day glimpse into entrepreneurship at Carnegie Mellon University and around Pittsburgh. Join us on Friday, August 28 to learn more about what CMU has to offer regarding entrepreneurship, funding and programming, while enjoying snacks, networking and a keynote speaker.
View the full schedule.
All registrants will receive a Swartz Center t-shirt!
Co-sponsored by the Carnegie Mellon Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship, Graduate Entrepreneurship Club, Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Association, Scottie Ventures, ScottyLabs and Sigma Eta Pi.
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We're Excited to Welcome Investors Back for AI & Robotics VentureDay, September 16!
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| Join us on Wednesday, September 16 for AI & Robotics VentureDay, a showcase of CMU's most investment-ready startups building at the frontier of AI and Robotics.
Presented in partnership between the CMU Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation Works, the event brings together investors, founders, university leaders, and the regional startup community to spotlight high-potential companies building in AI, robotics, autonomy, and embodied intelligence.
The event will feature a select group of startups, including VentureBridge companies, and is one of the flagship events of CMU Startup Week 2026 and StartUP PGH.
Priority approval for investors!
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| CMU Startup Week Presents: CMU S4, Student
Startup Showcase ~ September 18!
Join us on Friday, September 18 at the Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship for CMU S4, an interactive exhibition event showcasing what's coming next from CMU student founded startups. You will have the opportunity to engage directly with the founders and learn about the incredible innovations they are building and critical problems that they are solving.
Over two dozen different companies will be presenting at this event, including companies funded through the Bruce S. Gebhardt Sandbox Fund, Beyond 2% Fund, and the Project Olympus Spark Grants.
Light refreshments will be provided for attendees.
Open to ALL!
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Appy by Saturday, August 1!
Fall 2026 CSL Project Course and CSL Fellows Program
The Corporate Startup Lab at Carnegie Mellon University works with companies to foster greater innovation, entrepreneurship and future readiness. Through partnerships with CMU graduate students, CSL helps organizations explore real-world challenges, identify new opportunities and bring the latest thinking in technology, innovation and startup methods into their companies.
For Students: Applications are now open for the Fall 2026 CSL Project Course and CSL Fellows Program. These incredible opportunities give Carnegie Mellon University graduate students the chance to gain valuable hands-on experience, build meaningful professional connections, and expand their networks while working on impactful projects.
The CSL Fellows Program is a paid position that offers students the opportunity to be compensated while developing skills to support their academic and career goals.
Both programs are open to Carnegie Mellon University graduate students. Please note that the CSL Project Course is restricted to Pittsburgh campus students.
For Corporate Partners: Organizations interested in engaging CSL graduate students to help address a real-world challenge are encouraged to connect with the CSL team. This is a unique opportunity to collaborate with talented CMU graduate students, gain fresh perspectives and explore innovative approaches to meaningful business, technology and societal challenges. Reach out to Jim Jen if interested, jjen@andrew.cmu.edu.
Students, click the links below to learn more about each program and apply by August 1!
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| Lembas Health: The Nutrition Platform Behind Metabolic Success
Lembas Health, recently featured in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and co-founded by Tepper School of Business alumnus and CEO Robert Miller, is a New York based health AI company aimed at helping patients sustain the results of metabolic care, especially as GLP-1 prescribing grows across cardiology, endocrinology and pain medicine. The platform is live in settings ranging from a 300-bed hospital network to more than a dozen independent specialty practices. It is also supporting the development of the very first official Nutrition Guidelines for the American Society of Pain and Neuroscience, positioning them as leaders in the next wave of nutrition-embedded services in the evolving healthcare system.
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CMU Spinout Mine Vision Systems Prepares to Take Up Office Space in Bakery Square
East Liberty development Bakery Square has emerged as a hub for tech startups and is set to add two new tenants. One of those startups is Mine Vision Systems, a local startup that maps and analyzes underground mines, Mine Vision Systems, which has taken up 6,200 square feet of office space. The company closed a $12.5 million Series A late last year, led by local firm Rockwell Venture Capital. The startup was founded in 2015, spinning out of Carnegie Mellon University and its National Robotics Engineering Center.
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| Help CMU Startup LaunchProd with a Product Idea.
Win Swartz Center Swag!
LaunchProd, a Swartz Center startup, is partnering with The Movie List Podcast (a weekly pop culture and film podcast) to develop its first fan based product. The founders are looking for product ideas and suggestions that align with the theme of the Podcast and that would appeal to their audience.
Check out The Movie List Podcast website and submit your idea by August 7th to: support@launchprod.com.
The winner will be announced on August 10th and will receive Swartz Center swag and an early copy of the product.
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STARTUP JOB OPPORTUNITIES
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Cruitical is an AI-native hiring platform built by CMU grads Shubham and Yash (Heinz '25) that replaces resumes and low-signal screens with deeply enriched candidate profiles and virtual work trials that showcase how people actually think, work, and use AI.
We're working with startups hiring for Applied AI, ML Research, Forward Deployed, GTM Engineering roles and everything in between. One profile, and we match you as new roles open up.
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CMU Startup Opportunity for Quantitative Marketing Platform
Maximus is a quantitative marketing platform that helps businesses grow. It turns market signals into actions through a patented, closed-loop system. Founded by a Tepper '22 alumnus, the team is building its founding team and looking for their first technical hire: someone strong in data science, machine learning or software engineering who wants real ownership, early equity and the chance to shape a product from the ground up alongside the founder. The position is full-time or part-time/remote.
Apply at maximus.software/work-with-us or reach out at cguzzi@maximus.software.
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gBeta Pennsylvania Spring 2026 Showcase ~ August 6
Meet ten promising Pennsylvania startups as they pitch their companies and connect with investors, founders, mentors, and ecosystem leaders. Whether you're looking to discover emerging startups, expand your network, or support the region's innovation ecosystem, we'd love to have you join us.
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Why Most Startups Can't Explain What They Do
A GTM Strategy Workshop with FinStrat Management:
For VentureBridge and CMU Startup Founders
Date: August 7, 2026
Time: 1:00 - 2:00pm ET | Online Webinar on Zoom
Presented by CMU VentureBridge and FinStrat Management, this online session will break down the two languages every founder needs: external messaging that converts customers, and internal language that aligns your team and guides product decisions. Adam Chen, Chief Revenue Officer at FinStrat Management will walk through how to build a specific, actionable Ideal Customer Profile, craft a value proposition that answers "why should I choose you," and write a behavioral statement that defines the exact behavior change your product is trying to create.
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Brandon Rosas (TPR 2010)
Founder and Managing Partner, FOHRT Consulting
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Patrick Colletti
Adjunct Professor, Tepper School of Business
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From Startup to Scale-Up:
The Headcount Thresholds That Will Change Your Company
Date:September 2, 2026
Time: 12:00 - 1:00pm ET | Virtual on Zoom
Presented by the CMU Alumni Association, this session is designed to provide founders and operators a practical framework for what happens when you hit the key staffing milestones of 15, 50 and 100 employees: Which laws apply, what states have strict legislation you need to keep an eye on and what your HR infrastructure should look like.
Drawing on years of HR and operational leadership across Private Equity-backed and founder-led businesses, Brandon Rosas brings real-world experience helping companies navigate exactly these moments and knows firsthand the costs when you are not prepared, whether that is government penalties or enhanced consultant expenses.
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OTHER APPLICATION DEADLINES
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| Apply to the Pear Fellows Program by August 9!
If you're a current or aspiring CMU undergrad, MBA, or PhD founder who wants to learn how VC actually works, apply to the Pear Fellows program. Past Fellows have gone on to start massive companies, work at top-tier funds like Sequoia, and take leadership roles at Anthropic.
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| Apply for 5050 by August 12
5050 is a free, 12-week program by Fifty Years that helps great scientists and engineers become great founders and start deep tech startups. Alumni have started 115 companies, including Boltz, Electroflow, Medra, and Plasmidsaurus, with a 96% raise-success rate among those who fundraise. No deck, co-founder, or polished idea required, and it's built to fit around your PhD or job until you gain conviction to go full-time. 100% free: no equity, no fees, no weird clauses.
Got questions? Email Alvaro Borda, alvaro@50y.com
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| CONNECTS/START SMART LEGAL SEMINARS
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| CONNECTS & START SMART LEGAL seminars are back for the upcoming
Fall semester!
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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 9/1
REGISTERCONNECTS: Design Thinking (Ming Ming Chapman, CMU/Tepper)
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REGISTER
CONNECTS: Business Model Canvas: *A Practical Guide (Craig Markovitz, EIR, CMU Swartz Ceneter)
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CMU ENTREPRENEURSHIP CLUBS
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| Click the images to find out more about each of the Clubs!
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Join the CMU Tech & Entrepreneurship Community on August 6!
Meet fellow CMU founders, operators, investors, and innovators for drinks, conversation, and a chance to mingle with the people building what's next. Come with a startup idea, a side project, a challenge you're working through. Or just come for the company! You never know who might have the introduction, expertise, co-founder, customer, or insight you've been looking for.
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The CMU T&E has a jobs board, available for people across the community to share and seek new opportunities in the startup and entrepreneurship ecosystem. Find out more and visit the website here.
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.
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The following companies help directly support our programming and entrepreneurs.
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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.
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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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