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|  | From left: Charlie Katarincic, Jack Katarincic, Jay Katarincic, Dave Mawhinney, Barb Jones and her daughter (Jay's wife) Autumn.
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The CMU Swartz Center Hosts Inaugural Funders & Founders Speaker Series
The Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship hosted the kick off of Project Olympus' inaugural Founders & Funders Series on Tuesday, February 4, organized by Meredith Meyer Grelli, Assistant Dean of Entrepreneurship Initiatives, Tepper Faculty, Director of Project Olympus and EIR at the CMU Swartz Center. The first of three talks in the 'Meet the Parents Edition', the talk featured Tepper MBA '91 Jay Katarincic, Magarac Venture Partners, who was introduced by his son Charlie and interviewed by his other son Jack, both who are Tepper School of Business students.
Among the attendees was Barb Jones, wife of the late Don Jones, successful entrepreneur and venture capitalist who among his many achievements, donated $1M to Carnegie Mellon University to endow the Don Jones Center for Entrepreneurship. The Donald H. Jones Center for Entrepreneurial Studies is part of the Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship. Also in attendance was Jay's wife Autumn, who is the daughter of Barb and Don Jones.
The next talk will take place on March 13, 2025 with special guest Mar Hershenson, Pear VC, who will be interviewed by her son, David Hershenson, a CMU ECE junior and 2024-26 Innovation Scholar.
Find out more and register here.
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| Ecotone Renewables Co-Founders Earn Feature
in Forbes 30 Under 30
Ecotone Renewables, a public benefit corporation, is committed to advancing the future of clean energy by developing innovative, community-driven solutions that help accelerate the global transition to sustainable energy. With a focus on cutting-edge technologies and scalable models, Ecotone is shaping a more sustainable, greener future.
Ecotone's three co-founders, Carnegie Mellon University alumnus Dylan Lew and partners Kyle Wyche and Elliott Bennett, received the prestigious 2024 Forbes 30 Under 30 List, in the Green Tech category. The team recently celebrated their first international partnership with Compass Group Inc. and will begin deploying the first ZEUS biodigester of many for the international food service group in Toronto later this month. Also, the public can now invest in the company and become shareholders from now until February 13, 2025 to help support Ecotone's growth, while earning a return.
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Astrobotic Secures New Lunar Payload
CMU spinoff Astrobotic has secured a contract to transport a rover developed by California-based aerospace firm Venturi Astrolab. That rover, the FLEX Lunar Innovation Platform, or FLIP for short, will be deployed to the Nobile region of the lunar south pole. The mission is scheduled for the end of the year and NASA's contract with Astrobotic has been modified for the mission to serve as large lander demonstration flight.
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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.
This week, we are featuring Mach9 Robotics, founded by CMU alumnus Alex Baikovitz. Mach9 is at the forefront of leveraging advanced machine learning and computer vision techniques to transform raw geospatial data into actionable insights to help civil engineers build and maintain infrastructure globally.
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Carnegie Mellon University and the CMU Alumni Association are committed to highlighting CMU's exceptional Black alumni, students, faculty and staff throughout the year. Each year, Black History Month provides us with a special opportunity to recognize, acknowledge and elevate their professional and academic excellence. CMU's Center for Student Diversity and Inclusion is also celebrating the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with a series of events.
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Application Deadline Extended to February 8!
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| Date: Wednesday, February 12, 2025
Time: 6-7 PM | ET
Location: CMU, Baker Hall, Room A60G
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| Date: February 18, 2025
Time: 1-2:30 PM | ET
Location: CMU Scott Hall, Bosch Spark Conference Room
Join the Scott Institute’s Entrepreneurial Student Lunch Series with James R. Swartz Entrepreneurial Fellow Ruben Quesada Alvarado, co-founder of Sabana, an AI-powered data management platform designed to streamline communication and collaboration for architects and design engineers.
This series inspires students, faculty and staff to explore cleantech and climate tech entrepreneurship opportunities. Lunch will be provided, but space is limited.
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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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|  2/11
REGISTER
How Innovation Can Help to Heal Healthcare (Ginny Pribanic, MedRespond, LLC)
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REGISTER
Finding Follow-on Capital (Ben Garber, 7 Mile Advisors)
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REGISTER
Franchsing - Opportunities Are Everywhere! (Chris Cynkar, ERA Group)
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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
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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Inside the Mind of an Early-Stage VC
Date: Wednesday, February 12, 2025
Time: 4-5 PM | ET
Location: Swartz Center, Tepper Quad, 3rd Fl, 4765 Forbes Avenue, Pgh, PA 15213
Sign up for office hours!
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T&E Boston:
VentureBridge Info Session & Pitch Practice
Date: Thursday, February 13, 2025
Time: 6-8:30 PM ET
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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| 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.
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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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