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The Swartz Center Announces the 2024-26
Innovation Scholars Cohort
After a rigorous application process with over 70+ Carnegie Mellon undergraduate students from across schools, the CMU Swartz Center has selected twelve students for its 2024-26 Innovation Scholars cohort. The students, which hail from Tepper, Engineering, Computer Science, CMU Qatar and more are all rising juniors interested in various areas of entrepreneurship.
The students (in order of appearance in the photo) are:
Timothy Brown, Tepper School of Business; Ekaterina Demenkova, CMU Qatar/Information Systems;
Audrey Hasson, School of Computer Science; David Hershensen, Electrical & Computer Engineering;
Simran Jolly, Tepper School of Business; Janise Kim, School of Computer Science; Aaryan Lalwani, Tepper School of Business; Krish Mawalkar, Statistics and Machine Learning; Jiwon (James) Park, Statistics and Machine Learning; Evan Pinnix, Tepper School of Business; Erika Ramirez, Electrical & Computer Engineering; Avalon Sueiro, Tepper School of Business
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Andreessen Horowitz Promotes Jennifer Li to General Partner to Help Lead its New AI Infrastructure Fund
Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz is promoting Jennifer Li to general partner after six years at the firm. She’s being tapped to help invest the new $1.25B Infrastructure fund managed by longtime a16z general partner Martin Casado.
Prior to joining a16z in 2018, Jennifer led product at Carnegie Mellon University AI startup Solvvy, acquired by Zoom in 2022, led self-service and analytics products at AppDynamics, acquired by Cisco for $3.7B and was a Kleiner Perkins Product Fellow in 2016.
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|  | Limight Steel co-founders Andy Zhao and Olivia Dippo
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Limelight Steel wins $2.9M from ARPA-E's Iron and
Steel Program
On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Energy selected thirteen projects in nine states to receive a total of $28M through its Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). Limelight Steel, co-founded by Carnegie Mellon University alumni Olivia Dippo and Andy Zhao, received $2.9M for its cutting-edge, zero-emissions iron making technology development.
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Why Incorporate in Delaware? Pros and Cons in 2024
Nearly two million businesses—including more than 50% of all publicly traded companies in the U.S. and almost 70% of all Fortune 500 companies—are incorporated in Delaware.
In a recent story by USA Today, Dave Mawhinney, Executive Director at the Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship said most investors actually “demand” the businesses they invest in be incorporated in Delaware. “It boils down to [how] Delaware is perceived to be the friendliest state for business formation and residency, and venture capitalists want standardization across their portfolios,” he explained.
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The CMU Swartz Center's 2023-25 Swartz Fellows and
Innovation Scholars Visit Astrobotic
On Friday, April 19, 2024 a group of 2023-25 graduate James R. Swartz Entrepreneurial Fellows and undergraduate Innovation Scholars visited Astrobotic Technology, Pittsburgh's Aerospace Company located on the Northside. After learning about the company's latest goals for space exploration and how they're using robotics to make space missions feasible and more affordable with Lunar Landers, Cube Rovers and more, the students—along with Sonya Ford, Program Manager at the Swartz Center—were led on a tour of the facilities and the Moonshot Museum.
The students were also briefly greeted by Carnegie Mellon University alumnus and Astrobotic CEO John Thornton, who was being interviewed inside of the Moonshot Museum during their tour.
The Swartz Fellows and Innovation Scholars will celebrate the end of the Spring semester and the newest cohort of Innovation Scholars at their final Proseminar on Friday, April 26.
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The Swartz Center Hosts Retirement Party for Mentor In Residence, Reed McManigle
After almost forty years in the Pittsburgh tech scene, which includes his time as senior manager with Carnegie Mellon's Center for Technology Transfer (CTTEC) and a mentor and friend of the CMU Swartz Center, Reed McManigle will be retiring on May 31. A retirement party was organized by the CTTEC department and held at the Swartz Center on Tuesday, April 23, 2024.
Reed has been at CMU since 2006, managing intellectual property and assisting in the formation and early funding of technology-based startup companies. He has more recently focused his efforts on assisting with the formation of startup companies around university inventions from all departments.
The entire Swartz Center team is grateful for all that Reed has done for the startup community at CMU and in Pittsburgh and wishes him well on his retirement!
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Open Coffee - AI Edition
Date: Wednesday, May 1, 2024
Time: 8:30 - 9:30 AM | ET
Location: Tepper School of Business, Simmons Auditorium
Join this month's Open Coffee - AI Edition, hosted by Adam Paulisick and Kit Mueller, and meet some of the leading founders and teams building in AI, and investors from across the country who will be in town for CMU AI Venture Studio Investor Day.
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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.
The CONNECTS seminars have ended for the Spring semester and will return 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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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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Legal Services Weekly Office Hours
Sign up for weekly office hours.
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| PATRON SPOTLIGHT
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. It offers competitive and flexible rates and aims to provide value to its 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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