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The CMU Swartz Center Announces New Cohort of
James R. Swartz Entrepreneurial Fellows
The CMU Swartz Center has accepted twelve graduate students from various schools across Carnegie Mellon for its 2023-25 James R. Swartz Entrepreneurial Fellows cohort. After a rigorous application process which included applications from over 160 graduate students, the new cohort was celebrated at a formal induction ceremony at the Swartz Center on Friday, October 27, 2023. The event included a welcome message from Jim Swartz, founder of Accel, who attended virtually.
The new Swartz Fellows are (in order of the image):
Ruben Antonio Quesada, Tepper School of Business
Zubin Aysola, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Jennifer Evans, PhD student, Mechanical Engineering
Michael Gromis, Master of Science, Robotics Systems Development (MRSD)
Amanda Manget, Master of Integrated Innovation for Products & Services (MIIPS)
Julie Negussie, Tepper School of Business
Logan Nye, MD, School of Computer Science
Nate Patterson, Tepper School of Business
Jordan Tab, MS/Software Engineering (CMU Silicon Valley)
Emily Torrealba, Tepper School of Business
Quinyan (Olivia) Wu, Master of Information Technology/Information Networking Institute
Yawen (Christina) Yang, School of Design (Design for Interactions)
Find out more about the new cohort.
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The CMU Swartz Center Hosts Annual Hack-A-Startup
This past weekend, the CMU Swartz Center hosted the annual Hack-a-Startup, which was organized this year by three student entrepreneurship clubs: the Graduate Entrepreneurship Club (GEC), Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Association (UEA) and Scottie Ventures. This event is dedicated to helping budding entrepreneurs navigate the world of startups, from conceptualizing ideas to pitching those ideas to investors. It's an ecosystem where participants—primarily from diverse schools across CMU—come together to innovate, collaborate and transform their ideas into tangible solutions and ventures.
This year's sponsor was Patient Safety Technology Challenge, and the students focused on a special track to work on issues related to medical errors and preventive care.
The winners of this year's Hack-A-Startup will be announced later in November.
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| Shield AI Raises $200M, Reaching $2.7B Valuation
Carnegie Mellon University spinoff and defense tech startup Shield AI has raised a $200M Series F, led by US Innovative Technology Fund and Riot Ventures. Associate Research Professor Nathan Michael is the CTO.
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LittleMoochi Receives Outstanding Innovative
Enterprise Award
LittleMoochi, an app that helps kids develop healthy- habits by raising their own AI-powered digital pets, has recently been recognized by the Chinese Association for Science and Technology (CAST) with its Outstanding Innovation Enterprise Award. Little Moochi is co-founded by Tepper School of Business alumna Summer Xia.
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Gecko Robotics Launches AI-powered Asset
Decision-Making Tool
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The infrastructure-scaling machines from Gecko Robotics Inc., co-founded by Jake Loosarian and Carnegie Mellon University alumnus and CPO Troy Demmer, collect troves of data, sometimes reaching several terabytes—or hundreds of thousands of images—worth of data per customer project.
This data collection has now become even more powerful as the North Side-based company has unveiled its new Cantilever product that allows its customers to have easier access to analysis and tools that can aid in decision making.
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| Abridge AI Raises $30M
Abridge AI Inc., a startup behind an automatic transcription and notetaking tool powered by artificial intelligence that's built for medical professionals has closed on a $30M funding round. The close of the Series B funding round brings the company's total funding amount to $62.5M million since its founding in 2018. Carnegie Mellon Machine Learning Assistant Professor Zachary Lipton, PhD, is the Chief Technology/Science Officer at Abridge.
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|  | Jim Swartz welcoming the new Swartz Fellows and Innovation Scholars virtually
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| The CMU Swartz Center Inducts New Cohort of
James R. Swartz Entrepreneurial Fellows and
Innovation Scholars
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On Friday, October 27, 2023, the CMU Swartz Center held its annual Induction Event to celebrate the 2023-25 cohort of graduate James R. Swartz Entrepreneurial Fellows and Undergraduate Innovation Scholars. The event was kicked off by Swartz Center Executive Director Dave Mawhinney and
Sonya Ford, Program Manager.
The twelve Swartz Fellows and thirteen Innovation Scholars introduced themselves after being welcomed by CMU alumnus Jim Swartz (MSIA 1966), founder of Accel, who attended virtually.
During their first year, both cohorts will continue to explore and work on their startup ideas while networking with CMU alumni founders and VC's during the weekly Proseminar In Entrepreneurial Leadership course. The students will attend the Silicon Valley Trek in January, 2024 to visit CMU alumni founder offices and search for summer internships with VC-backed startups. During their second year, each student becomes an ambassador for these programs and become mentors to the new cohorts.
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|  | The new Swartz Fellows and Innovation Scholars during the induction ceremony
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| Date: Wednesday, November 8, 2023
Time: 11:00 AM - 2:30 PM ET
Location: Swartz Center, Tepper Quad, 4765 Forbes Avenue, 3rd Floor
On behalf of the Carnegie Mellon University School of Computer Science and iMerit, join us for the Manufacturing & Warehouse Robotics Forum, which will be held virtually on November 8, hosted by the CMU Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship.
Leading robotics companies such as Agility Robotics, Gather AI, iMerit, Nimble AI, Shift Robotics and more will discuss the evolution of robotics and their increasingly important role in manufacturing, warehouse automation, order fulfillment, supply chain management and new industry applications. The Forum will include a mix of executive and tech roundtable sessions and introductions of new robotics.
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| Global Entrepreneurship Week
Date: November 13 - 17, 2023
Celebrate the entrepreneurial and innovative culture at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh during Global Entrepreneurship Week powered by the Kauffman Foundation! CMU's celebration is a collaboration with Pitt's Global Entrepreneurship Week, hosted by the Big Idea Center. For questions, contact Matt Katsaros.
Event details:
Monday, Nov 13, 5:00-6:30pm, Virtual
Starting at a Startup
Come hear from a panel of undergraduates, graduate students and young professionals about their experiences with being an intern and working at a startup.
Register
Tuesday, Nov 14, 4:00-7:00pm, Cohen University Center, Rangos
SPARK Job Fair
Interested in working at a startup or emerging company? Come check out these groups that are hiring!
Wednesday, Nov 15, 5:00-6:30pm, Project Olympus (4620 Henry St.)
Design Challenge & Networking
Project Olympus, the CMU Graduate Entrepreneurship Club (GEC) and Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Association (UEA) present a chance to network with other entrepreneurs and participate in a short design challenge where students take their real business ideas and work with others to solve issues they are facing.
Thursday, Nov 15 - 6:00-7:30pm, Duquesne University
PDMA Pitch Competition
Students representing Pitt, CMU, Robert Morris, Chatham and Duquesne will go head-to-head in this year’s PDMA Pitch Competition. Witness the entrepreneurial talent growing within each of these Pittsburgh universities as students showcase their big ideas to a panel of judges.
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Date: Wednesday, November 29, 2023 (Open to the Public)
Time: 5:30 - 6:30 PM | ET
Location: Carnegie Mellon University, Simmons Auditorium, Tepper Quad, 4765 Forbes Avenue
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| Apply for the 2024 CSL Project Course by
November 3, 2024 (deadline extended)
Applications for the Spring 2024 CSL Project Course are now open for ALL CMU graduate students.
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Calling ALL Current CMU Student Entrepreneurs!
Registration is now open for the 2024 McGinnis Venture Competition, a platform exclusively for Carnegie Mellon University's community of student entrepreneurs. This competition brings together Carnegie Mellon's best and brightest student entrepreneurs to compete for $60K in investments. All participants receive crucial interaction with alumni entrepreneurs and venture capitalists, an opportunity to raise capital and valuable feedback about ventures.
Learn more about the competition and hear from previous participants at an info session:
Info Session - November 14
Register
Info Session - January 10
Register
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Register your team by December 1 to receive a coach!
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| CONNECTS/START SMART LAW SEMINARS
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| See the Fall 2023 schedule here.
Can't make a CONNECTS? Watch on our YouTube channel.
Find out more and see the full schedule.
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 11/7
REGISTER
Negotiating Your First Term Sheet
(Matthew Weinbaum, and David Kalson, Denton Cohen & Grigsby)
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REGISTER
Recent Trends in Venture Capital B2B AI (Cindy Padnos, Illuminate Ventures)
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REGISTER
Privacy and Cybersecurity for Startups (John Funge, DataTribe)
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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 connects the CMU community, alumni and students, to build an entrepreneurial culture and provide resources to help the community 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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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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Swartz Center Patron Office Hours
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 currently 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.
To sign up for a 30 minute session with Matt, complete the Signup Form by the Thursday prior to your desired appointment. If you need to schedule an office hour outside of these regular hours,
contact Daria Stokes.
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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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The James R. Swartz Entrepreneurial Fellows program fast-tracks the careers of Carnegie Mellon University's first year graduate students who are passionate about entrepreneurship. Applications for the 2023-25 cohort are currently open through October 15, 2023. Find out more.
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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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