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December 11, 2020

Aurora Confirms Deal to Acquire Uber's Self-driving Unit

Pittsburgh-based Aurora will acquire Uber’s Pittsburgh-based self-driving vehicle unit, pushing Aurora to a $10 billion valuation. Read more.

CMU Robotics Institute alumnus and Abridge co-founder Sandeep Konam named to Forbes 30 Under 30 in healthcare

Marinus Analytics founder Emily Kennedy to receive CMU's Outstanding Recent Alumna Award

CMU alumnus and Innovation Fellow Anhong Guo named to Forbes 30 Under 30 in science

Carnegie Mellon Tepper School of Business Graduate Students Participate in VCIC 2020

The Venture Capital Investment Competition (VCIC) is the world’s largest venture capital competition with over 70 universities competing. VCIC is the only place where students get to be VCs for the day and startups get a due diligence immersion. Carnegie Mellon graduate students have participated in the VCIC for many years and this year, the event was organized by Tepper MBA and 99 Tartans Managing Partner Lawrence LaPorta, with first year students Andy Gollach and Francis Smith. Five teams joined to create a fund and each team listened to a pitch from four startups. The teams then split up and performed one on one due diligence sessions with each startup, selecting one startup to invest in and ultimately developing a term sheet to present to the judges.

This year's winner was Bridge Ventures: Peter Park, John Schiff, Utkarsh Muraka, Hirofumi Yoshida and Brian Farrell. The team will participate in the VCIC Regionals in 2021.

Corporate Startup Lab Spring 2021 Project Course

Are you a current CMU graduate student interested in joining an interdisciplinary team to explore a corporate startup idea for credit? The Corporate Startup Lab project course will help you do exactly that while you learn best practices and tools to help you lead innovation after graduation. The companies participating in the course this year include Bosch, Optum (part of UnitedHealthcare), Microsoft and numo (PNC’s fintech accelerator). Each of these companies has a new product or service they are looking to explore with a student team this Spring (there are no “classroom projects”).

This full-semester (12 units) course meets Tuesday nights (6:30pm-9:30pm).
Find out more and apply!

CONNECTS/START SMART LAW Seminars

The CONNECTS/START SMART Law Seminars have ended for the Fall semester. The seminars will resume at the start of the Spring semester.

See the full Spring 2021 schedule here.
Can't make a CONNECTS seminar? Watch on our YouTube channel.

99 Tartans Makes $150K Series A Investment in Aurochs

The 99 Tartans community is excited to announce its Series A investment of $150K in CMU startup Aurochs Brewing, founded by Tepper School of Business alumnus, Ryan Bove. Aurochs is a gluten-free brewer based in Pittsburgh, PA. The company has developed a broad product line inclusive of Session IPAs, Porters, Seltzers, Blonde Ales, Pumpkin Ales and more which have contributed to their explosive growth.

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. Please visit and find out more.

CMU ENTREPRENEURSHIP CLUBS

CMU TECH & ENTREPRENEURSHIP

CMU Tech & Entrepreneurship focuses on connecting the community, building an entrepreneurial culture, and providing resources for our community to succeed. There are multiple region-based chapters within the group. Find out more and see
upcoming events.

SWARTZ CENTER SPOTLIGHT

A Message From the CMU Swartz Center

The CMU Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship acknowledges the horrific and tragic killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and the many other Black and African-American men and women who have lost their lives due to systemic racism that unfortunately exists in our society.

We are in support and reaffirm Carnegie Mellon University’s commitment to working to dismantle systemic racism and continue to welcome and treat equally all students, alumni, staff, faculty and visitors who either work out of our space, visit or partner with us. We will do our part to ensure a better tomorrow for all.

HOW TO WORK OUT OF THE SWARTZ CENTER

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.

Project Olympus Incubator Program

The Swartz Center's Project Olympus incubator program welcomes all students, faculty, staff and alumni from all schools at any stage, including social enterprise and life-style business ideas. Find out more. Sign up for Expert Office Hours.

COMMUNITY OPPORTUNITIES/RESOURCES

Office Hours

Chatham University Center for Women's Entrepreneurship

AlphaLab; AlphaLab Gear; Innovation Works: Sign up for office hours

Laconia Capital Group (Venture Capital Fund): Sign up for office hours

Jobs/Resources

Join the CMU Entrepreneurship Slack

99 Tartans: Connecting CMU Alumni Investors with CMU Founders

Optum Startup Studio Space for CMU Startups

Chatham's CWE FREE online counseling to assist with COVID-19 loan programs

Apply for CMU's Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Club I-Fund

Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Club launches Build Your Own Startup (98-309) during Spring semester: Contact Arleen Liu, Vivek Raghuram or Harvey Zheng with questions.

Pittsburgh startup community newsletter

Apply for jobs with Pittsburgh startups

Engineering and Management Positions at RE2 Robotics

Events

12/15
Breakfast for Bootstrappers

12/15
Alternative Models to Raising Capital

12/15
Chatham Center for Women's Entrepreneurship (CWE): Webinar: 2020 Year End Close and Tax Planning - Calculating the Chaos

12/16
ENTRE Startup Pitch Competition

12/17
Cafe IW: Virtual Networking

12/17
Ascender presents: Real Talk with Founders - Holiday Edition with Niche CEO, Luke Skurman

1/8
Chatham Center for Women's Entrepreneurship (CWE): Livestream: Women Business Leaders Breakfast "At Home" Series

Kickstarter Campaigns

Elemental, Force of Nature: A lite-strategy party game (Tepper MBA, Christopher Wendt) - Support the project through December 17

Check out more events on the Swartz Center calendar

Application Deadlines

12/12
Earthian Hack: Call for applications

12/13
Founder Institute Early Application Deadline

12/15
PAX Momentum Accelerator Spring 2021 Cohort

1/8
Global Association of Women in Payments: Unicorn Challenge

1/8
SXSW 2021 Pitch Application Deadline

1/17
Rice Business Plan Competition

1/27
Carbon to Value Initiative: Accelerator Program

10K Entrepreneurs: Grants for Undergrads Exploring Entrpreneurial Internships or Startups (Apply through March 15, 2021)

2/2
Rice Business Plan Competition

Ongoing
SBIR/STTR Federal Application Deadlines

PROGRAM SPOTLIGHT

Innovation Fellows Program

The Innovation Fellows Program has the goal of accelerating the process of commercializing university research. It aims to foster entrepreneurship among graduate students, post doctoral fellows, and research assistants. Read more.