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| CORE SWARTZ CENTER EVENTS, PROGRAM DEADLINES & ANNOUNCEMENTS
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Carnegie Mellon University Startup Week is a multiday celebration of entrepreneurship, innovation, and frontier tech. The diverse line up of events will highlight founders from all stages, researchers, and community partners across our entire ecosystem.
This year's event is part of StartUP PGH 2026. Check out the StartUP PGH website for more information about the week-long event being put on by fifteen regional partners.
Lab to Market
A high-energy evening connecting Carnegie Mellon students with startups and emerging companies hiring across technology, design, product, and business.
Register
AI & Robotics Venture Day
A curated showcase of CMU-affiliated and Pittsburgh-region most investment-ready AI
and robotics startups.
Register
CMU SPARK 2026
High-energy evening connecting Carnegie Mellon students with startups and emerging companies hiring across technology, design, product, and business.
Register
CMU S4
A showcase of earliest stage student startups.
Register
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What does it take to turn breakthrough research
into an IPO-scale company?
September 15th, 4 - 6:30pm
GHC, School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon
South Park Commons and CMU Swartz Center are gathering the CMU and broader Pittsburgh research and deep tech community for a candid conversation on making the leap from academia to company-building.
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|  | 2025-27 Swartz Entrepreneurial Fellows
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CMU First-year Graduate Students!
Applications Open for the 2026-28 Swartz Fellows Program
Are you a CMU first-year graduate student passionate about entrepreneurship with goals to build a successful startup? Interested in joining a strong network of startup-minded students and alumni? Applications for the next cohort of James R. Swartz Entrepreneurial Fellows are currently open.
The Swartz Fellows program is a two-year opportunity that fast-tracks the careers of CMU's graduate students who are passionate about entrepreneurship. Students must currently be working on a startup idea to be considered for this highly selective program. The program focuses on hands-on experiences, networking, mentoring and courses in entrepreneurship, as well as a mentored summer internship with a top-tier VC-backed startup, preferably within the high-tech, high-growth environment of California's Silicon Valley and San Francisco (Bay area encouraged but not required).
Applications will be accepted through Sunday, October 4 at 11:59 PM ET.
Virtual Info Session:
Find out more about the program and hear from current Swartz Fellows.
Wednesday, September 9 ~ 12:30 PM ET (Via Zoom)
Register
Students must currently be working on a startup idea to be considered.
Early applications are encouraged.
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Self-Driving Truck Startup Gatik Raises $200M
Following PepsiCo Deal
Gatik, the autonomous vehicle startup known for its self-driving box trucks, has raised $200M just two months after striking a multiyear commercial agreement with PepsiCo. The round was led by Qatar Investment Authority and Koch Disruptive Technologies, with participation from Millennium Management, ARK Invest, and Intact Private Capital.
Carnegie Mellon MS, Robotics alumnus Gautam Narang is Gatik's CEO and Co-Founder.
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CMU Founded Efficient Computer Raises $93M
Local computer chip manufacturer Efficient Computer has raised $93M, according to a Form D filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Founded in 2022 by Carnegie Mellon University researchers, the company has almost 50 employees and an estimated valuation of more than $300M, according to PitchBook.
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James R. Swartz Entrepreneurial Fellow and Tepper School of Business MBA Rachel Hagani Featured in Poets&Quants
Rachel Hagani, Tepper School of Business MBA and 2025-27 James R. Swartz Entrepreneurial Fellow is featured in Poets&Quants' "Meet the FT MBA Class of 2027".
As a CMU engineering alumna returning to CMU, Rachel spent her career at Medtronic developing medical devices, including supporting the first-in-human clinical trial for a Class III implantable device. She's bridging engineering and business, while embracing Tepper's tech-focused, data-driven curriculum, and her goals for building med tech solutions with real patient impact.
Congratulations Rachel!
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|  | Brandon Rosas (TPR 2010)
Founder and Managing Partner, FOHRT Consulting
| |  | 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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Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition: Tim Bovard, Founder and CEO of Search Fund Accelerator
Date: Monday, August 31
Time: 5:45 - 6:45 PM | CMU Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship
Tim Bovard, founder and CEO of Search Fund Accelerator, returns to campus to talk about entrepreneurship through acquisition (ETA), the path where you buy an existing small business and run it as its CEO.
As a part of the session he'll cover how the search fund model works, how the accelerator path compares with a traditional or self-funded search, and what SFA looks for in the people it backs. If ETA is on your radar for after graduation, come with questions.
Open to PE/VC/SF Club (Tepper Ventures), Graduate Entrepreneurship Club, and the wider Tepper graduate community.
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| CONNECTS/START SMART LEGAL SEMINARS
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| CONNECTS & START SMART LEGAL seminars are back for the
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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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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