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|  | The 2023-25 James R. Swartz Entrepreneurial Fellows and Innovation Scholars attending a networking event hosted by Accel at their new location in San Francisco
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The Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship Hosts Annual Trek to Silicon Valley
For the past several years, the Swartz Center has hosted an Entrepreneurship Trek to Silicon Valley, CA for the current cohort of graduate James R. Swartz Entrepreneurial Fellows and undergraduate Innovation Scholars. The goal of the trip is for the students to explore their entrepreneurial passions by immersing them into the startup scene in California's Bay Area, which includes visits to various Carnegie Mellon alumni founder offices and Venture Capital firms. The weeklong trip, which took place the week of January 8,12, 2024—historically before the Spring semester begins—is a life changing experience for the cross campus entrepreneurial students. A highlight of the trip is always a visit to Accel, founded by CMU alumnus and founder Jim Swartz.
This years visits included:
VC firms: Accel, Pear VC, Bain Capital Ventures (BCV), Lightspeed Ventures, Obvious Ventures,
Intel Capital
CMU startups: Bitgo (Satish Ramakrishnan), InWorld AI (Sherrie Cao), Ambi Robotics (Ben Kolligs), Artyc (Mark Langer/Hannah Sieber), Refiberd (Sarika Bajaj), Beam (Rohan Pandya)
The students also heard from multiple CMU alumni during visits to other locations such as: Start X Accelerator, CMU Silicon Valley campus (Brandon Farwell, partner, XFund; Chelsea Hall, founder, Viral Moment); Sutardja Center for Entrepreneurship (Ken Singer, Managing Director), Pillsbury Law, Matt Kirmayer, partner (Swartz Center Patron): CMU alumni talks at Pillsbury: Matt Humphrey, Quiet Capital; Sahil Shah, Ex Waymo, South Park Commons, Aaksha Megawhat, Moveworks; Hooman Radfar, CEO of Collective; Saurabh Misra, ex Waymo, founder at Stealth.
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|  | Visiting Ambi Robotics, with CMU alumnus, Senior Robotics Software Engineer & Swartz Fellow Ben Kolligs
| |  | Innovation Scholars during visit to Bain Capital Ventures (BCV), Rak Garg, Partner
| |  | Visiting VentureBridge startup, Artyc, CMU alumnus/CTO Mark Langer
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Shift Robotics' New Moonwalkers X Featured on
the Today Show
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Fresh off of CES 2024, America's largest technology-focused convention and trade show where Shift Robotics unveiled its new Moonwalkers model, the company was featured on the Today Show on Wednesday, January 17, 2024. Founded by Carnegie Mellon alumnus and CEO Xunjie Zhang, Shift Robotics' Moonwalkers, robotic shoes that use artificial intelligence to measure a user's stride 100-times-per-second, was recently named by TIME as one of the "200 Best Inventions of 2023".
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Culturora CEO Jody Madala Selected for Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center's 2024 Winter Milestone Makers
The Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center has announced its Winter 2024 Milestone Makers cohort, all who are working on companies focused on UN Sustainable Development Goals. 2021 VentureBridge startup Culturora, led by CMU alumna Jody Madala, CFA, has been selected to participate in the cohort, which supports entrepreneurs focused on Quality Education for All, Decent Work and Economic Growth and Gender equality. Culturora's mission is to breakdown knowledge silos for better work output and economic mobility.
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Curie Secures $100K Seed Round Investment Through CMU's 99 Tartans
Curie, a GenAI Spatial 3D Commerce startup co-founded by Carnegie Mellon alumnus and CEO Michael Agustin, creates showroom experiences for its users. CMU's 99 Tartans network, made up of CMU alumni who invest in CMU founders, is looking for angel investors to join them in closing the seed round. If interested, contact Mark Tan and submit by January 25, 2024. Approval is needed to join Gust and AngelList beforehand.
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Apply to the VentureBridge Summer Accelerator by February 29!
The VentureBridge Summer Accelerator is a 12-week summer program that helps CMU startups by providing funding ($25K investment from CMU), speakers, workshops, 1:1 support, and introductions to mentors and advisors.
Eligible startups must have at least one Carnegie Mellon University affiliated alumni founder that is full time on the company. All applications must include a pitch deck and a two-minute pitch video. The early application deadline is February 29, 2024 and the final deadline is March 29, 2024. Send questions to Aleks Petkov, Program Manager.
Register for an information session:
February 1, 2024
March 4, 2024
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| 2024 Imagine Cup - Apply by January 24, 2024!
Unlock your startup’s potential with the Imagine Cup—the global technology competition for
visionary student entrepreneurs using AI! Build with AI through exclusive access to
technology, receive personalized mentorship and the chance to win $100K and an
exclusive mentorship session with Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella!
Submit your proof of concept as soon as possible, and no later than January 24. The sooner you
apply, the sooner you can access your benefits and start building as your MVP submission is due
between January 26 and February 9.
Find out more and get started with the Imagine Cup!
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Apply to the Spring 2024 Customer Discovery
Kickstart Program
The Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship’s Project Olympus Incubator is seeking candidates for
its March, 2024 cohort of the Customer Discovery Kickstart, a program for early-stage startups to explore
the feasibility of their business ideas.
Startup teams in the 4-week program learn about the fundamentals of customer discovery, including conducting customer discovery interviews and will receive coaching from experienced
Entrepreneurs-in-Residence. CMU startup founders, including alumni, are eligible to apply. The next cohort will begin on March 20 and run through April 10.
Register for a virtual info session:
January 24; 4-5:30 PM ET
February 12; 12-1:30 PM ET
Contact Melanie Simko, Program Manager with questions.
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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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|  1/23
REGISTER
CONNECTS: Applying AI To Save Lives (Anthony Bartolo, Microsoft)
| |  1/23
REGISTER
START SMART LAW: Starting a Business on an F1 Student Visa (David Kalson, Larry Lebowitz (Dentons, Cohen & Grigsby), Linda Gentile (CMU Office of International Education)
| |  1/24
REGISTER
CONNECTS: Finding Follow-On Capital (Ben Garber, 7 Mile Advisors)
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|  1/25
REGISTER
CONNECTS: Tax, Business and Accounting Issues for Startups (Carissa Habsburg and Megan Rechenberg, Sisterson & Co., LLP)
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Carnegie Mellon Tepper School of Business Hosts Alumni Networking Event During the Entrepreneurship Trek
Another highlight for this year's Entrepreneurship Trek was an alumni event hosted by the Tepper School of Business Alumni Relations office and led by John Sengenberger, Executive Director. The event, which was held in Mountainview, CA on Monday, January 8, 2024, had over 75 Carnegie Mellon alumni registrants, including current and alumni Swartz Fellows and Innovation Scholars from various cohorts and Swartz Center staff. During the event, Sengenberger addressed the alumni and allowed several of them to briefly introduce themselves and talk about what they are doing now.
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Fireside Chat Featuring Jason Chen and Shagun Maheshwari Tuesday, January 30, 2024
Location: Swartz Center, Tepper Quad, 3rd Floor
If you're currently building, thinking about starting a company or are interested in VCs, join the CMU Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Association (UEA) for a fireside chat featuring Jason Chen (Partner at Contrary) and Shagun Maheshwari (Innovation Scholar and Student Venture Partner at Contrary) for the chance to receive guidance for the next steps in your professional journey. Networking reception with refreshments to follow. Register here.
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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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Announcing the CMU Tech & Entrepreneurship
Rebrand Design Competition!
The CMU T&E has announced a brand design competition to refresh the its visual identity for the growing CMU T&E community. Open to everyone, the competition closes on January 31, 2024
at midnight.
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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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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 VentureBridge program is an initiative of the Swartz Center exclusively focused on helping Carnegie Mellon alumni founders succeed in their entrepreneurial ventures. The program provides seed funding, office space, access to a large network of mentors and innovators and help with startup growth and future larger scale fundraising rounds. 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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