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|  | Simon Kalouche, founder and CEO of Nimble
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Unicorn Startup Nimble Closes $106M Series C Funding Round, Scales Fully Autonomous Fulfillment with Fedex
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| Nimble, a pioneering AI robotics and autonomous e-commerce fulfillment technology company founded by CMU alumnus and CEO Simon Kalouche, has announced the successful closure of a $106M Series C funding round, elevating the company to a $1B valuation. The funding round was led by FedEx and co-led by existing shareholder Cedar Pine LLC. As part of their strategic alliance, FedEx has entered into a commercial agreement to scale its FedEx Fulfillment service using Nimble's technology and fully autonomous 3PL model.
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R.K. Mellon Foundation Awards Combined $1.4M
to Four CMU Startups at Social-Impact Pitch Competition
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| People's Energy Analytics Takes First Place and $500K Investment
One of four Carnegie Mellon University startups to win funding from the R.K. Mellon Foundation's recent Social-Impact Pitch Competition, People's Energy Analytics took first place, winning a $500K investment. Dr. Destenie Nock, Founder and CEO and CMU Assistant Professor of Engineering, said, “At Peoples Energy Analytics we have shown that helping people pay their energy bills is good for business in the energy utility sector. While we have gained traction in Pittsburgh and the Southeast, this investment will be integral in scaling our impact across the nation.”
Additional CMU startup awardees will be featured in subsequent editions of the Weekly Bulletin.
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Innovation Scholar Matthew Coyle Named UAA Athlete
of the Week
Carnegie Mellon University senior Matthew Coyle, also a 2023-25 Innovation Scholar, was named University Athletic Association (UAA) Men's Cross Country Athlete of the Week following his performance at the SUNY Geneseo Mike Woods Invitational this past Saturday.
Coyle led the Tartans to a third place showing at the 20-team Mike Woods Invitational.
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LegalSifter Acquires Contract Management Solutions Firm
CMU founded LegalSifter, a local tech firm whose artificial intelligence-powered software reviews and creates contracts, has announced it has acquired Contract Logix, a Lowell, Massachusetts-based company that provides data analysis-driven contract management solutions. LegalSifter's AI technology allows companies to sift through documents faster as the tech is capable of organizing data from documents more efficiently than humans can manually.
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Get Ready for Hack-A-Startup, November 2-3!
Amanda Manget (Swartz Fellow), Daniela Decoud, and Nisarg Doshi from the MIIPS program and the Graduate Entrepreneurship Club (GEC) are co-directors for this year's Hack-A-Startup event. Co-organized by the GEC, UEA and Scottie Ventures clubs, Hack-a-Startup unites students from all disciplines to develop and pitch startup ideas in a fast-paced, two-week competition.
What sets Hack-a-Startup apart is its focus on accelerated customer discovery and business validation through hands-on mentorship from founders and industry leaders. Participants also have the chance to compete for over $3,000 in prize funds and receive direct feedback from real investors.
The kick-off weekend takes place November 2-3, 2024 and all CMU students are welcome to join.
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Building The #1 Fitness App Talk
Date: Monday, October 28, 2024
Time: 6-7 PM | ET
Location: Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship, Tepper Quad, 3rd Floor
Join the CMU Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Association for a special talk with CMU alumnus Matt Spettel, founder and CEO of Trainwell!
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Join the Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship, Project Olympus and Samsung Next and Radical Ventures on October 29, 2024 for an exclusive event bringing together investors, founders and academics to explore cutting-edge AI/ML topics, including on-device AI, agent/action models and synthetic data. Speakers include Tianqi Chen (OctoML), Matt Fredrikson (Gray Swan) and Vyas Sekar from Carnegie Mellon University, who will discuss the practical applications of their research in real-world settings.
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Fireside Chat with Rohyt Belani and Mirza Baig
Date: Thursday, November 14, 2024
Time: 12:30 - 1:30 PM | ET
Location: Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship, Tepper Quad, 4765 Forbes Avenue, Pgh, PA 15213
Hot startups are often pursued zealously by multiple venture capitalists. The entrepreneur, in this case, has a difficult decision to make on choosing their partner. This fireside chat is with one such investor-entrepreneur pair that navigated and nurtured their relationship with care and respect. The outcome— a bumper 5x money on invested capital in three years.
Mirza Baig (the VC) and Rohyt Belani (the entrepreneur). The pair will discuss why they each chose to work with one another, how they navigated challenging times together and where they are now
in the relationship.
Sponsored by: Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship, Graduate Entrepreneurship Club, Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Association and Scottie Ventures.
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Business Owner Workshop: Personal Transition Planning
To Exit On Your Terms
Date: November 21, 2024
Time: 11:30 am - 3:00 PM | ET
Location: Pittsburgh Marriott City Center, 112 Washington Place
Join nationally recognized business transition expert, Laurie Barkman for an interactive workshop exploring the practical and emotional aspects of business transition and how to avoid exit regrets.
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| CONNECTS/START SMART LAW SEMINARS
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|  10/29
REGISTER
Pitch with Production Value (Brian Staszel, Multimedia Designer/Video Director, CMU)
| |  10/30
REGISTER
Non-profit Finance and Funding
(Leah Lizarondo, CMU Swartz Center and Kimberly McCormick, McCormick Group)
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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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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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| Click the images to see upcoming Club events!
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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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| PATRON SPOTLIGHT
Goodwin
Goodwin is a full service law firm with practice areas and expertise specifically tailored to represent startup companies in all of their legal needs, including IP, corporate, employment, contracts, transactions, litigation and much more. The Firm has put in place special startup-friendly pricing packages uniquely designed for Carnegie Mellon University companies.
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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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