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| IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS & DEADLINES!
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Fireside Chat ~ It's A Business, Not an App
Lessons Learned
Date: Friday, March 13, 2026
Time: 12-1 PM | ET
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| Join us at the Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship for a special Fireside Chat with Tris Jahanian and Martha Harty, edtech startup co-founders of Martris.
As a part of this talk, Tris and Martha will be sharing key lessons from their journey on navigating early-stage challenges from funding and partnerships to operations and Go-to-Market strategy.
Lunch will be provided to all registered attendees.
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| Apply by Friday, February 20!
The Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship is excited to launch the CMU Deep Tech Venture-Ready Program—a new, selective, 6-month cohort program built for CMU researchers who want to understand how deep-tech companies are formed and funded.
This program will combine VC-led lectures, hands-on workshops and peer learning, culminating in a live Investment Committee simulation where investors will run diligence and debate funding decisions on your company.
The program will be conducted in person at the CMU Swartz Center in Pittsburgh, in partnership with Alpha Intelligence Capital, with a final Investment Committee simulation in New York City (travel stipend available upon successful completion of the program).
Program dates: February - June 2026 | Cohort <20
You’ll learn:
• How VCs evaluate technical risk
• Which early milestones truly matter
• How research becomes an investable company
If you are a CMU Faculty, PostDoc, Graduate student, or alumni working on a deep tech idea, this program is for you.
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Apply to the Tartan Entrepreneurs Fund 2026!
The CMU Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship is proud to support our Pittsburgh based full time alumni and faculty founders building startups with unicorn potential through our Tartan Entrepreneurs Fund.
Through this program, startup founders will receive $100K in funding over two years, mentorship, guidance and opportunities to engage with other later stage founders.
Who should apply:
Full-time CMU Alumni or Faculty founders building startups in Pittsburgh, PA with existing traction and targeting a significantly large market.
Want to learn more? Register for the info session on Wednesday, March 11, 2026 at 2 PM ET.
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McGinnis Venture Competition & Social Enterprise Prize Final Round Celebration ~ Tuesday, March 17!
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Join us as we celebrate the McGinnis Venture Competition & Social Enterprise Prize Final Round Celebration on March 17! Help cheer on the final round graduate and undergraduate teams to victory and attend the award ceremony and networking reception. Enjoy opening remarks from Pittsburgh Mayor Corey O’Connor, County Executive Sara Innamorato, and U.S. Senator Dave McCormick.
NEW THIS YEAR! We are excited to introduce a new prize structure totaling over $125K! See the prize breakdown here.
Tuesday, March 17, 2026
2:00 - 4:45 p.m. | Final Round Team Pitches
5:00 - 6:30 p.m. | Award Ceremony & Networking Reception
Where to go:
Final Round Team Pitches
Carnegie Mellon University
McConomy Auditorium
Jared L. Cohon University Center, 1st Floor
5000 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Award Ceremony & Networking Reception
Carnegie Mellon University
Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship
Tepper Quad, 3rd Level
4765 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Visitor parking information found here.
**Win a pair of AirPods! Register & attend the Final Round Team Pitches in person where three pairs of Airpods will be raffled off at the event by Dentons. You must be present to win!**
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|  | Lab to Market participants at Pear VC in San Francisco, CA
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The CMU Swartz Center Strengthened CMU’s Silicon Valley Connections at Lab to Market Investor Summit
Carnegie Mellon University tightened its connection to Silicon Valley by hosting a tech investor showcase in San Francisco, CA last Wednesday.
CMU’s Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship brought together entrepreneurs and high-powered venture capitalists to meet and exchange insights with CMU professors and researchers at Swartz’s exclusive Lab to Market Spring 2026 event on February 11, 2026, held at Pear VC. The Summit began with entrepreneurial inspiration in the form of a keynote conversation with Aravind Srinivas, co-founder and CEO of Perplexity—the breakthrough AI search engine company valued last September at $20B. Speaking to Sameer Gandhi—partner at renowned VC firm Accel, founded by CMU alumnus Jim Swartz, Srinivas told the audience of about 250 people that tech success comes with pain and paranoia.
The day was a combination of real talk about Silicon Valley’s interest in the next big thing and a chance for Carnegie Mellon faculty and students with tech startup companies or startup ambitions to show their innovative ideas, share learnings and make important connections. The focus was on two areas of innovation now obsessing the tech world: AI and physical AI (otherwise known as robotics). The Pittsburgh campus is the birthplace of both artificial intelligence and autonomous vehicle technology, and the results of such cutting-edge research were obvious to Lab to Market participants.
Special thank you to the event sponsors: Pear VC, Accel, J.P. Morgan, Pillsbury, Citizens Private Bank, Mar Hershenson, Arash Afrakhteh, Sameer Gandhi, Stephanie Tucker, Matt Kirmayer and Alex Kearns.
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|  | Meredith Meyer Grelli, Managing Director and Interim Executive Director, Swartz Center with Isabelle Bajeux Besnainou, Dean, Tepper School of Business and Arvind Gupta, Partner, Mayfield
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|  | Martial Hebert, Dean, CMU School of Computer Science
| |  | Sameer Ghandi, Partner, Accel and Aravind Srinivas, Co-founder, President & CEO, Perplexity
| |  | Kevin Peterson, CMU alumnus & Co-founder, Bedrock Robotics
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| CMU Spinoff Efficient Computer Raises $60M
Series A Round
Efficient Computer, founded in 2023 by a team of researchers, professors and alumni from Carnegie Mellon University, has announced it has raised $60M in a Series A round, led by New York City and Bay Area investment group Triatomic Capital.
The company has developed a general purpose computer processor that it says is approximately 100 times more energy-efficient than leading processors on the market. It was also named a Startup to Watch by the Pittsburgh Business Times in 2024.
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Trainwell Partners with Peloton Interactive
Trainwell, a 2019 VentureBridge company, recently announced its biggest launch in its history, Peloton Interactive's Personal Trainer, powered by Trainwell,
The company's CEO and co-founder Matt Spettel—also an Innovation Scholar alumnus—shared in a LinkedIn post, "We’re creating what we believe is the most comprehensive, virtual personal training experience in the market by fusing Peloton’s incredible magic formula of premium equipment, intuitive software and expert human instructors with Trainwell’s deep personalization and human accountability. Our trainers onboard every client face-to-face, hand-craft plans that combine Peloton’s strength, cardio and recovery class content while holding clients accountable through consistent communication and check-ins".
Join the waitlist to get in on the action!
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|  | Cole Biehle (right) representing Analogical Engines at the 3RVF
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CMU Team Takes Second Place and $2K at the
3 Rivers Venture Fair
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Carnegie Mellon University Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) Professor Niki Kittur and HCI Post Doctoral Fellow Vikram Mohanty (PhD Innovation & Commercialization Fellow), recently won second place and received $2K for their company, Analogical Engines, at the 3 Rivers Venture Fair (3RVF) hosted by the PIttsburgh Venture Capital Association (PVCA) on February 4-5, 2026.
The 3 Rivers Venture Fair (3RVF) is Pittsburgh's premier venture capital event, connecting high-growth startups with investors, corporate partners, and innovation leaders since 2002.
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| Carnegie Mellon Team Launches Startup, Looking for Users
A team from Carnegie Mellon University is currently building LaunchProd AI, a platform designed to help monetized content creators launch their own consumer products to sell directly to their audience. The team has years of experience launching products from scratch from sourcing, manufacturing, positioning and bringing them to market.
The team seeks to connect with creators who are already generating revenue (ads, sponsorships, courses, memberships, etc.) and are interested in launching physical or private-label products.
Learn more and join the early access waitlist!
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Family Entrepreneurship by Design (Not by Accident)
Featuring: Michael Bernstein, Managing Partner, Woodland Management and Partners Edge Fund ~ Board Chair, Tree of Life, Inc.
Thursday, March 12, 2026
12:00 - 1:00 p.m. EST
CMU Swartz Center, Tepper Quad, 3rd Floor, 4765 Forbes Ave.
Join us for the next Family Business event featuring Michael Bernstein, Managing Partner of Woodland Management, his family’s investment and family office which Michael has led since 2015. Michael is also the General Partner of Partners Edge Funds, a private equity and venture-focused investment fund launched in 2022, for which Michael oversees the Fund’s investment committee and sits on several portfolio companies’ Boards.
Prior to Woodland Management, Michael served as CEO of Polyconcept, a leading global supplier of Promotional Merchandise where he led the growth of Polyconcept from a small, family-owned business in 1992 into a global leader with annual sales close to $1B.
Lunch will be provided. Open to the public!
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Date: February 25, 2026
Time: 4-6 PM | ET
RSVP to: jaimel@swanko.com
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| Special Talk: Financial Tools for Tech Business
Startups and Beyond
Hosted by Financial Executive International Pittsburgh
Date: Tuesday, March 10, 2026
Time: 12:30 - 1:30 p.m. EST
Location: Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship, Tepper School of Business, 4765 Forbes Avenue, 3rd Floor
Learn crucial financial knowledge that will help your startup businesses and growing businesses. Speakers will include Chrissy O' Hara, CFO and Ben Taylor, Owner, from SoftLedger, as well as a Q&A panel from FEI.
FEI Pittsburgh Panel Guests:
-Joshua Bergman, CPA, CGMA
-Matt Cheyne (HIKE2 & formerly with Amazon)
-Jennifer Dittmar (Powercast Corp.)
-Mary Margaret Shangraw, CPA (Catalyst Connection)
Moderator:
-K. Battle-Yonek, MBA ( FEI Pittsburgh Board Director & Mentoring Committee)
This event is hosted by Financial Executives International Pittsburgh - The Mentoring Committee.
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Search, Buy, Build: Entrepreneurship Through
Acquisition (ETA) Seminar
Date: Saturday, March 14, 2026
Location: Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship, Tepper School of Business, 4765 Forbes Avenue, 3rd Floor
Join us for this curated and practical intensive for professionals ready to acquire and operate their own business. This seminar is built for anyone interested in learning how to acquire and run a small business. You will accelerate your path into ETA through panel conversations with experienced acquirers, investors and acquisition experts.
Led by Chris Cynkar and Len Caric, the audience will learn the key phases of the acquisition process and hear about searchers’ real-world experiences, get advice from experts in the field and engage in candid discussions about key acquisition topics.
For questions, reach out to Timothy Watts at timothy.watts@scottiefetch.com.
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| Pear VC is coming to CMU | Wednesday, March 18!
Pear VC is a pre-seed and seed-stage VC firm that was an early backer of DoorDash, Dropbox, Gusto, Vanta, Listen Labs and more. Pear typically invests pre-traction and go deep on company-building: GTM, hiring, fundraising, etc.
PearX, their exclusive small-batch accelerator program, provides funding of $500K-$2M, office space in the heart of SF and hands-on mentorship from their Partners, who have started and sold over a dozen companies.
Reach out to jiyag@andrew.cmu.edu with any questions!
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CMU Energy Week | March 17-20!
The Scott Institute for Energy Innovation at Carnegie Mellon University would like to extend a personal invitation to you to be a part of our energy innovation ecosystem by participating in CMU Energy Week 2026, which will be held March 17-20, 2026, in CMU’s Cohon University Center.
With participation from academia, industry, and government leaders, the theme Reinventing the Grid for Our Electrified Future seizes on the momentum of innovation and research that surrounds the United States’ power grid as its infrastructure ages, contends with extreme weather events, and supports new energy demands from artificial intelligence and electrified buildings, vehicles, and factories.
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Applications are Open for the 2026-28 Undergraduate
Innovation Scholars Program!
The CMU Swartz Center has opened applications for the Undergraduate Innovation Scholars 2026-28 cohort.
This program is for any CMU undergraduate student founder who is actively building a startup, or plans to have a startup by the summer of 2026. The programs aim is to foster innovation and entrepreneurship and increase the number of successful startup companies initiated by or involving Carnegie Mellon University’s undergraduate students.
Innovation Scholars complete a two-year program integrating academic coursework, work experience at a startup company and networking and mentorship—given as well as received. Students are eligible to apply for a $6K stipend to work on their own startup over the summer of 2026.
Due to the competitive nature of the program, early applications are encouraged.
Attend a Virtual Info Session:
Wednesday, February 25 - 12:30 PM ET
Register
Wednesday, March 11 - 12:00 PM ET
Register
APPLICANTS MUST BE WORKING ON A STARTUP TO APPLY!
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| Apply for the CMU Investor Forum & Startup Pitch Showcase by Feb 27!
Join the Carnegie Mellon University Wilton E. Scott Institute for Energy Innovation at the CMU Investor Forum & Startup Pitch Showcase on Wednesday, March 18, which is part of CMU Energy Week 2026, March 17-20. The Forum is organized in partnership with the Resilient Energy Technology and Infrastructure (RETI) Consortium.
This is an opportunity for Energy and Cleantech companies from the Mid Atlantic and Midwest regions to meet one-on-one with many investors drawn from a national pool of those interested in this space.
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| Apply for 2026 VentureBridge Funding!
Are you a CMU Founder working full-time on your venture? Apply to VentureBridge (VB), CMU's pre-seed fund and flagship accelerator for founders building bold, technical companies.
Acceptance to VB provides funding, access to 1:1 support, founder roundtables, weekly talks with VCs and introductions to mentors and advisors.
Learn more and apply for funding for the 2026 cycle. Feel free to attend the next info session on
March 6th to hear from the team directly.
If you know a CMU Founder working on something exciting, let us know with this brief referral form!
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| CONNECTS/START SMART LEGAL SEMINARS
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| Can't make a CONNECTS? Watch on our YouTube channel.
See the full schedule and register for ALL of the seminars here!
The CONNECTS Seminars will resume in the Fall 2026 semester.
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**SPRING 2026 START SMART LEGAL SERIES (Virtual)**
ALL virtual sessions held at 5-6:15 PM | ET
February 24
Starting a Business with an F-1 Student Visa
March 24 & April 7
How to Structure Your Capital Raise | Part 2 Workshop
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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 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 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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