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Announcing the Challenge Grant for the
Dave Mawhinney Endowed Legacy Fund!
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John Levinson ‘MSIA '80, founder of Westway Capital LLC, has graciously created a $50K challenge, matching gifts on a 1:1 basis with a maximum of $10K matched in support of the Dave Mawhinney Founders Legacy Fund.
The Swartz Center and CMU would like to thank the Cannupa Foundation (John Levinson, MSIA '80) for their generous support of this new endowed fund.
With the Dave Mawhinney Founders First Endowed Legacy Fund, we honor the legacy of Dave by embodying his unwavering commitment to putting founders first—providing not just capital, but the deep support, mentorship and ecosystem that empowers visionary entrepreneurs to realize their
boldest ambitions.
Just as Dave observes that exceptional founders are the bedrock of groundbreaking companies, the Dave Mawhinney Founders First Endowed Legacy Fund will provide pre-seed or seed stage grants to CMU startups that demonstrate remarkable potential, resilience, vision and commitment to the Pittsburgh region.
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McGinnis/Social Enterprise Prize ~ Round 1 Submission Deadline January 13!
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Calling All Current CMU Student Entrepreneurs!
Announcing the 2026 McGinnis Venture Competition
& Social Enterprise Prize
Applications are now open for the 2026 McGinnis Venture Competition and Social Enterprise Prize!
The McGinnis Venture Competition is a platform exclusively for Carnegie Mellon University’s global community of student entrepreneurs, bringing together the best and brightest to compete for $60K in investments. All participants receive coaching, valuable feedback and an opportunity to raise capital.
This multi-round competition begins with two virtual rounds and will culminate in a final live-round celebration on March 17, 2026.
Social Enterprise Prize/Hult Prize
Ready to create a company that makes an impact on the world's biggest challenges? The Swartz Center's Social Enterprise Prize is designed to empower students to develop entrepreneurial solutions for social and environmental challenges.
Path to the $1M Hult Prize!
Compete for a chance to automatically advance to the U.S. Nationals of the prestigious Hult Prize – the ultimate global competition for student social entrepreneurs!
Register for the next virtual Info Session!
Come learn about the 2026 McGinnis Venture Competition & Social Enterprise Prize. Find out important deadlines and details.
Wednesday, January 7, 2026
11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Register
Advanced registration required for the info sessions. Zoom details will be sent to registered attendees the day before the event.
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SoftBank, Nvidia Exploring Funding Round Valuing
Skild AI at $14B
SoftBank Group Corp. and Nvidia Corp. are exploring an investment of over $1B into Pittsburgh startup Skild.ai, valuing it at approximately $14B, according to reporting from Reuters. Skild.ai, founded by CMU professors Deepak Pathak and Abhinav Gupta, develops foundational artificial intelligence models designed to operate on most pre-existing robotics.
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2025-27 Swartz Fellows and Innovation Scholars Participate in Pitch and Pizza Day for Final Proseminar of the Semester
Last Friday, the current batch of graduate James R. Swartz Entrepreneurial Fellows and undergraduate Innovation Scholars pitched their startups in one minute, while enjoying pizza for the last Proseminar of the semester ahead of finals and the holiday break.
The next time the students will get together will be during the upcoming Entrepreneurship Trek, which will take place the week of January 5, 2026 in California's Silicon Valley. Each of the 24-26 students will visit various CMU alumni founders and local venture capital firms such as Accel Partners, Pear VC and CRV Ventures, as well as the CMU Silicon Valley campus. The students will also attend networking events, one of which will be hosted by Accel Partners, which will include alumni Swartz Fellows and Innovation Scholars from all years.
The Friday Proseminars will resume on campus after the start of the Spring semester.
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| Bridging Discovery to Clinic: How AI and Digital Technologies
Are Transforming Therapeutics
Date: Sunday, January 11, 2026, 2-4 PM | PT
Location: San Francisco, CA
Are you innovating in biotech, pharma, medtech, or healthcare services—and heading to the 44th Annual J.P.M. Healthcare Conference in January?
Join the CMU Swartz Center for a special fireside chat on how AI and digital technologies are transforming drug discovery, reducing development risk and cost and opening new pathways from lab to clinic. Hear from founders, researchers and investors at the forefront of this shift.
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Apply for the Spring 2026 CSL Project Course!
Applications for enrollment in the CSL Project Course are open. Open to any Carnegie Mellon University Graduate student located in Pittsburgh. Acceptance into the course will be based on a completed application and interview with a course instructor on a rolling basis.
Find out more about the CSL Project course.
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Apply to the LifeX Accelerator by January 26, 2026!
Find out more here.
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| CONNECTS/START SMART LAW 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 have ended for the Fall semester and will resume in the Spring.
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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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Microsoft for Startups is a digital platform that provides free access to the latest AI tools and 1:1 guidance from experts to help founders solve challenges as they grow their business. We provide the right resources at the right time in a startup’s journey so founders can build faster and dream bigger.
Sign up for Microsoft for Startups!
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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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