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Calling ALL Current CMU Student Entrepreneurs!
Registration opens today for the 2025 McGinnis Venture Competition, a platform exclusively for Carnegie Mellon University's community of student entrepreneurs. This competition brings together Carnegie Mellon's best and brightest student entrepreneurs to compete for $60K in investments. All participants receive crucial interaction with alumni entrepreneurs and venture capitalists, an opportunity to raise capital and valuable feedback about ventures.
New this year: Social Enterprise Prize Track!
Ready to create a company that makes an impact on the world's biggest challenges? The Swartz Center Social Enterprise Prize is a new competition at Carnegie Mellon University designed to empower students to develop entrepreneurial solutions for social and environmental challenges.
Learn more about the competition and hear from previous participants at an info session:
Info Session - November 6
Register
Info Session - January 8
Register
Register your team by December 3 to receive a coach!
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Announcing the 2024-26 James R. Swartz Entrepreneurial Fellows Cohort!
At the annual induction ceremony hosted at the CMU Swartz Center last Friday, twelve first year graduate students from across campus were inducted into the newest cohort of James R. Swartz Entrepreneurial Fellows. The students, having exemplified a passion for entrepreneurship and demonstrating consistent involvement in entrepreneurial activities on campus, accepted the offer to become a Swartz Fellow after a rigorous application process, which ended on October 13, 2024.
Also participating in the induction were the undergraduate Innovation Scholars, who joined the 2024-26 cohort back in the Spring, and five Innovation Commercialization Fellows, which is a program that accelerates the process of commercializing university research aiming to foster entrepreneurship among graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and research assistants.
The new Swartz Fellows are (in order of above photo):
Maitreyi Agarwal, Engineering/Design/Tepper School of Business (III)
Miguel Almeida, MS in Artificial Intelligence and Innovation, School of Computer Science
Dr. Shubhaa Chawla, Engineering/Design/Tepper School of Business (III)
Anthony Edwards, Tepper School of Business
Gweneth Ge, School of Computer Science
Ashwini Karanth, Tepper School of Business
Aimee Langevin, MS in Artificial Intelligence and Innovation, School of Computer Science
Eagle Lo, Master's in Computational Data Science, School of Computer Science
Abhishek Mathur, School of Computer Science
Shiv Panjwani, Tepper School of Business
Sapna Rohra, Engineering/Design, Tepper School of Business (III)
Michael Shang, Master of Software Engineering, School of Computer Science/Tepper School
of Business
Find out more about the new Swartz Fellows here.
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Carnegie Mellon University alumnus and Accel founder Jim Swartz, who makes the Swartz Fellows program possible, attended the induction event virtually to welcome each of the new students and encourage them on their entreprenerial journeys.
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The Swartz Center Hosts Samsung NEXT/Radical Ventures Event: Pushing the Frontiers of AI and ML
On Tuesday, October 29, the CMU Swartz Center hosted Samsung NEXT and Radical Ventures for a private event featuring investors, founders, students and academics for a conversation about the latest advancements in AI/ML, and bridging the gap between cutting-edge research and practical applications. Samsung NEXT is one of the industries most active investors, and they are eager to invest in CMU companies.
The talk was moderated by Diane Choi, Investor at Samsung NEXT, and the panelists included:
• Tianqi Chen, Assistant Professor at CMU in the Machine Learning and Computer Science departments; Chief Technologist at OctoML;
• Matt Fredrikson, Associate Professor at CMU, School of Computer Science; Member of CyLab; CEO of Gray Swan
• Vyas Sekar, Tan Family Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, ECE Department at CMU; co-founder and Chief Technologist at Rockfish Data; Chief Scientist at Conviva.
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Gather AI Partners with Indiana-based Nonprofit to Aid Visually Impaired Warehouse Workers
Warehouse management startup Gather AI announced its partnership with Bosma Enterprises, a nonprofit organization and the state of Indiana's largest employer of blind or visually impaired workers. Gather AI utilizes artificial intelligence software-powered autonomous drones to fly through warehouses and analyze items through image recognition.
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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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| Marinus Analytics Takes Second Place and $400K Investment
Another Carnegie Mellon University startup to win funding from the R.K. Mellon Foundation's recent Social-Impact Pitch Competition, was Marinus Analytics, taking second place at $400K investment. Marinus Analytics is an artificial intelligence company developing technology to help public-safety professionals to disrupt human trafficking, child abuse and cyber fraud.
Additional CMU startup awardees will be featured in subsequent editions of the Weekly Bulletin.
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Hack-A-Startup Starts This Weekend!
Hack-A-Startup, co-organized by CMU's GEC, UEA and Scottie Ventures clubs, unites students from all disciplines to develop and pitch startup ideas in a fast-paced, two-week competition. This event focuses 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 $3K in prize funds and receive direct feedback from real investors.
The kick-off weekend is on November 2-3, 2024 and all CMU students are welcome to join.
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|  | Swartz Fellows pictured from left: Jordan Tab, Nate Patterson, Miguel Almeida, Eagle Lo, Ruben Quesada, Sarvesh Karkhanis and Olivia Wu
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Swartz Fellows Takeover TechCrunch Disrupt 2024!
Several James R. Swartz Fellows from various cohorts attended the TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 event in San Francisco on October 28-30, 2024.
TechCrunch Disrupt allows you to get your startup in front of 10,000 tech leaders, gain actionable insights from top VCs, network with other founders, and learn how to scale your operations to the next level. Disrupt offers unparalleled resources, connections, and expert insights to propel your venture forward.
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CMU's Undergraduate Entrepreneurshp Association (UEA)
Paints the Fence!
Carnegie Mellon University's UEA took over the Fence on Sunday, October 27.
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As part of a research study through the NSF I-Corps Hub, we are recruiting participants to play an online simulation game called The Incubator. The Incubator is designed for participants to explore the decisions involved in building a successful startup, like customer discovery, securing funding, and product design. Participants will need to complete a pre-study survey that takes 10-15 minutes and the game itself lasts 15 minutes.
Recruiting is open to those who identify as startup company founders both from and external to the NSF I-Corps program. Your participation in the study would be appreciated.
Please visit the direct link to the survey and simulation. Direct questions related to the study to Cynthia Letting.
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CMU Students! Apply By November 22, 2024
The Hult Prize On Campus program serves as the first phase of the annual US $1,000,000 Hult Prize competition. Student volunteers, known as Campus Directors, organize training programs and community events at their universities focused on the Hult Prize challenge of the Year.
Email Leah Lizarondo if interested and for more information.
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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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|  11/6
REGISTER
Avoiding Mentor Whiplash: How to Manage Conflicting Advice (Jim Jen, CSL Director, CMU Faculty, Swartz
Center EIR)
| |  11/7
REGISTER
How to Win Friends and Influence Judges: The Lost Art of the Question and Answer Experience
(Adam Paulisick, CEO at Skillbuilder.io,
CMU Faculty)
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REGISTER
START SMART LAW: How to Form Your Startup Company, Part 2: Workshop (David Lehman, K&L Gates; Stephanie Dangel, Pitt Law School)
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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
PwC
PwC: Building trust for today and tomorrow.
Our purpose—to build trust in society and solve important problems—is at the core of everything we do. It guides how we serve our clients, our people and the world. To help our clients build trust and deliver sustained outcomes, PwC provides professional services across two segments: Trust Solutions and Consulting Solutions. Within these segments we bring a range of capabilities to help organizations solve faster, solve more and realize more value. These capabilities include cloud and digital, deals, ESG, cybersecurity and privacy, governance/boards, risk, transformation, tax services and more. Across our global network of over 295K professionals in 156 countries, we are committed to advancing quality in everything we do.
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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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