First Downs and Founders
Kicking off the college football season by highlighting university entrepreneurship programs in the southeast
🏈 To celebrate College Colors Day and a full slate of college football this weekend, we wanted to highlight some of the university entrepreneurship, startup, and venture programs at SEC and ACC schools in the southeast. These initiatives are helping educate and support the next generation of founders and operators, and contributing to the vibrancy of the startup and venture ecosystem in the region.
Southeastern Conference
🐘 University of Alabama: The Alabama Entrepreneurship Institute at UA offers support and incubator spaces on and off-campus to help participants hone and accelerate business ideas and spur the growth of innovation, and the business school offers an Entrepreneurship minor. The campus is also home to the Techstars WaterTech & Sustainability Accelerator, focused on supporting and advancing tech startups in water technology, sustainability, and hydrologic innovation.
🐗 University of Arkansas: Arkansas’ Department of Strategy, Entrepreneurship and Venture Innovation offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral programs for students who want to be tomorrow’s business, community, and academic innovators. Their graduate entrepreneurship program is ranked #1 in the SEC and among the best in the country. The school is also launching a new student-run Venture Capital Society this fall that will be collaborating with Tulsa- and Bentonville-based 46VC.
🐅 Auburn University: Auburn offers several relevant educational programs, including an Entrepreneurship and Family Business Minor and a PhD in Business Management. The school also hosts the New Venture Accelerator, jointly managed by the Harbert College of Business and the Auburn Research and Technology Foundation, which assists student-entrepreneurs, faculty and staff start-ups, and early-stage commercial ventures with their business ideas and development.
🐊 University of Florida: The UF Innovate organization bridges together the university’s Tech Licensing capabilities, its $2M venture fund, its Hub and Sid Martin Biotech accelerator programs, and its various training pathways. The org has generated $10B+ in private and investment and launched 300+ startups via tech licensing. The school’s Entrepreneurship and innovation Center also offers an MS in entrepreneurship, and undergraduate and graduate minors in entrepreneurship.
🐾 University of Georgia: The UGA Entrepreneurship Program is a collaborative, campus-wide initiative serving the University of Georgia and the broader community. The program brings together a number of exciting opportunities, including the Launch Pad residential community for aspiring entrepreneurs, the four-week Idea Accelerator “business boot camp”, the student-managed Georgia Kickstart Fund for seed funding, and the Build Test Accelerator, in addition to other events and programming.
😺 University of Kentucky: The Von Allmen Center for Entrepreneurship offers a wide swath of programming to support business creation at UK, including the Entrepreneurs Bootcamp business accelerator. The university also offers a graduate-level entrepreneurship and new venture creation concentration within its MBA program, covering topics such as new venture finance, IP management, and other critical info.
🐯 Louisiana State University: LSU’s Stephenson Department of Entrepreneurship & Information Systems offers a BS in Entrepreneurship, and manages the Stephens Entrepreneurship Institute - the latter of which offers the J Terrell Brown Venture Challenge, Startup Weekend, Bootcamp for Entrepreneurs, and other programs for students and the community. The campus’s Mark and Judy Weaver Ideation Lab offers space for students running or starting a business, and includes 3D printers and other resources.
🦈 University of Mississippi: Ole Miss’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship offers major and minor degree programs, hosts competitions and experiential learning opportunities, and fosters research and collaboration on the topic. The Rebel Student Venture fund is an alumni-established non-profit entity created to financially support student start-up business with seed money grants.
🔔 Mississippi State: Mississippi State’s Center for Entrepreneurship & Outreach offers a minor in Entrepreneurship, hosts the schools eClub (Entrepreneurship Club), and runs the VentureCatalyst program, which serves as an on-campus accelerator for students and faculty. The Center also facilitates the National Science Foundation I-Corps Site program which provides training to learn the fundamentals of building business models, along with travel funds, and access to follow-on grants from the NSF in excess of $1M.
🐓 University of South Carolina: USC’s Darla Moore School of Business offers a BS in management with a concentration in entrepreneurship, and hosts the Farber Center for Entrepreneurship, which promotes experiential learning through in-depth consulting projects as part of student course work. The school also supports the USC Columbia Technology Incubator, the South Carolina Small Business Development Center, and the McNair Institute for Entrepreneurism and Free Enterprise.
🟠 University of Tennessee: UT is home to the Anderson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, which offers an undergraduate entrepreneurship minor, a startup coach/entrepreneur-in-residence program, and the 10-week Startup Studio for UT students and alums. The school also hosts various events promoting entrepreneurship and new venture creation, including its Meet the Founders Series, the Vol Court Speaker Series & Pitch Competition, and the Boyd Venture Challenge.
⚓ Vanderbilt University: Vanderbilt has robust offerings for entrepreneurs, highlighted by the Wond’ry, which offers resources for faculty, students, staff, and alums from Nashville-area colleges and universities who are interested in learning how to grow a venture from the ground up. Programming includes the Sullivan Family Ideator, the Builder Program, the Founder Program, the Lighting Accelerator. The Owen Graduate School of Management also includes a Center for Entrepreneurship, and the Vanderbilt Technology Transfer Office hosts the VentureStudio to help commercialize Vanderbilt-based innovations.
Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, and Mizzou also offer great resources and programming but sit just outside of our Build In SE regional focus.
Atlantic Coast Conference
🐯 Clemson University: The Arthur M. Spiro Institute for Entrepreneurial Leadership at Clemson offers entrepreneurship minors and certificates. Clemson also runs the Brook T. Smith Launchpad, which offers space and programming for students, faculty, and staff interested in starting and growing business. Additionally, the university hosts the Clemson University Entrepreneurship Society and runs The DEN (Design & Entrepreneurship Network), a student-led leadership team and incubator program to help students hone innovation and entrepreneurship skills.
😈 Duke University: Duke's entrepreneurship ecosystem is centered around the Duke Innovation & Entrepreneurship initiative. The program offers a Certificate in Innovation & Entrepreneurship, hosts the Duke Startup Challenge, Startup Showcase, and Fuqua Fast Pitch, and provides resources through the Bullpen, a co-working space for Duke-affiliated startups. It also runs multiple funding programs through Duke Capital Partners, the MedBlue Incubator, Co-Lab Innovation Grants, and Duke Student Startup Funding. The Fuqua School of Business also offers an MBA concentration in entrepreneurship and innovation, while the Christensen Family Center for Innovation supports technology ventures from the engineering program.
🍢 Florida State University: FSU's Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship, the nation's first stand-alone entrepreneurship college, offers various degree programs in entrepreneurship. The university also runs the InNOLEvation Center and the Blackstone Launchpad, both of which provide resources and mentorship for entrepreneurs.
🐝 Georgia Tech University: Georgia Tech offers a wide range of entrepreneurship support. Its CREATE-X program includes a comprehensive suite of entrepreneurship initiatives, such as Startup Launch, an incubator program, and a Demo Day program. The university's Scheller College of Business offers an MBA concentration in technology entrepreneurship. Georgia Tech also hosts the Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC), one of the longest-running technology incubators in the country, and the VentureLab, designed to enable tech transfer for entrepreneurship.
🐦 University of Louisville: UofL's Forcht Center for Entrepreneurship offers entrepreneurship majors and minors. The university runs the LaunchIt program, a 10-week accelerator for early-stage startups, and hosts the Louisville Entrepreneurship Acceleration Partnership (LEAP) to foster regional entrepreneurship. UofL also hosts a number of entrepreneurs-in-residence that work on guiding research-backed inventions to market within the Office of Research and Innovation.
🙌 University of Miami: The Launch Pad at the University of Miami offers mentorship, funding opportunities, and workspace for student entrepreneurs - including the Women Making Moves program, the MVP Showcase, the Hurricane Innovation Prize, and more. The university's Miami Herbert Business School also offers an entrepreneurship major and hosts the annual Business Plan Competition, in addition to weekly Pitch Labs and other workshops.
🐏 University of North Carolina: UNC’s Innovate Carolina program includes a wide range of resources for entrepreneurs, including the Launch Chapel Hill accelerator program, the 1789 workspace and Venture Fund, KickStart Venture Services, the Venture Catalyst program, and the Carolina Angel Network. Additionally, Kenan-Flagler Business School houses the Entrepreneurship Center, which offers a concentration in entrepreneurship for MBA students and runs the Adams Apprenticeship program.
🐺 North Carolina State University: NC State hosts the Entrepreneurship Garage, a 10,000-square-foot, 24/7 venture creation and prototyping space designed for student entrepreneurs. The school also hosts the LaunchPad incubator program, the Miller Fellowship (which supports new grads pursuing their venture full-time after graduation), the Social Innovation Fellows program, and the eClinic, which provides pro-bono legal services to startups.
🎩 Wake Forest University: The Center for Entrepreneurship at Wake Forest offers entrepreneurship-focused majors and minors. The university runs the Deacon Springboard, a community and mentorship program to help student entrepreneurs, and hosts Startup Lab, an incubator and seed funding program.
⚔️ University of Virginia: Last year, UVA announced a pan-university entrepreneurship initiative, supported by over 75 entrepreneurship courses, 40+ faculty and staff, 20+ “maker spaces”, and more. UVA's Batten Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, part of the Darden School of Business, offers various programs including the i.Lab incubator and the Venture Capital Initiative. The university also hosts the Galant Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, which provides entrepreneurship education across disciplines.
🦃 Virginia Tech: Virginia Tech's Apex Center for Entrepreneurs offers programs like the Startup Hokies Incubator, KickStart VT, entrepreneur-in-residence programs, and Venture Builder’s Workshops. VT’s Corporate Research Center offers a wide range of flexible lab space for startups, seed companies, and entrepreneurs, and is an exciting hub for biotech, autonomous tech, aerospace and defense, software and cybertech, and other tech clusters.
This list also does not include great programs at non-southeast schools in the ACC, like Boston College, Pitt, Syracuse, and new additions Cal, Stanford, and SMU.
This only represents a snippet of the university offerings in the Southeast supporting entrepreneurship and new ventures.
What other universities and programs are helping shape the next generation of founders and startups in the region? Comment below, or reach out and let us know!