Columbia Entrepreneurship

Unpacking Product Market Fit with Mike Lewis
2023-07-19 12:30 - 13:30 UTC
Mike Lewis, General Partner at Enjoy the Work, will define Product Market Fit (PMF), a framework for seeking PMF, and provide tips on what to do if there remains a gap between customer, problem and solution.
RSVP Here

Rolling Admission: Columbia Startup Lab Uptown
2023-08-01
Columbia Startup Lab (CSL) Uptown provides a host of campus-wide programming, open working space, mentorship, and connection to other entrepreneurship nodes around the University for aspiring student founders currently enrolled at Columbia and Barnard. This is a way to onboard into the Columbia entrepreneurship ecosystem throughout the year.
Our on-campus programming is structured to catch students at 2 distinct points in the entrepreneurship journey: CSL: LEARN and CSL: INCUBATE.
Programming resumes in the Fall.
Read more and submit an application here.

Fundraising 101 for Startups with NY Angels
2023-08-02 12:00 - 14:00
Join Columbia Engineering to learn the basics about fundraising for startups with NY Angels’ Nikos Theodosopoulos, BS’84. This event is open to all schools and students campus-wide.
RSVP HERE
12:00 – 12:30 PM Lunch and Networking
Arrive early for lunch and network with entrepreneurs, students and mentors at the event.
12:30 – 1:45 PM Startup Fundraising
Explore the basics with an expert from NY Angels: fundraising, the recent trends, and approaching investors.
Why attend?

Support Columbia Entrepreneurs
Meet our Start Me Up Bootcamp teams
Connect with new and old friends!
Excellent opportunity to get started and learn about entrepreneurship at Columbia

Pitch HearstLab
2023-08-08
Calling all female founders! Apply to Pitch HearstLab, a pitch event for female founders in the US. Winner(s) will receive $100k in investment and 3 months of support from HearstLab, an investor in early-stage, women-led startups. Submit your application here by August 8th. Finalists will pitch live in San Antonio on October 18th.

Rolling Admission: Columbia Startup Lab Morningside
2023-09-01, 2023-10-01
Columbia Startup Lab (CSL) Morningside provides a host of campus-wide programming, open working space, mentorship, and connection to other entrepreneurship nodes around the University for aspiring student founders currently enrolled at Columbia and Barnard. This is a way to onboard into the Columbia entrepreneurship ecosystem throughout the year.
Our on-campus programming is structured to catch students at 2 distinct points in the entrepreneurship journey: CSL: LEARN and CSL: INCUBATE.
Read more and submit an application here.

Networking Happy Hour - ESG
2023-09-14 18:00 - 21:00
Calling all individuals interested in the venture space – entrepreneurs, founders, investors, venture capitalists – Join Columbia Venture Community for in-person networking happy hours on the 2nd Thursday of each month in 2023! For the second half of the year, join us for an exciting series of events happening on 8/10/23, 9/14/23, 10/12/23, 11/09/23, and 12/14/23 — each dedicated to exploring the forefront of innovation in specific industries. Mark your calendars and RSVP here!
Tickets are $12.98
9/14/23 – ESG
10/12/23 – BIOTECH
11/09/23 – WEB3
12/14/23 – ALL
Previous events:
6/8/23 – FINTECH
7/13/23 – AIl
8/10/23 – WOMEN FOUNDERS & INVESTORS
RSVP
Columbia Venture Community is pleased to invite you to a Networking and Social Event in support of our NYC venture community! Come out and join us for drinks and socializing with the goal of meeting and supporting the many entrepreneurs and investors in our community. This event is open to all. We look forward to seeing you there!
*Note: In order to attend and receive a drink ticket, you must register for this event each month!
All ticket sales are final. We primarily use ticketing to ensure the quality of events we continue to organize for you.
More about CVC: Columbia Venture Community is a network of more than 6,000+ Columbia alumni interested in all aspects of entrepreneurship and innovation. Founded in 2006, CVC has hosted more than 400 events around the world. Today, CVC hosts multiple global programs, in-person and virtual events, and an online community for members to share resources.

Deadline: Tamer Fund for Social Ventures
2023-09-15
The Tamer Fund for Social Ventures (TFSV) provides seed grants to nonprofit, for-profit, and hybrid early-stage Columbia University-affiliated social and environmental ventures. There are two deadlines for applications for the Tamer Fund for Social Ventures: the fall 2023 application deadline has been extended to September 15 at 11:59 p.m. ET, and the spring application deadline is March 1 at 11:59 p.m. ET. Funding will be made available to around seven ventures each year (three to four ventures each cycle).
Questions? Email tamersvfund@gmail.com.
Learn more and apply here.

Space Unavailable: CORE x 50 Years Event
2023-09-20 17:00 - 20:00

Networking Happy Hour - BioTech
2023-10-12 18:00 - 21:00
Calling all individuals interested in the venture space – entrepreneurs, founders, investors, venture capitalists – Join Columbia Venture Community for in-person networking happy hours on the 2nd Thursday of each month in 2023! For the second half of the year, join us for an exciting series of events happening on 8/10/23, 9/14/23, 10/12/23, 11/09/23, and 12/14/23 — each dedicated to exploring the forefront of innovation in specific industries. Mark your calendars and RSVP here!
Tickets are $12.98
10/12/23 – BIOTECH
11/09/23 – WEB3
12/14/23 – ALL
Previous events:
6/8/23 – FINTECH
7/13/23 – AIl
8/10/23 – WOMEN FOUNDERS & INVESTORS
9/14/23 – ESG
RSVP
Columbia Venture Community is pleased to invite you to a Networking and Social Event in support of our NYC venture community! Come out and join us for drinks and socializing with the goal of meeting and supporting the many entrepreneurs and investors in our community. This event is open to all. We look forward to seeing you there!
*Note: In order to attend and receive a drink ticket, you must register for this event each month!
All ticket sales are final. We primarily use ticketing to ensure the quality of events we continue to organize for you.
More about CVC: Columbia Venture Community is a network of more than 6,000+ Columbia alumni interested in all aspects of entrepreneurship and innovation. Founded in 2006, CVC has hosted more than 400 events around the world. Today, CVC hosts multiple global programs, in-person and virtual events, and an online community for members to share resources.

Rolling Admission: Columbia Startup Lab Uptown
2023-11-01, 2023-12-01, 2024-01-01, 2024-02-01, 2024-03-01
Columbia Startup Lab (CSL) Uptown provides a host of campus-wide programming, open working space, mentorship, and connection to other entrepreneurship nodes around the University for aspiring student founders currently enrolled at Columbia and Barnard. This is a way to onboard into the Columbia entrepreneurship ecosystem throughout the year.
Our on-campus programming is structured to catch students at 2 distinct points in the entrepreneurship journey: CSL: LEARN and CSL: INCUBATE.
Read more and submit an application here.

Networking Happy Hour - Web3
2023-11-09 18:00 - 21:00
Calling all individuals interested in the venture space – entrepreneurs, founders, investors, venture capitalists – Join Columbia Venture Community for in-person networking happy hours on the 2nd Thursday of each month in 2023! For the second half of the year, join us for an exciting series of events happening on 8/10/23, 9/14/23, 10/12/23, 11/09/23, and 12/14/23 — each dedicated to exploring the forefront of innovation in specific industries. Mark your calendars and RSVP here!
Tickets are $12.98
11/09/23 – WEB3
12/14/23 – ALL
Previous events:
6/8/23 – FINTECH
7/13/23 – AIl
8/10/23 – WOMEN FOUNDERS & INVESTORS
9/14/23 – ESG
10/12/23 – BIOTECH
RSVP
Columbia Venture Community is pleased to invite you to a Networking and Social Event in support of our NYC venture community! Come out and join us for drinks and socializing with the goal of meeting and supporting the many entrepreneurs and investors in our community. This event is open to all. We look forward to seeing you there!
*Note: In order to attend and receive a drink ticket, you must register for this event each month!
All ticket sales are final. We primarily use ticketing to ensure the quality of events we continue to organize for you.
More about CVC: Columbia Venture Community is a network of more than 6,000+ Columbia alumni interested in all aspects of entrepreneurship and innovation. Founded in 2006, CVC has hosted more than 400 events around the world. Today, CVC hosts multiple global programs, in-person and virtual events, and an online community for members to share resources.

Networking Happy Hour
2023-12-14 18:00 - 21:00
Calling all individuals interested in the venture space – entrepreneurs, founders, investors, venture capitalists – Join Columbia Venture Community for in-person networking happy hours on the 2nd Thursday of each month in 2023! For the second half of the year, join us for an exciting series of events happening on 8/10/23, 9/14/23, 10/12/23, 11/09/23, and 12/14/23 — each dedicated to exploring the forefront of innovation in specific industries. Mark your calendars and RSVP here!
Tickets are $12.98
12/14/23 – ALL industries
Previous events:
6/8/23 – FINTECH
7/13/23 – AIl
8/10/23 – WOMEN FOUNDERS & INVESTORS
9/14/23 – ESG
10/12/23 – BIOTECH
11/09/23 – WEB3
RSVP
Columbia Venture Community is pleased to invite you to a Networking and Social Event in support of our NYC venture community! Come out and join us for drinks and socializing with the goal of meeting and supporting the many entrepreneurs and investors in our community. This event is open to all. We look forward to seeing you there!
*Note: In order to attend and receive a drink ticket, you must register for this event each month!
All ticket sales are final. We primarily use ticketing to ensure the quality of events we continue to organize for you.
More about CVC: Columbia Venture Community is a network of more than 6,000+ Columbia alumni interested in all aspects of entrepreneurship and innovation. Founded in 2006, CVC has hosted more than 400 events around the world. Today, CVC hosts multiple global programs, in-person and virtual events, and an online community for members to share resources.

Deadline: Applications for the Tamer Fund for Social Ventures, Spring 2024
2024-01-11 08:00 - 17:00
APPLY HERE
Are you a nonprofit, for-profit, or hybrid early-stage social or environmental venture with  Columbia affiliation? Apply by March 1 for a chance to receive a seed grant of up to $25K!
This fund provides seed grants of up to $25K to nonprofit, for-profit, and hybrid early-stage social and environmental ventures. Ventures must be led by Columbia University students, alumni, faculty or researchers, or be advised and have significant involvement by Columbia University faculty or researchers. Tamer Fund seed grants will be made to approximately seven ventures each year.

Innovation Forum: Immigration and Entrepreneurship
2024-01-24 17:30 - 19:00
RSVP
Join Columbia Engineering for an open forum to learn more about entrepreneurship and network with the Columbia University startup community. You’ll hear from Columbia alumni and other experts on their experiences working in the field, how they’ve applied their Columbia experience in their careers, and more. This event will feature Megan Kludt, Partner at Curran, Berger & Kludt LLP, a boutique law firm specializing in all areas of immigration, including business, achievement, investment, family, and humanitarian bases for immigration status.

StartMe Up Bootcamp Winter 2024 Kickoff
2024-01-25
Apply here.
Join a select group of entrepreneurs for a two-week hybrid program designed to build your successful startup. The bootcamp introduces participants to the Lean Launchpad methodology and techniques to direct customer discovery through field interviews. Participants are required to conduct at least 20 customer interviews; attend online sessions and engage with other bootcamp teams and entrepreneurs. Teams “get out of the building” to learn from potential customers to determine if they are solving a real-world problem with a sizeable market opportunity. In addition to providing entrepreneurial training, this program helps students and researchers identify new ways to apply research to solve global challenges.
Faculty, staff, postdoctoral, graduate and undergraduate student researchers may apply with a team of one to three people. Applicants are expected to be available for all short-course sessions. Teams that successfully complete this bootcamp may become eligible to apply for the National Science Foundation’s I-Corps Teams program, which includes a $50,000 grant.
Winter 2024 Bootcamp Dates
Kickoff Day 1 | January 25, 9:30 AM – 12:00 PM
Kickoff Day 2 | January 26, 9:30 AM – 12:00 PM
Midpoint Check-in | February 2, 9:30 AM – 12:00 PM
Finale | February 9, 9:30 AM – 12:00 PM

*Interviews are required prior to acceptance. Please email seaseship@columbia.edu to set up a brief interview after submitting your application.

Learn more.

Application Deadline: Startup Columbia 2024
2024-02-09
Startup Columbia is a series of campus-wide startup competitions offering non-dilutive cash prizes to the winning teams. Applications open in early January each year and are open to early-stage ventures founded, managed, and owned by current Columbia students, or by Columbia alumni within 5 years of their most recent Columbia degree.
Each year, alumni judges evaluate competitors in each of the various competitions. All competitions have their own focus, save for the OPEN Competition, which is open to any kind of business model, including not-for-profit and social enterprises. As you will see in the Rules & Regulations, teams who wish to compete must choose to enter one competition only. Please note that the SIPA track is no longer accepting applications.
Applications for the 2024 Startup Columbia Competition will be OPEN from Jan 7, 2024 and will CLOSE February 9th, 2024!
LEARN MORE AND APPLY

Tamer Center for Social Enterprise 2024 Annual Reception
2024-02-26
REGISTER
You are cordially invited to join Columbia Business School for an evening of networking and socializing with fellow alumni, faculty members, students, and professionals in the climate and social enterprise sector.
This year’s reception will feature remarks from Austin Smith ’22, managing partner of Alley, a full-service digital agency that creates digital solutions that connect people to news, entertainment, ideas — and to each other. Austin will share his experience working with the ReEntry Acceleration Program (REAP) and Justice Through Code (JTC) and how he leveraged his experience, skills, and EMBA degree, as well as the resources and capabilities of Alley, to empower formerly incarcerated individuals who need second chance career track employment opportunities. Hear from Austin about how he created a reentry simulation used in the REAP Immersion class and the mentoring platform that contributes to ongoing learning for the MBA network and JTC students alike. Professor Dan Wang will provide welcome remarks.

Application Deadline: 2024-2025 Cohort of the Columbia Startup Lab
2024-03-31
Applications for the Columbia Startup Lab (CSL) are now open! The CSL offers our alumni entrepreneurs a place to house and nurture their fledgling ventures through tailored programming, space, and a vibrant entrepreneurship community.
Did you know?

CSL startups have raised $120M+ and $115M+ in acquisitions and exits.
The CSL has been headquarters to over 500 startups.

CSL is Columbia University’s recent-alumni co-working space located on the ground floor of 69 Charlton Street. It is a cross-school initiative between Columbia Entrepreneurship, Columbia Business School, School of Engineering & Applied Sciences, Columbia College, Columbia School of Public Health, Law, Barnard and School of International & Public Affairs.
Now in its eleventh year, the CSL has been “corporate headquarters” for more than 500 Columbia-founded ventures. The space is administered by Studio by Tishman Speyer and includes: furnishings (desk and chair), WiFi, water/coffee, cleaning/maintenance and access to common facilities across the global network. CSL also provides ongoing workshops, office hours, networking events, and community building activities to help resident ventures advance their businesses.

Fireside Chat with Ian Sigalow ’06
2024-04-10 12:30 - 14:00
Join Columbia Business School for a conversation with Ian Sigalow ’06, co-founder and managing partner of Greycroft, a multi-stage venture fund based in New York City. Ian will discuss his career journey, including his own entrepreneurial endeavors, and the story behind how he became the managing partner at a fund right out of CBS. Register here.

Kickoff: Start Me Up Bootcamp
2024-04-11
The Start Me Up Bootcamp program is a two-week virtual program designed to build your startup. The bootcamp introduces participants to the Lean Launchpad methodology and techniques to direct customer discovery through field interviews. Teams are required to conduct at least 20 customer interviews; attend online sessions and engage with other bootcamp teams and entrepreneurs. Teams “get out of the building” to learn from potential customers to determine if they are solving a real-world problem with a sizeable market opportunity. Upon completion, eligible teams may apply for a $50,000 NSF I-Corps grant to support customer discovery. Additional funding is available to support conference travel for commercialization.
APPLY

Athena Center for Leadership End-of-year Incubator Showcase
2024-04-11 18:00 - 20:30
Get ready for an evening filled with business pitch presentations by our talented Fellows, an insightful panel discussion on how to finance your business idea, and invaluable networking opportunities with seasoned entrepreneurs and esteemed alumni.

Mark your calendars and save the date:
Date: April 11th, 2024
Time: 6PM – 8:30PM
Venue: Sulzberger Parlor, 3rd Floor Barnard Hall
Make sure to RSVP now through the Google Form to secure your spot.

Founder's Journey: Navigating the Obstacles from Student to Startup!
2024-04-24 17:00 - 18:30
Our speaker on the Founder’s Journey is Andrew Satz, CEO of EVQLV, a company that leverages advances in computation to design therapeutic antibodies for biotechs and pharmaceutical companies. Andrew is a Columbia alumnus, a data scientist, and former CORE president, where he had a significant impact on Columbia’s entrepreneurial community. He will be sharing his entrepreneurial journey, the challenges, and ways to overcome obstacles to build a thriving startup.

Deadline: Start Me Up Bootcamp
2024-06-30
Join a select group of entrepreneurs for a two-week hybrid program designed to build your successful startup. The bootcamp introduces participants to the Lean Launchpad methodology and techniques to direct customer discovery through field interviews. Participants are required to conduct at least 20 customer interviews; attend online sessions and engage with other bootcamp teams and entrepreneurs. Teams “get out of the building” to learn from potential customers to determine if they are solving a real-world problem with a sizeable market opportunity. In addition to providing entrepreneurial training, this program helps students and researchers identify new ways to apply research to solve global challenges.
Faculty, staff, postdoctoral, graduate and undergraduate student researchers may apply with a team of one to three people. Applicants are expected to be available for all short-course sessions. Teams that successfully complete this bootcamp may become eligible to apply for the National Science Foundation’s I-Corps Teams program, which includes a $50,000 grant.
MORE INFO AND REGISTER

Deadline: Tamer Fund | August 15, 2024
2024-07-16 08:00 - 17:00
Are you a nonprofit, for-profit, or hybrid early-stage social or environmental venture with Columbia affiliation? Apply by August 15 for a chance to receive a $25K seed grant!
This fund is open to nonprofit, for-profit, and hybrid early-stage social and environmental ventures. Ventures must be led by Columbia University students, alumni, faculty, or researchers, or be advised and have significant involvement by Columbia University faculty or researchers. Tamer Fund seed grants will be made to approximately seven ventures each year.

Rolling Admission: Columbia Startup Lab Uptown
2024-09-12
Columbia Startup Lab (CSL) Uptown, located on the Morningside campus, provides a host of campus-wide programming, open working space, mentorship, and connection to other entrepreneurship nodes around the University for aspiring student founders currently enrolled at Columbia and Barnard.
We are lucky to have cultivated a very vibrant community of students and alumni who take a genuine interest in helping others in the CSL community. It’s about engagement and sharing, not about just “working on your own venture”. When reviewing applications for participation, we look for individuals who are going to give back as much as they get out of this experience.
[ CLICK HERE TO APPLY ]
