Air Force Research Lab-Information Directorate (Small Business Matchmaking and Expo)
2019-11-06
Open to the public.
RSVP here.

All day event hosted at the Griffiss Institute, featuring resource presentations, a panel discussion, and a networking match making expo.

Spark Workshop on Zea10: Disrupting Hunger
2019-11-06 18:00 - 19:30 UTC
Facilitated by Ian Mackay and Karl Greden
Wednesday, November 6, 2019
6–7:30 p.m.
Columbia Business School
Uris Hall, Room 307
3022 Broadway
New York, NY 10027
RSVP →
Refreshments included with RSVP
Zea10’s mission is to develop sustainable ecosystems using plant-based nutritional solutions to foster heathy, vibrant communities. There are over 4 million tons of brewers’ grains globally, which could provide 50 million people with their daily protein and fiber needs, without tilling an additional acre of land. However, this plant-based, nutritional resource is currently just discarded. Having identified this underutilized resource, Zea10 has created proprietary nutritious and delicious food ingredients to create healthy food products.
At its core, Zea10 is a B2B model aiming to disrupt the health and fitness food industry by providing these ingredients to CPG firms to create affordable, healthy, and sustainable products. As part of this model, Zea10 seeks to commit 10 percent of its core business to food-insecure populations, starting in New York City. Each year, an estimated 1.4 million NYC residents, and one in five children, rely on emergency food programs that already struggle to provide enough nutritious food.
In building out this support, Zea10 would like to understand how to best provide nutrition to three major groups (food-insecure children, food-insecure employed adults, and homeless people) using a pilot program. This workshop will be an opportunity to collaborate and ideate on developing an effective pilot strategy. Bring your experience and expertise to create an interdisciplinary session that helps move the needle on hunger!

About Spark Workshops
Spark provides social innovators with an opportunity to explore resources, connections, and potential solutions to help their social ventures. These workshops tap into the collective knowledge within Columbia University and the larger entrepreneurial and social impact community.
Spark is a platform for ventures to make valuable connections, as the audience is a self-selected group interested in the topic area. Ventures are also able to gather ideas through group brainstorming to help them address specific questions or problems within the business organization.
These workshops are free and open to all who are willing to bring their ideas, experience, and connections to help solve social and environmental challenges that social innovators aim to address.
If you are unable to attend this event but would like more information on Spark, please register for our mailing list.
If you would like to suggest a future Spark workshop, please contact: socialenterprise@gsb.columbia.edu.

Big Questions for Startups - Part 1
2019-11-07 17:00 - 19:00
Open to founders and future founders.
Event Contact Information:
Kae Bara Kratcha
212-854-8813
kk3344@columbia.edu

Startups and their founders are famous for solving problems and creating innovations at breakneck speeds. Without taking the time to create a guiding ethos, startups risk moving too fast, burning out, and leaving things broken. This two-night series gives founders and future founders the opportunity to take a deep breath, slow down, and ask some big questions.
This will be held at the Columbia Entrepreneurship Design Studio, 645 W 120th Street, New York, NY 10027, Room 430.
The second installment of this series will be held on Nov 14, 5-7pm, also at the Design Studio.

Application Deadline: Cyber NYC
2019-11-09
Open to early stage companies.
Apply here.

Are you building a cyber security startup in New York City? Apply today for the Cyber NYC Inventors to Founders Startup Accelerator, a partnership between Columbia University and New York City Economic Development Corporation.
This is an early stage accelerator program to commercialize, launch, and scale cyber companies globally
BENEFITS:
• Capital (non-dilutive grants, convertible notes)
• Curriculum (Lean Launchpad, cyber-specific)
• Mentorship and guidance (technical, business support & access to CISOs and investor networks
• Access to entrepreneurial networks of 4 world-class universities and NY City Economic Development Corp
ELIGIBILITY & EXPECTATIONS:
• Early stage (ideation through seed), <$100k raised (equity)
• Affiliation with any NYC-based university (faculty, undergrad- grad- post-grad student, fellow, alumni)
• Passion for developing scalable cyber startups
• Ability to commit to program’s workload (~10 hours/week)
IMPORTANT DEADLINES:
APPLICATION DEADLINE: Nov 3
COHORTANNOUNCED: Dec-Jan
BOOTCAMP KICKOFF: Jan-Feb
DEMO DAY evaluation & interviews weekly bootcamp sessions: April

Application Deadline: D-Prize Global Competition
2019-11-10
Eligibility information below.
Apply here.

The D-Prize Global Competition is live and seeking new social entrepreneurs! D-Prize challenges bold new leaders to tackle extreme poverty. This year, as many as 30 teams will be awarded with up to $20,000 each to launch nonprofits or social ventures that can distribute proven poverty interventions to thousands, maybe even millions, of people. Applications are due November 10th.
Who Should Apply? You should have enormous ambition, and can imagine yourself as a successful entrepreneur. You are ready to launch your new venture, and – if a pilot proves successful – you are excited to grow it into a world changing organization. If you are still a student or have an existing job, you should have a clear idea how to transition into a full-time founder. D-Prize is exclusively interested in ventures that will scale distribution of an already proven poverty intervention in the developing world. Read the D-Prize challenges and join the competition at www.d-prize.org.

Application Deadline: Columbia-IBM Blockchain LAUNCH Accelerator
2019-11-11
Open to early-stage, NY university-affiliated startups
Apply here.

Overview:
The Columbia | IBM Blockchain LAUNCH Accelerator is a non-dilutive program for building and scaling successful companies utilizing blockchain and data transparency. The goal of the program is to help the best emerging companies succeed through education, mentorship, and business model design. As a pillar of the Columbia IBM Center for Blockchain and Data Transparency, IBM and Columbia University are partnering to offer top blockchain companies from around the world a customized program with education from industry and academic research experts, hands-on value-added workshops, active mentoring and curated customer meetings.
To Lean More:
Please join one of the following info sessions:

Oct. 8, 2-3PM: Virtual Session
Oct. 9, 12-1PM: NYU Tandon, 370 Jay Street, Room 324
Oct. 16, 12:30-1:30PM: NYU Leslie ELab, NYU Entrepreneurial Institute (Leslie eLab), 16 Washington Place
Oct. 17, 11:30AM-12:30PM: CUIMC, Roy and Diana Vagelos Education Center, 104 Haven Ave.

NYC Real Estate Tech Week 2019
2019-11-11 - 2019-11-15
” The investors, strategics, entrepreneurs, and industry leaders are so engaged in all of the events. It’s like the Davos of Real Estate Tech. ”

― Zach Aarons, Co-Founder And Partner At MetaProp
Learn more here.

Taste@CBS
2019-11-11 12:00 - 15:00
Open to all Columbians

CBS companies founded by students and alumni will exhibit, sample, and sell at Uris Lobby and Deli as a part of CBS Startups Week.

Application Deadline: The Combine
2019-11-12
Open to faculty and students using technologies like: AI, machine learning, computer vision, natural language processing, virtual and augmented reality, neural interfaces and blockchain.
Apply here.

Are you building a startup? The Combine is NYC Media Lab’s accelerator for early-stage startup teams focusing on emerging media technologies. The program will empower teams to adopt the “Lean” startup Method to search for and develop a business model for their startup concept.

Studio Hours at the Design Studio (Open Collaboration Time)
2019-11-12 16:00 - 19:00, 2019-11-19 16:00 - 19:00
OPEN TO ALL IN THE COLUMBIA COMMUNITY
Do you have an idea and want to get personal design thinking feedback from the Columbia Entrepreneurship Design Studio? During Studio Hours, teams or individuals are invited to discuss their projects or ideas one-on-one with human-centered designers in the Studio. Teams of Columbia affiliates are also welcome to use the studio space for working independently on their entrepreneurial projects.
If you want to sign up for a specific half-hour time slot, register here.
The Design Studio is located at 645 W 120th Street, Room 430.

Shop@CBS
2019-11-13 12:00 - 15:00

Big Questions for Startups - Part 2
2019-11-14 17:00 - 19:00
Open to founders and future founders.

Startups and their founders are famous for solving problems and creating innovations at breakneck speeds. Without taking the time to create a guiding ethos, startups risk moving too fast, burning out, and leaving things broken. This two-night series gives founders and future founders the opportunity to take a deep breath, slow down, and ask some big questions.
This will be held at the Columbia Entrepreneurship Design Studio, 645 W 120th Street, New York, NY 10027, Room 430.

CBS Faculty Entrepreneurship & Innovation Research Showcase
2019-11-18 12:30 - 14:00
Open to the public.
RSVP here.

Come for lunch at the Faculty Entrepreneurship & Innovation Research Showcase , stay to explore ideas around entrepreneurship and innovation featuring presentations by CBS Faculty Professors Asim Ansari, Tania Babina, and Adam Galinsky. Topics range from brand data insights from logo design to firm financing and organizational choice and how they affect economic activity to the low status groups’ use of commonly used jargon’s influence on high status individuals.

RSVP HERE

Columbia Fast Pitch Competition 2019
2019-11-21 17:30 - 20:30
OPEN TO ALL COLUMBIANS (Including Teachers College and Barnard)
APPLY HERE

Do you have a startup idea? Would you like feedback from CU alumni? Enter the Fast Pitch competition and win money to support your idea. (Or come watch other Columbians pitch!)
This is a great opportunity to practice and perfect a 60-second pitch of your business to a panel of judges that includes successful Columbia alumni and members of the NYC venture community. $5000 is at stake! There will be a $2000 prize pool solely for undergraduates and a $3000 pool for the best overall pitches. Find out more details here.
Register Here
Event timeline:
Nov 1: Video pitches (drafts) due at midnight, no professional editing required, just a pitch!
Submit online – we will share with a select group of CU alumni.
*Optional, teams who submit videos given feedback and priority to live pitch event
Nov 12: Feedback on videos
Nov 21: Fast Pitch Competition, 5:30PM Davis Auditorium
Video submissions are due by November 1 at midnight; those who submit a video will be given priority to pitch. Please contact Ivy Schultz (ischultz@columbia.edu) with questions.
Undergrads, grad students, and faculty from all schools and institutes across Columbia University are eligible to participate.

Online Workshop: Startup Legal 101
2019-11-22 12:00 - 13:00
Open to the public.
Register here.

Startup Legal 101 is a free online workshop designed for alumni who want to learn the basics of startup legal framework. The workshop gives an overview of the key building blocks of early stage ventures, including entity formation, methods for raising capital (convertible debt, SAFEs, etc), equitizing employees, IP/Trademark protection, and more.
Scott Smedresman is a Lang Advisor, and partner in the VC/Startup group at McCarter & English, a top-10 ranked national VC practice. Scott and McCarter have served as general outside counsel to hundreds of high-growth startups throughout their full lifecycles — from formation, founder issuances, closing financings, IP strategy, developing and launching products, building customers and scale, acquiring technology assets, ultimately through exit.
RSVP

Studio Hours at the Design Studio (Open Collaboration Time)
2019-12-03 16:00 - 19:00
Open to the whole Columbia community.
Do you have an idea and want to get personal design thinking feedback from the Columbia Entrepreneurship Design Studio? During Studio Hours, teams or individuals are invited to discuss their projects or ideas one-on-one with human-centered designers in the Studio. Teams of Columbia affiliates are also welcome to use the studio space for working independently on their entrepreneurial projects.
If you want to sign up for a specific half-hour time slot, register here.
The Design Studio is located at 645 W 120th Street, Room 430.

Demo Day: Almaworks Cohort VIII
2019-12-06 16:30 - 17:00
Almaworks Demo Day is the culmination of an 8-week accelerator program of Columbia startups.
Almaworks is a student-run accelerator program that takes no equity and aims to help early-stage startups and run by NYC student entrepreneurs achieve significant, sustainable growth. Its student startups have collectively raised $14M in seed funding and enrolled in programs such as Y Combinator and TechStars.

Application Deadline: Inventrust Hackathon
2020-01-10
Learn more and apply here.

This hackathon invites those interested in the problem of empowering intention to submit applications and then to participate in developing solutions for a particularly important societal problem—medical clinical trials. Recruitment—of employees, donors, and supporters—is the lifeblood of businesses, philanthropic organizations, and political candidates. For example, it has been reported that a major U.S. Democratic Presidential primary candidate spent $7.5 million in three weeks on Google paid search ads. That works out to roughly $140 for each of the roughly 50,000 voters whose votes were decisive in the 2016 U.S. Presidential election—in just THREE WEEKS. Of course, there are U.S. laws against paying for votes, but might there be a better way of recruiting political support?
The hackathon asks applicants to submit ideas and/or build solutions applying digital incentives to the recruitment challenge. Blockchain could be relevant here. For example, for looking at ads, users can receive Basic Attention Tokens as rewards, which can then be used to support publishers.

Lean Launchpad with Steve Blank
2020-01-13 - 2020-01-17
Application information TBA.

Third Thursday - Immigration and Entrepreneurship
2020-01-21 17:30 - 19:00
Open to all Columbians
RSVP here

Tuesday, January 21 (held on Tuesday due to scheduling constraints) 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.
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Third Thursday is a recurring open forum and networking and info session for the Columbia University entrepreneurship community. It provides students, faculty, staff, and alumni the opportunity to hear ideas from across campus, form teams, and explore career options. 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.

Application Deadline: Designing Solutions to Campus Hunger
2020-01-24 17:00
Open to the Barnard community.
Apply here.

Applications are due at 5pm for the Athena Center’s week-long Design Challenge on Hunger.

Mon, Feb 3, 6pm-8pm @ the Athena Center (screening of APATT Documentary)
Sat, Feb 15, 9am-5pm @ the Columbia Design Studio (lunch provided; note, during Presidents’ Day weekend)
Wed, Feb 19, 6pm-9pm @ the Athena Center (dinner provided)
Sat, Feb 22, 9:30am-6pm @ the Columbia Design Studio (presentation and reception at Craft)

More about the Hunger Challenge
Hunger is all around us, affecting an estimated 1 in 8 people in the U.S.— and it’s closer to home than we may realize. Research indicates that up to 41% of college students are food insecure.
In this week-long challenge, you’ll have the opportunity to develop ideas for sustainable solutions for NYC college students experiencing hunger. No previous experience or expertise is required — you’ll have the support of a team of design and hunger experts, including anti-hunger organization: A Place at the Table (APATT), founded by filmmaker Lori Silverbush, chef Tom Colicchio, and media executives Tim Castree and Kristen Castree on the heels of Lori’s documentary of the same name, as well as Barnard’s VP of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Ariana Gonzalez Stokas.
We’ll kick off the challenge with a screening of the documentary at Barnard, followed by a fireside chat with members of the APATT team. We’ll end it with a presentation to Tom Colicchio and team, followed by a reception at Colicchio’s Craft restaurant.

Impact Investing: A Fireside Chat Between Investor and Founder
2020-01-30 17:30 - 19:30
Open to all Columbians (including Barnard and Teachers College)
RSVP here

Get investors to back your social mission: Join us Jan 30 at the Columbia Startup Lab for a fireside chat on Impact Investing with serial entrepreneur, Prof Sarah Holloway ’03SIPA, and founder and investor Jolyne Caruso-Fitzgerald, ’81 Barnard. RSVP: http://ow.ly/RlrV50y1jxO

Deadline: Columbia Venture Community Investor Matching
2020-02-01
Columbia Venture Community‘s investor matching is open again! Besides matching with top-tier VCs, there’s also several new acceleration resources available. You can see all the current and upcoming opportunities listed here. Companies whose founders, key employees, or investors are alumni or otherwise affiliated with Columbia can apply here before Feb 1st.

Open Studio Hours
2020-02-04 16:00 - 19:00

Application Deadline: Design Your Future
2020-02-05 17:00
Open to all Columbia students (including Barnard and Teachers College)
Apply Here
Applications Close: February 5th at 5pm
Accepted Applicants Notified February 7th by 5pm

The future can feel uncertain, so we’ve created Design Your Future as a three-session program where students learn to apply human-centered design to their careers and to life after graduation. The goal of this program to help you to better navigate your career and life choices in the face of this uncertainty.
Design Your Future is for students who are nearing the end of their studies and preparing to launch out into the world. This can be both an exciting and unnerving time. What if you discover that your new job isn’t for you? What happens if you start to drift away from the things you feel passionate about? Many recent graduates feel stuck after leaving school.
Dates and Times:
February 13th — 11:00am to 1:00pm
February 20th — 11:00am to 1:00pm
February 27th — 11:00am to 1:00pm
Apply Here

TigerLaunch
2020-02-08 10:30
Open to students
RSVP

CORE is proud to be hosting the NYC Regional competition of TigerLaunch, the nation’s largest student-run startup competition, in conjunction with the Princeton Entrepreneurship Club.
This Saturday, February 8, you’ll hear pitches from the top 15 teams selected from around the East Coast. Throughout the day, you’ll also have the opportunity to meet with top collegiate founders, venture capitalists, and other students from universities throughout the region.
Lunch and snacks will be served.

Application Deadline: GEC Inaugural Symposium
2020-02-10
Open to all Columbia students.
Apply here.

The Graduate Entrepreneurship Council (GEC) will host its inaugural Symposium, sponsored by WeWork, Techstars, Mintz Levin, Wolf & Company, P.C., which brings together the top venture capitalists and the brightest entrepreneurs from Columbia, Harvard, MIT, Northwestern, and UPenn. Only 25 will be selected from each school. Learn more and apply by February 10 at www.the-gec.com/yearly-symposium.

Fireside Chat: How to Start a Biotech Startup
2020-02-10 12:00
Open to undergraduates
RSVP here

Join us for a lunchtime fireside with Y Combinator partner Jared Friedman, Visiting Partner Dr. Uri Lopatin and YC alum Shara Ticku of C16 Biosciences.
Since 2014, YC has funded over 250 bio companies, which makes us one of the largest seed stage biotech funders in the world.
Learn what it takes to launch and scale a life sciences company and hear how and why biotech startup funding will change in the next 10 years. Food and drinks will be served. Hosted by CORE.

Tamer Fund for Social Ventures Webinars (12pm & 7pm)
2020-02-11
Open to all Columbians

The next deadline to apply to the Tamer Fund for Social Ventures is March 1! Learn about the application process, and ask any questions you may have at one of two webinars on February 11: 12–1 p.m. (RSVP) or 7–8 p.m. (RSVP).
The Tamer Fund for Social Ventures provides seed grants to nonprofit, for-profit, and hybrid early-stage Columbia University affiliated social and environmental ventures.
