Columbia Entrepreneurship

FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DEADLINE: Columbia's Tamer Fund for Social Ventures
2017-08-15
The Tamer Center for Social Enterprise at Columbia Business School is now accepting applications for the Tamer Fund for Social Ventures. This Fund provides seed grants of up to $25,000 to nonprofit, for-profit, and hybrid early-stage social and environmental ventures. Ventures must be led by Columbia University students or alumni, 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.
More information and the online application is available at: http://www8.gsb.columbia.edu/socialenterprise/socialventures/apply
Application Deadlines: August 15 and March 1, annually

Final Presentations - Hacking for Real Estate Technology
2017-08-09 14:00 - 16:00 UTC
The final presentations of the Hacking for Real Estate Technology class in the MSRED program at GSAPP.
Over the past 12 weeks, these students have immersed themselves in the world of real estate technology and entrepreneurship to transform their ideas into viable business solutions for the real estate industry.
The student teams were exposed to expert guidance from industry experts, startup entrepreneurs, Columbia Business School representatives, and Columbia Entrepreneurship. In addition, the teams participated in another new class at GSAPP, Programming for Innovation in Real Estate, where they learned to build fully functioning websites that will allow them to present their ideas using true technology.
The teams will formally present their ideas to a panel of real estate industry and technology experts in Wood Auditorium located inside of Avery Hall.

DEADLINE: Barclays Accelerator NYC, Powered by Techstars
2017-07-14
The Barclays Accelerator Powered by Techstars in NYC is recruiting their next cohort of incredible FinTech entrepreneurs. From insurtech to lending, security to blockchain, capital markets to data and analytics, don’t miss the opportunity to partner with Barclays and join the world-wide Techstars network.Applications are open now through July 14th.
APPLY HERE.

Getting Funding - Intensive SBIR/STTR Proposal Prep (NIH Focus)
2017-06-28 08:30 - 2017-06-29 12:00 | Lerner Hall, Columbia University, 2920 Broadway, New York, NY, 10027, United States
The Federal SBIR/STTR programs award over $2.6 billion in high risk R&D funding annually to qualified small businesses. The process is complex with a steep learning curve, but the impact of receiving millions in non-dilutive funding is worth the effort. This workshop covers all aspects of writing SBIR/STTR grants focused on life science technologies including eligibility, funding sources, agency nuances, understanding what reviewers look for, and step-by-step instruction on how to write each section of your proposal.
Please note: This training is mandatory for companies planning to apply for the Cycle 1 cohort of SBIR Impact NYC (application deadline: 12:00am, July 3).
$75 fee
REGISTER HERE

NATIONBUILDER NYC: What Does Leading Look Like?
2017-06-27 18:30 - 20:30 | Civic Hall, 118 W. 22nd Street, New York, NY, 10011, United States
We need more leaders. And better ones. So we’re hosting IRL meetups to equip people with the skills they need to lead in this era, tackle the barriers to leadership that are holding us back, and work towards a future where everyone can lead.
Come to our launch event where we’re kicking things off with intimate, rolling, public interviews of some incredible leaders inspiring their sectors, challenging assumptions about what leadership looks like, and speaking to what’s really required of those of us who step up to lead. Real talk, with real leaders, (and some drinks for good measure) as we dig in together!

The ABC's of SBIR/STTR Funding
2017-06-27 15:00 - 17:00 | Lerner Hall, Columbia University, 2920 Broadway, New York, NY, 10027, United States
Attend this free, two-hour program and learn how the federal SBIR/STTR programs can provide a source of R&D funding between the initial development of your innovative idea and proof that it has potential in the marketplace. Learn about SBIR/STTR eligibility requirements, which of the eleven participating agencies best fits your technology, the differences between SBIR and STTR, and more.
REGISTER HERE

Civic Hall & FWD.us Present: Immigrant Heritage Month Lunch & Learns
2017-06-27 12:00 - 14:00 | Civic Hall, 118 W. 22nd Street, New York, NY, 10011, United States
It’s Immigrant Heritage Month and now more than ever we want to celebrate and support the immigrants in our community. In that spirit, Civic Hall is joining with FWD.us for two lunch and learns focused on education, advocacy, and allyship.

NBCUniversal Social Hack Awards
2017-06-23 08:00 - 2017-06-24 17:00
On Friday June 23, the hackathon will officially kick off with developer, designer and data scientist attendees from across NYC’s university campuses and beyond. Teams will assemble themselves and introduce their concept to the audience on Friday evening with the goal of working on their concepts ideas all day on Saturday June 24.
On June 24, the hackathon will begin with breakfast, a pep talk and a technical partner workshop. During lunch, teams can meet with Mentors from NBCUniversal and the nonprofit partners. The teams will hack through the afternoon. All hacking will end at 5:30pm which will lead to the project demos, the judging and then ultimately, the prize ceremony and closing reception.
MORE INFORMATION.

Hasso Plattner Institute Housewarming – Sharing Knowledge, Creating Visions
2017-06-20
The housewarming event of the Hasso Plattner Institute (HPI) is in partnership with SAP Next-Gen, an innovation community that looks to connect companies, startups, partners and universities.
Richard Witten of Columbia Entrepreneurship, Professor Larry Leifer of Standford University, and Jennifer Morgan, SAP Executive Board Member & President, will speak to the innovation landscape.
The HPI is Germany’s university excellence center in Digital Engineering. It is funded by the Hasso Plattner Foundation and academically organized as the Faculty of Digital Engineering at the University of Potsdam. By partnering with SAP Next-Gen at Hudson Yards, HPI aims to form innovative partnerships across industries and to develop new ideas with companies, startups, universities and research centers.
With HPI and SAP Next-Gen, companies, startups and academia come together to reimagine the future of society and industries with exponential technologies, seed in disruptive innovation with startups, build skills for digital futures, and showcase thought leadership.
REGISTER HERE.

Strtupboost: June Investor Night
2017-06-15 18:00 - 21:00 | Mercy College Campus, 66 W. 35th Street, 7th Floor, New York, NY, United States
Pitch, Make Connections with, and Get Valuable Feedback from 10 Investors who are looking for early stage investments (Seed to Series A).
You have 10 Min to make it happen:1 min Set Up/BreakDown; 6 min Demo/Presentation; 3 min Q&A with VCs.
A startup “Presenter” ticket gets you admission for up to two team members and information of how to focus your presentation to maximize likelihood of receiving financing.
Looking to learn how to Pitch to Investors, want to know about the newest Startups before everyone else, or looking to Network with Startups and Investors? Sign up for a “To Watch” Ticket.
Learn more.

APPLICATION DEADLINE: NBCUniversal Social Hack
2017-06-09
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH NBCUNIVERSAL, PRESENTED BY NYC MEDIA LAB
Developers, designers and data scientists are invited to apply their skills to help prototype solutions for real-world problems at the NBCUniversal Social Hack.
NBCUniversal believes innovation is good for communities. By supporting nonprofits, social entrepreneurs, and community organizations, NBCUniversal can use the power of media and technology to help solve important social issues in communities of need.
At the NBCUniversal Social Hack, participants will choose between two program tracks featuring Per Scholas and Move For Hunger – two nonprofit organizations who will benefit from this rapid prototyping for social impact. Each nonprofit will lead a specific prototyping track providing subject-matter mentorship, and firsthand experiences to addressing community challenges. NBCUniversal and NYC Media Lab staff will provide additional presentations and workshops to Hackathon participants during the two day program.
Interested participants should create a team and choose one nonprofit track. You will need to incorporate specific challenge questions (listed below) when submitting your application and prototype ideas. Apply today to participate! The application deadline is June 9th, 2017.

Columbia's 6th Annual FinTech, DFS & Payments Summit
2017-06-08 - 2017-06-09
ABOUT COLUMBIA BUSINESS SCHOOL’S FINTECH, DFS & PAYMENTS SUMMIT

This 6th annual Summit looks at disruptive effects & implementation of emerging & mobile payments, digital financial services, blockchain & cryptocurrencies in developing & developed worlds.
It’s the only high-impact event bringing together a high-level group of international speakers that cover the payments and blockchain technology ecosystem and emerging payments in the developing world, and connecting innovators and investors in the fintech ecosystem.
Besides the main conference day on June 8, this year we have an additional day, the Innovators and Investors day on June 9. This will feature a range of fintech investors and innovation hubs as well as a number of fintech startups and innovators.
Columbia’s annual Fintech Summit is brought to you by the DFS Observatory in the Columbia Institute for Tele-Information (CITI), located in 1A of Uris Hall.

Big Data Management and Security: Executive Education
2017-05-30 08:00 - 2017-06-01 17:00 | Carleton Commons, Mudd, 500 W. 120th , New York, NY, United States
Columbia University is proud to present Big Data Management And Security, offered by Columbia Engineering Executive Education, led by Columbia professors and big data experts Eugene Wu and Suman Jana.
Every year, hundreds of millions of sensitive records are compromised, and companies spend billions mitigating and responding to breaches.
This course provides a hands-on introduction to big data processing, visualization, security, and privacy.
This three-day course is for professionals and executives that are interested in managing large amounts of data and the security and privacy implications.
ENROLL HERE.

May Riverside Chat: The Promise and Future of Synthetic Biology
2017-05-16 18:00 - 19:30 | Davis Auditorium, Schapiro, New York City, 10027, United States
RSVP HERE
Hear about the promise and future of synthetic biology from two of New York City’s leaders.

Co-hosted by Columbia Engineering and Columbia Technology Ventures
Nancy J Kelley was the founding executive director of the New York Genome Center, helping to raise $110 million and brought together 11 of the city’s universities and institutions. She is working now on building the “trust infrastructure” for synthetic biology. Read about her work in the New York Times here.

Harris Wang is a faculty member at Columbia University, working on synthetic and systems biology approaches to design and build new microbes with novel capabilities, leveraging both engineering and evolutionary biology. Last year, he was recognized by President Obama with the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), the United States’ highest award for young scientists and engineers, for his work on the human microbiome with applications in microbiome sensing and reporting.

Join us at Columbia University for the wrap-up Riverside Chat event of the Spring 2017 season!

APPLICATION DEADLINE: Inaugural Alexandria LaunchLabs 100K Prize
2017-05-15
On June 13th, 2017, Alexandria LaunchLabs will celebrate its grand opening by awarding $100,000 to its top member company. All Alexandria LaunchLabs applicants, including current LaunchLabs member companies, are eligible to win. Applicants should have entrepreneurially minded management teams, cutting-edge science, foundational IP, a compelling business plan, and a sound financing strategy.
Click here to apply.

Improving Health-Care: Challenges and Opportunities for Reinforcement Learning
2017-05-11 18:00 - 19:00 | Davis Auditorium, Schapiro, New York City, 10027, United States
Reinforcement learning offers a powerful paradigm for automatically discovering and optimizing sequential treatments for chronic and life-threatening diseases. In particular, we will focus on how data collected in multi-stage sequential trials can be used to automatically generate treatment strategies that are tailored to patient characteristics and time-dependent outcomes. We will also examine promising methods to improve the efficiency of clinical trials through adaptation. Examples will be drawn from several ongoing research projects on developing new treatment strategies for epilepsy, mental illness, diabetes, and cancer.
REGISTER HERE
This event is part of the NYC Data Science Seminar Series, organized by MSR NYC, Facebook, NYU Center for Data Science, Columbia University, and Cornell Tech, with the Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute.
More information can be found here.

Data Science Institute-Industry-Innovation Seminar: Peter Marx, General Electric
2017-05-11 16:00 - 17:30 | Schapiro Building Room 750, 530 West 120th Street, New York City, 10027, United States
Peter Marx, Vice President, Advanced Projects, GE Digital Adjunct Professor, USC
TITLE: How the New Availability of Urban and Industrial Data are Impacting Our World from Public Safety to Jet Engines
This talk discusses how newly available data from cities and industry, from sensing and activities, and from transactions and services are driving change across our world. Cities are increasingly using data to drive new efficiencies and insights in the urban world. For example, policing and public safety services are ever-more data-driven and transparent with data being more widely distributed than at any point in the past. Similarly, industry is changing from being traditionally physical into becoming more digital through the distribution of data. New availability of sensing data through the emerging Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), for example, is allowing for increasing levels of predictive maintenance and qualities of service. Highly personalized healthcare is now possible because of data being made available digitally from everywhere from our worn devices to imaging of our bodies to our genetics themselves.
This discussion will draw on General Electric?s activities driving the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and Predix, as well as from leading cities like Los Angeles, Singapore, and Dubai. We will touch upon technologies such as machine learning (AI) and other types of analytics, as well as computer vision (CV), connectivity (5G and private LTE), and mixed reality.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION.

Data Science Institute-Industry-Innovation Seminar: Surveillance and Social Situational Awareness
2017-05-11 16:00 - 17:30 | CEPSR 750, New York City, 10027
This talk will describe a variety of methods that have been developed for the purposes of understanding group level social behaviors using stand-off video surveillance methods. Three main topics are considered: 1) the GE Sherlock System: a comprehensive approach to capturing and analyzing non-verbal cues of persons in crowd/group level interactions, 2) One Shot Learning: a new approach to crowd level behavior recognition based on the concept that a new behavior can be recognized with as little as a single example and 3) Agent Based Inference: a novel approach to the analysis of individual cognitive states of person?s interacting in a group or crowd level social interactions. The talk starts with a description of the GE Sherlock system which encompasses methods such as person tracking in crowds, dynamic PTZ camera control, facial analytics from a distance such as gaze estimation and expression recognition, upper body affective pose analysis and the inference of social states such as rapport and hostility. The talk then discusses how cues derived from the Sherlock system can be used to construct semantically meaningful behavior descriptors or affects allowing for signature matching between behaviors which can be viewed as a form of one shot learning. Going beyond affects based on direct observation, we argue that more meaningful affects can be constructed via the inference of the cognitive states of each individual. To this end we introduce the Agent Based Inference framework. The talk concludes with a discussion of how such methods are making their way into commercial use via efforts such as the intelligent city, the intelligent airport and the intelligent hospital.
GET MORE INFORMATION HERE.

Studio Hours
2017-05-03 14:00 - 16:00, 2017-04-19 14:00 - 16:00 | Columbia Entrepreneurship Design Studio, 490 Riverside Dr., New York, NY, 10027, United States
Do you have an idea and want to get personal design thinking feedback from the 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.
You do not need to register in advance for Studio Hours. Just drop by!
If you have questions, please reach out to us at designstudio@columbia.edu.

Design Your Future Workshop
2017-05-02 13:00 - 16:00 | Columbia Entrepreneurship Design Studio, 490 Riverside Dr., New York, NY, 10027, United States
The future can feel uncertain, so we created Design Your Future as a program where students learn to apply human-centered design to their careers and life beyond Columbia. Our first go around this semester was overbooked, so we decided to host a one-time workshop on
Tuesday, May 2nd from 1pm to 4pm.
The goal of this program is to help you better navigate your career and life choices in the face of uncertainty.
Design Your Future gives you the tools to help you get unstuck in life. Design relies heavily on small experiments and rapid iteration. You will learn how to craft and run small experiments that can keep your work and life choices aligned with your goals. This program is highly interactive–there will be far more activities than lectures.
During the workshop you will:
▪ Reflect on strengths and passions
▪ Map out multiple future trajectories
▪ Design small experiments for your life
▪ Identify and address personal barriers
Design Your Future is open to the entire Columbia community. Students facing imminent graduation may find this workshop particularly relevant!
Note: this program will leverage design but not teach it explicitly. If you are interested in learning how to practice human centered design or use it to launch a startup, see our other programs.
Date and Time:
Tuesday, May 2nd — 1pm to 4pm
Please sign up here so we know about how many people to expect.
https://designstudio-ce.typeform.com/to/hgX1pi
If you have any questions, please email designstudio@columbia.edu.

Hacking for Energy: The Final Presentations
2017-04-27 13:00 - 15:45 | Pulitzer Hall, 2950 Broadway, New York, NY, 10027
Join the Columbia Technology Ventures and PowerBridgeNY as they celebrate the end of the inaugural class of Hacking for Energy. Student teams will present the results of their efforts to create solutions for problems proposed by SolarCity, ConEdison, GE, and more. Refreshments will be served. RSVP here to attend, or livestream the event here.

Recent Advances in Post-Selection Statistical Inference
2017-04-26 16:30 - 17:30 | Davis Auditorium, Schapiro, New York City, 10027, United States
The Joint Colloquium Series, hosted by the Data Science Institute and the Department of Statistics, presents Recent Advances in Post-Selection Statistical Inference” with Professor Robert Tibshirani of Stanford University.
In this era of big data and complex statistical modeling, scientists use sophisticated computational tools to search through a large number of models, looking for meaningful patterns. The challenge is then to judge the strength of a large number of apparent associations that have been found. This statistical problem has become known as ?Post-selection inference,? the assessment of significance and effect sizes from a data-set after mining the same data to find these associations. In this talk I will discuss new methods for computing p-values and confidence intervals in regression, that correctly account for the adaptive selection of the model. This is joint work with Jonathan Taylor, Ryan Tibshirani, Will Fithian and Richard Lockhart.
Registration not required; more data available here.

APPLICATION DEADLINE: Exec Ed Course - Innovate on Demand (Online)
2017-04-23 08:00 - 17:00
Register for the Innovate on Demand Online Program
Exec Ed Course: Innovate on Demand (Online)
Application Deadline: April 23rd

Course Description
Do you label yourself as someone who’s not creative? At a new Columbia Business School Executive Education online program, Columbia Business School Professor Gita Johar and visiting professors Jacob Goldenberg, co-author of Inside the Box: A Proven System of Creativity for Breakthrough Results, and Yoni Stern will teach you the Systematic Inventive Thinking method and equip you to radically improve brainstorming sessions, quickly generate ideas, and adapt ideas through filters designed to align creative solutions with your business capabilities and constraints. Begins April 24th.

#StartupColumbia
2017-04-14 09:30 - 16:30 | Lerner Hall, Columbia University, 2920 Broadway, New York, NY, 10027, United States
Join us for the fourth annual
#StartupColumbia and Columbia Venture Competition
April 13th and 14st
Lerner Hall
#StartupColumbia is the University’s two-day event that brings together our Startup Community in celebration of innovation and entrepreneurship. April 13th is Day One and the culmination of the $250,000 Columbia Venture Competition.
130 alumni judges from Brooklyn to Beijing will help us narrow down a field of more than 150 Columbia startups to just 30 finalists. The winners will be announced on April 14th Day Two of the Festival. We’ll feature Columbia-founded startups, panels discussing the latest trends in technology and a wildly famous closing keynote speaker.
See the video recap of last year’s Festival…and the second annual Festival…and the inaugural #StartupColumbia Festival!

APPLICATION DEADLINE: Undergraduate Startup Internship Fund
2017-04-12
It’s important to land a summer internship at a startup
but it’s impossible to live off the stipend they give you.
We can help.
Write us at
cce-sif@columbia.edu
to apply
Currently registered Columbia College, Columbia Engineering, or General Studies rising sophomores, juniors, and seniors who are in good academic and disciplinary standing with at least a 3.0 GPA, are eligible to receive a Columbia Undergraduate Startup Internship Fund to offset living expenses.
What do you need? You must already be a recipient of Columbia grant-based financial aid, and have secured an unpaid or low paid (less than minimum wage) startup internship prior to the application deadline.
When is the deadline? April 12, 2017

Health Hacks
2017-04-08 08:00 - 2017-04-09 20:00 | Carleton Commons, Mudd, 500 W. 120th , New York, NY, United States
HealthHacks is a two-day hackathon combining creative hardware and software solutions to real-world healthcare problems through innovation, creativity, and interdisciplinary teamwork.
The inaugural HealthHacks will take place at Columbia University from April 8-9, 2017 over a period of 24 hours and will start in Davis Auditorium at 8:00AM on April 8th.
HealthHacks emerged from a quest in 2017 to integrate and scale emergent health technologies to critical needs within the ecosystems of health and wellness. A team of passionate students within BMES and HTA teamed up with IBM Watson and its partner STMicroelectronics to provide novel tools for hackable discovery.
We seek to engage the talents of the HealthHackers community. They are 100 designers, students, engineers, healthcare professionals, and business experts with diverse backgrounds committed to provide scalable solutions as interdisciplinary as the teams that devise them.
Thanks to the collaboration between IBM Watson and ST and their long-term efforts to provide high-end IoT solutions, HealthHacks provides the community with a unique range of powerful tools, from hardware to software, to enable prototyping of wearable devices for medicine, healthcare, and biotechnology.

Design Sprint: Storytelling and Pitches
2017-04-07 14:00 - 16:00 | Columbia Entrepreneurship Design Studio, 490 Riverside Dr., New York, NY, 10027, United States
Knowing how to tell a compelling story about yourself or your product is one of the most important yet overlooked traits of a successful entrepreneur. This Sprint will dive into the art of storytelling – from telling the backstory of a product to creating the narrative of your personal journey. Join us to explore how to construct a coherent narrative, expand your creative confidence, and master the art of a good story.
This event is designed for the CVC and other venture competition finalists, but all members of the Columbia community are welcome.
Teams and individuals are welcome. While the official Sprint only lasts from 2-4pm, the hour after the Sprint (4-5pm) will be open for teams to continue practicing with the support of coaches.
If you have questions, please reach out to us at designstudio@columbia.edu.

Discussion on East Coast and West Coast Venture Capital & Startups
2017-04-07 12:10 - 13:30
Coast to Coast
Presented by Wilson Sonsini, The Columbia Science & Technology Law Review (STLR), The Society for Law Science & Technology (SLST), and The Columbia Law & Entrepreneurship Society (CLES).
Please join partners from Wilson Sonsini for an overview on venture capital and startup work, and a discussion on the differences and similarities between the East Coast and West Coast clients in these industries.
This is a great opportunity to learn more about these industries and on the differences between working on the East Coast and West Coast!
Speakers:
– Adam Dinow, Partner, Wilson Sonsini (New York, NY)
– Rachel Proffitt, Partner, Wilson Sonsini (San Francisco, CA)
Who: Wilson Sonsini, STLR, SLST & CLES
What: Coast to Coast (discussion on East Coast and West Coast venture capital & startups)
When: Thursday, April 7 @ 12:10 PM
Where: JG 107

2017 Digital Health Marketplace
2017-04-06 09:00 - 12:00 | New York Genome Center, 101 6th Avenue , New York, NY, 10013, United States
Event Details
We are excited to announce the launch of 2017’s Digital Health Marketplace!
Please join us at our half-day Matchmaking Event for healthcare providers and start-ups where you will be able to explore the latest healthcare innovations and connect with like-minded professionals. We’re awarding $250,000 this year to offset the cost of conducting a pilot – so this could be your big chance!
To participate and be matched with potential partners, please fill out the “Find a Partner” form by Friday, February 17.
FILL OUT “FIND A PARTNER” FORM NOW
Why Should You Attend?
The Digital Health Marketplace helps forward-thinking healthcare organizations find the best technology without wasting valuable time and resources. The Marketplace also helps innovators navigate the healthcare purchasing maze to find the right healthcare organizations that will test and purchase their technology.
Through this public-private partnership, NYCEDC and Health 2.0 are excited to bring together New York City’s best and brightest minds at the Matchmaking Event.
