Columbia Entrepreneurship

Fundraising Workshop (Virtual) - Fundraising in a Challenging Environment with Lauri Moore '09CC.
2022-10-27 12:00 - 13:00 UTC
Open to all Columbians, including Teachers College and Barnard.
Money is critical fuel for your company, but asking for investments is not easy. It is, however, a muscle that can be trained and a skill that can be learned. The current environment makes it even more critical to approach fundraising with a clear intention and process. Join us for a discussion about strategies and stories from fundraising in the current lean fundraising environment. Lauri Moore ’09CC is a partner at Foundation Capital where she invests across the enterprise stack at early stages. REGISTER TODAY

Open Studio Hours
2022-10-27 15:00 - 17:00, 2022-10-31 12:00 - 14:00, 2022-11-14 12:00 - 14:00, 2022-11-17 15:00 - 17:00, 2022-11-21 12:00 - 14:00, 2022-11-28 12:00 - 14:00
Are you a Columbia, Barnard, or Teachers College student with an idea and want to get feedback from the Columbia Entrepreneurship Design Studio at Columbia Startup Lab Morningside? Are you interested in learning more about how human centered design can help you get unstuck on class or work projects? Do you or your team just need a creative environment to work in?
If the answer is yes to any of those questions, please come to Open Studio Hours: Room 430 at Riverside Church (entrances at 91 Claremont Avenue or 645 W 120th Street).

Pitch Practice Workshop (Virtual) - Impressing Venture Competition Judges (And Angels) in 5 Minutes or Less
2022-11-01 14:00 - 15:00
Open to all Columbians, including Teachers College and Barnard.
Impressing Venture Competition Judges (And Angels) in 5 Minutes or Less with Chris McGarry, Sr. Dir. Columbia Entrepreneurship. This how-to pitch workshop is for first-time founders and intermediate-level entrepreneurs. Before your startup takes off, someone has to sell something! First, sell your vision! Learn how to tie together the elements of a basic pitch including how to intertwine Customer Problems, with Value Propositions, Market Sizes, and credible Financials into a cohesive and persuasive story — in under five minutes! REGISTER TODAY

Panel Discussion on Startups
2022-11-04 14:00 - 15:30
This is an open forum for the Columbia University entrepreneurship community.
RSVP here
Join Columbia Engineering to learn the basics about fundraising and legal considerations for startups. This event is open to all schools and students campus-wide.
2:00 – 2:30 PM Coffee and Networking
Arrive early for coffee and network with entrepreneurs, students and mentors at the event.
2:30 – 3:30 PM Panel Discussion
Explore the basics on fundraising for startups, the recent trends, and approaching investors. Panelists to be announced.
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

Columbia Venture Competition: Columbia-CareOne Healthcare Innovation Challenge, Fall 2022 (Deadline, Nov 7)
2022-11-07
Columbia-CareOne Healthcare Innovation Challenge
o Information, eligibility, and timelines CVC Website Here
o Registration Deadline: Monday, November 7th Midnight – REGISTER TODAY

Design for Social Innovation, Spring 2022 (Deadline)
2022-11-11
Are you interested in tackling complex problems through human centered design?
Design For Social Innovation (DFSI) is a semester-long course taught by Sarah Holloway (SIPA and SPS) and Adam Royalty (Columbia Designer in Residence) where Columbia University students and faculty support social enterprises, nonprofit organizations, and the public sector to address complex, ambiguous global problems through human centered design. The course is open to students from Columbia’s 20 undergraduate and graduate schools via an application and interview process.

The 3.0 credit course is a collaboration between the Columbia Entrepreneurship Design Studio and the Columbia School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA).

The class will take place in-person on Wednesdays from 11:00am – 12:50pm at the Columbia Entrepreneurship Design Studio (meeting all but four Wednesdays when teams are “out of the building” interviewing, workshopping and with teaching team in office hours)

In addition to class time, there will be two (2) mandatory Design Sprints on January 20-21 and February 10-11 (Fridays and Saturday, Jan 21 – 1pm to 5pm; Saturday Feb 11 10am to 2pm)

The application-only course will accept a total of 30 students for the Spring 2023 term

This Spring, we will work with NYC-based organizations around the themes of Democracy, Affordable Housing, Civic Innovation, Medical Equity, Financial Security, etc. If selected, you will be placed on a team based on your background and interest.
Applications are now live and they will close at 11:59pm EDT on Friday, November 11. We will be notifying students of acceptance by the end of day on Monday, November 14.
Apply Here!

Columbia Venture Competition Workshop - Understanding Customer Discovery and the Business Model Canvas
2022-11-11 11:00 - 12:00
Open to all undergraduate Columbians, including Barnard.
Columbia Venture Competition Undergraduate Challenge – Understanding Customer Discovery and the Business Model Canvas.
The CVC Undergraduate Challenge is focused on product growth and team learnings — how you’ve gained insights from your customers, how you’ve iterated your MVP, and the process of finding a product-market fit. To learn more about the steps to achieve this, join our customer discovery workshop on Nov 11th at 11am ET where we’ll discuss how to talk to potential users, learn about their pain points, and how you can determine if your problem is a meaningful one to solve. REGISTER TODAY

University - Thanksgiving Break
2022-11-24 - 2022-11-25

Columbia Venture Competition: Undergraduate Challenge (Deadline, Nov 27)
2022-11-27
Undergraduate Challenge
o Information, eligibility, and timelines CVC Website Here
o Registration Deadline: Sunday, November 27th Midnight – REGISTER TODAY

University - Last Day of Classes
2022-12-12

University - Final Exams and End of Fall Semester
2022-12-16

Carbontech Development Initiative
2023-01-13
Learn More
CDI aims to transform New York State into a hub for the carbontech industry by incubating promising research initiatives and mid- to late-stage startups working on key facets of the carbontech value chain, through five programs – three Research Programs supporting research targeting high impact carbontech breakthroughs and accelerating technology from benchtop to commercialization and two Carbontech Commercialization Programs that support startups at mid- and late-stage commercialization through funding and training interventions. Overall, total grants of up to USD 2.75 million will be made to the cohort.

Columbia Innovation Forum: Immigration and Entrepreneurship
2023-01-19 17:00 - 19:00
Register Here
Columbia Engineering’s Innovation Forum 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. Attend to hear about options and requirements for various visas, such as: J1, O-1B, and H-1B; visa options and NYC/NYS immigration resources for foreign startup founders.

AlleyCon 2023
2023-02-17
Register here
Alleycon, Columbia Business School’s technology, startup, and venture capital conference, invites you to the financial district of Manhattan for 9 hours of amazing networking, speakers, and atmosphere.

Columbia Venture Competition is OPEN (Deadlines extended!)
2023-02-23
Welcome to the 10th Annual Columbia Venture Competition (CVC)! The CVC is a series of Challenges, or business plan competitions, for Columbia’s thriving entrepreneurship community. Every year, alumni judges evaluate competitors in six different challenges. Each has its own focus, save for the StartupColumbia Challenge which is open to any kind of business model, including not-for-profit and social enterprises. Check out the available tracks, awards, and eligibility here.

Deadline: Apply for the 2023-2024 Cohort of the Columbia Startup Lab!
2023-03-31 08:00 - 17:00
Click here to apply!
Applications for the 2023-2024 Cohort of the Columbia Startup Lab (CSL) are now open! If you’re a recent Columbia, Barnard, or Teachers College alum working full time on your startup, apply to join CSL for subsidized coworking space, mentorship, programming, and community.

Why CSL?
Space: CSL members enjoy subsidized office space, at a cut cost that makes office space affordable for early startups.
Programming: CSL programming is developed with the specific asks and needs of each cohort, and includes:

Workshops on the basics of running a business, such as accounting, legal, HR, and digital marketing.
Guest speakers and AMAs with vanguards of the venture capital and the NYC startup scene.
Access to the CSL Mentors in Residence ranging from entrepreneurship experts to professors across Columbia University
Regular opportunities for feedback, such as pitching practice, Product Jams, and problem-solution sessions.

Community: Building a business is easier with the support of others who understand the life of an entrepreneur. At CSL, you get the benefit of being around peers who are taking the same risks, struggling with the same setbacks, celebrating the same wins, and asking the same questions.

Eligibility

Teams must have at least one founding member who has graduated from Columbia University before the team’s move in date.
CSL is open to recent alumni from across the University (including Barnard and Teachers College) who are committed to working on their venture full-time.
Only submit one application per team, but include all Columbia affiliations in your application.

Quick Facts

After acceptance, admitted teams may spend up to one year in the space. To be considered for another year, the team must reapply.
Columbia University affiliated tenants are required to commit to a four-month term in the space at a rate of $250 per month/per seat. Non-Columbia University team members will be required to make a contribution of $400 per month/per seat.
The space is administered by Studio by Tishman Speyer and includes: furnishings (desk & chair), WiFi, printing, meeting spaces, phone booths, water/coffee, beer, cleaning/maintenance and access to common facilities across the global Studio network.
CSL provides ongoing workshops, office hours, networking events, and community building activities to help resident ventures advance their businesses. All CSL teams are encouraged to participate.
CSL does not provide funding or take equity in any company.

Application Deadline: Project 2.8, Female Founder Accelerator
2023-05-31
Founded through Columbia Venture Community in 2020, Project 2.8 is a startup accelerator serving early stage, pre-seed startups led by female founders who are current students or alumnae of Columbia University. Each cohort is made up of 10 startups and is industry agnostic. Project 2.8 does not currently invest in, or take equity from, any participating startups.

The application can be found here

The application deadline is May 31, 2023

The program will last eight weeks and will begin this fall in early September

Curriculum is inclusive of core business methodologies and participation provides an opportunity to network with mentors, investors and other founders from past cohorts

For more information about the program, please visit https://www.projecttwoeight.com/

Barnard Startup Summit
2023-06-16 10:00 - 19:00
Hosted by the Athena Center for Leadership and Barnard Entrepreneurs network (BEnet) and now in its third year, the Barnard Startup Summit is a free, in-person opportunity for student and alum entrepreneurs to work with a successful group of Barnard alums in support of their for-profit ventures and for all Barnard-connected entrepreneurs to deepen our community in person. The event will be held on Friday, June 16, 2022, in midtown Manhattan.
From 10:30 AM to 5 PM, Summit participants will receive an overview of a few key things all entrepreneurs need to know, about business models, intellectual property, company formation, fundraising, and pitching.

From 5-7 PM, participants will join alum entrepreneurs and members of the broader Barnard entrepreneurial community for a reception. We’re really looking forward to this chance to get to know each other better!

Aspiring and emerging entrepreneurs can register for the Summit here.

Members of the broader Barnard entrepreneurial community can RSVP to attend the reception here.

Check out this reflection from last year’s summit, written by Izzy Lapidus ’24.

Application Deadline: Pitch HearstLabU
2023-06-17
👩‍🎓 You: Founder of a women-led startup and current student (or recent grad) with plans to take your business to the next level this summer
👥 Us: A community of women entrepreneurs looking to close the gender gap in VC through an exciting and innovative new pitch competition
Match made in heaven? You’ll have to apply to find out. HearstLab is so excited to open applications for Pitch HearstLabU; a startup pitch competition exclusively for university-enrolled & recently-graduated women. The winner of Pitch HearstLabU will become an automatic finalist in our $100K pitch event in the fall.
Female founders, don’t miss your chance — Apply to Pitch HearstLabU by June 17th! ‍ 👉 pitchhearstlab.com/2023/u

Application Deadline: Startup Works (hosted by CBS)
2023-07-01
This six-session workshop series focuses on practical startup skills development and is designed to nurture leadership and talented people with conviction histories and to foster justice-involved startup team formation. Participants will gain practical entrepreneurship skills.
Apply here

Start Me Up Bootcamp Kickoff
2023-07-18
Join a select group of entrepreneurs for 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.
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.

Benefits include

Meet other entrepreneurs and alumni
Join for endless networking opportunities
Receive feedback from Columbia faculty and mentors
Learn about potential funding opportunities
Find out where to plug in Columbia’s wide-ranging entrepreneurial community

APPLY

Unpacking Product Market Fit with Mike Lewis
2023-07-19 12:30 - 13:30
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.

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.
