Programs
LEARN
The eHub
Courses
The ehub's courses offer training in the skills, tools, and mindset of what it takes to be an entrepreneur. Courses are interdisciplinary and created for undergraduate and graduate students from all backgrounds to thrive and help them launch businesses of their own.
Connecticut Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Get Seeded
Get Seeded provides students with the opportunity to pitch their ideas to an audience of their peers. Teams that are selected to pitch have an opportunity to earn up to $1,000 in seed funding for their idea, mentorship, as well as support from other students who may be interested in joining their team.
Traction
The Connecticut Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation launched this program to support UConn-affiliated startup ideas as they work to validate the concept. Participants will learn the key elements of the Business Model Canvas (BMC) and the lean startup methodology.
National Science Foundation's Innovation Corps
The U.S. National Science Foundation's Innovation Corps (I-Corps™) program is an immersive, entrepreneurial training program that facilitates the transformation of invention to impact.
Technology Commercialization Services
Innovation Fellowship Program
The UConn TIP Innovation Fellowship pairs UConn students with University startup companies for mentored summer research fellowships in business or STEM areas. As part of its program, students receive mentorship, weekly seminars, and experience that may led to and internship or part-time employment within the company they are matched with.
School of Business
Hillside Ventures
Hillside Ventures is an early-stage venture fund supporting companies either founded by UConn alumni or that are in the sustainability, insurtech, or edtech industries. Hillside provides students real world venture capital experience as they invest into startups while receiving mentorship and guidance from a panel of expert alumni. The fund's mission is to support the rapid growth of entrepreneurship at the University, engage diverse personal and professional backgrounds, pave the way for students heading towards private capital and present many other opportunities that would otherwise not be available from the undergraduate level.
BUILD
UConn Tech Park
Proof of Concept Center
The POCC offers state-of-the-art prototyping and fabrication equipment that facilitate new product development, from conceptualization and ideation to creation of fully functional prototypes for a wide range of industries.
Innovate Labs
OPIM Innovate
OPIM Innovate is an educational research lab providing students of all disciplines with opportunities and resources to learn, explore, and develop industry-valued skills outside the classroom around emerging technology and analytics. Our goal is to create experiential learning opportunities for students of all backgrounds to develop new combinations of skills that will foster and grow the next generation of learners, leaders, entrepreneurs and innovators.
Office of Undergraduate Research
IDEA Grant
The UConn IDEA Grant program awards funding to support student-designed and student-led projects, including creative endeavors, community service initiatives, entrepreneurial ventures, research projects, and other original and innovative projects.
Student Health and Wellness
Innovate Wellness
Innovate Wellness is a UConn Student Health and Wellness initiative with additional support from the UConn Wellness Coalition. Innovate Wellness is a space for students to come together to and, through the design thinking process, develop innovative solutions for health and wellness concerns they see on campus. Students are able to join this process in 3 different ways, submit an idea, join or create teams to work on ideas, or provide feedback for on-going projects. Students are provided mentorship by UConn faculty and staff to develop their skills, build out their ideas, and prototype their innovations on campus during the process.
Office of the Vice President for Research
START Preliminary Proof of Concept Fund
The program aims to support the preliminary validation of innovative early stage technologies that have possible commercial potential and is designed to bring those technologies to a stage that may be more attractive for additional later stage translational funding support.
SPARK Technology Commercialization Fund
The Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) SPARK Technology Commercialization Fund supports the translation of research discoveries into products, processes, and other commercial applications.
LAUNCH
Connecticut Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Summer Fellowship
The top ten startups from across the University are selected to participate in the Summer Fellowship experience. This program takes place 3 days a week over 8 weeks where participants develop the skills needed to bring new products, services, and technologies to market
School of Business
Innovation Quest
Innovation Quest (iQ) wants to help you turn your idea into a prototype into a company. The purpose of this competition is to provide student entrepreneurs with the opportunity of chasing after that idea they always wonder about, and actually turning it into a real business.
SCALE
Technology Commercialization Services
Technology Incubation Program
By coupling UConn's world-class research resources, facilities, and business support services to a network of experienced investors and entrepreneurs, UConn’s technology incubation program (TIP) helps launch startups ready to transform their respective markets.
Connecticut Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Wolff New Venture Competition
The Wolff New Venture Competition features live pitches by the five top startups coming out of UConn each year. CCEI works to strengthen the support for the university's top entrepreneurial teams and take them beyond concepts and towards market readiness.
CT Next
AccelerateCT
The AccelerateCT initiative's goal is to enhance the competitiveness of SBIR/STTR proposals among Connecticut’s young technology companies. The program helps technology-enabled companies based in Connecticut strengthen their applications for non-dilutive federal research and development funding through the nation’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs.
The Talent Bridge Program
Connecticut has the talent and the opportunities—and CTNext can help companies and students bridge the gap with our internship program. The Talent Bridge Program (TTB) is an opportunity for innovation-driven companies in Connecticut to source additional funding for the hire of student interns.
ABCT
Accelerator for Biosciences in Connecticut
ABCT is the first and only competitive-entry, six-month program of personalized entrepreneurial education delivered for first time founders of bioscience ventures of any development stage focused on healthcare innovation in Connecticut. ABCT focuses on unlocking the unknown by addressing individual needs and utilizing accredited entrepreneur coaches and expert mentors to craft unique, educational experiences crucial to the development of successful ventures.