What is an Explorer?
Curious Learner
Explorers are driven by curiosity—they’re eager to understand the entrepreneurial world, even if they haven’t defined a specific idea or goal yet.
Opportunity Seeker
They actively engage with new topics, people, and experiences to discover where their passions and strengths align within the innovation landscape.
Path Finder
Explorers use experimentation and reflection to clarify their direction—whether that leads to founding, joining, investing, or something entirely their own.
Programs for Explorers
Get focused, one-on-one feedback on a brand, design, content, product-marketing, or production-planning question through Digital Design Studio office hours.
Build practical skills in branding, marketing, content, design, and multimedia production through Digital Design Studio workshops and events.
The Digital Design Studio at Venture Lab is an educational resource to support current Penn student startups of all stages with their branding and marketing, featuring a state-of-the-art audiovisual production studio.
Programming for the 2026-2027 academic year begins September 15th
Programming for the 2026-2027 academic year begins September 15th
The Penn ELITE Fellowship is a paid, one-year, full-time post-graduate program where Fellows serve as entrepreneurial leads to advance Penn and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia health technologies. Delivered by Venture Lab and Penn Health-Tech, the Fellowship advances healthcare innovations toward translation and market readiness.
The Food Innovation Lab helps Penn students bring food ideas to life through kitchen access, advising, funding, events, and practical support.
The Bet on Entrepreneurship Program empowers first-generation and/or limited-income students with training, real-world experience, and community to explore entrepreneurship and build skills for any career path.
Founder Programs
The Visiting Experts Program is a Venture Lab program that provides students with the opportunity to meet and learn from alumni founders, entrepreneurs, subject matter experts, and industry experts in one-on-one or small group AMA (Ask Me Anything) sessions.
Our Retail Lab is a flexible retail space to showcase successful alumni and student ventures, inspire Penn students, and provide active learning opportunities.
The Engineering Studios @ Venture Lab are a collection of fabrication labs open to the
entire University of Pennsylvania community
- powered by the School of Engineering & Applied Science - to make ideas tangible and testable.
entire University of Pennsylvania community
- powered by the School of Engineering & Applied Science - to make ideas tangible and testable.
What is an Explorer in the context of entrepreneurship?
An Explorer is someone who’s curious about innovation and startups but still discovering where they fit in the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
I’m curious about entrepreneurship, but I don’t know what I want to do—can I still get involved?
Yes—Explorers are supposed to be uncertain. Programs like Visiting Experts gives you space to learn, ask questions without pressure, and figure out what excites you most in the entrepreneurial world.
What kinds of experiences are available to Explorers?
Explorers can attend workshops, speaker series, and mentoring sessions, and they’re encouraged to engage with different pathways and perspectives to expand their understanding.
Where can the Explorer Pathway lead?
Explorers often go on to become founders, joiners, or investors—or use their entrepreneurial mindset to drive innovation in any career they pursue. Some may already identify with another pathway but use the Explorer experience to expand their perspective and explore new possibilities.
What will I get out of being an Explorer?
You’ll still have the opportunities to gain exposure in entrepreneurial thinking, build confidence in unfamiliar territory, and start connecting ideas, people, and opportunities across Penn’s innovation ecosystem.
How do I know if I’m ready to explore entrepreneurship?
If you’re asking questions, curious about how things are built, or excited by the idea of solving real problems—even without a clear plan—you’re already ready to explore.
Latest Explorer Events
22
September
Stacey is the founder + CEO of Mariana Tek. She builds tech + consumer companies that take on and win against much larger companies.
22
September
Join Professor Charbel Zreik for an interactive workshop on inner mastery and thriving under stress throughout the entrepreneurship through acquisition (ETA) journey. Drawing on real-world leadership experience, Professor Zreik will introduce five shifts that can help aspiring founders and CEOs lead with greater resilience, clarity, and purpose
23
September
Join us for the Venture Lab ETA Workshop: Introduction to Self-Funded Search with Professor Bob Chalfin on Wednesday, September 23 at 6:00 pm (Tangen Hall, 7th Floor).
The self-funded search model is one of the most flexible and accessible paths to Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition (ETA). In this workshop, Wharton Professor and acquisition expert Bob Chalfin, CEO of The Chalfin Group, will lead an in-depth discussion on what it takes to successfully pursue and complete a self-funded acquisition.
The self-funded search model is one of the most flexible and accessible paths to Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition (ETA). In this workshop, Wharton Professor and acquisition expert Bob Chalfin, CEO of The Chalfin Group, will lead an in-depth discussion on what it takes to successfully pursue and complete a self-funded acquisition.
24
September
Amanda Baldwin (WG'06) is the CEO at OLAPLEX, an innovation and technology-driven global beauty company.
09
October
Applications are now open for the Bet on Entrepreneurship Program, a Program that provides students in the classes of 2029 and 2030 who identify as First-Generation and/or Limited Income (FGLI) with education around the entrepreneurial ecosystem and facilitated access to professional entrepreneurial spaces. The Program does this by supporting students through an introductory Spring Bootcamp and a subsequent 8-week placement within a local Philadelphia-area startup.
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