Programs for Founders
The Visiting Experts Program is a Venture Lab program that provides students with the opportunity to meet alumni founders, entrepreneurs, subject matter experts, and industry experts in one-on-one or small group AMA (Ask Me Anything) sessions. The program aims to provide insights into the practical, conceptual, and personal challenges of launching, acquiring, or growing a venture.
The Penn Wharton Innovation Fund exists to fund creative and meaningfully innovative ventures from the Penn student community while giving students on the investment team the opportunity to develop skills that will benefit them when pursuing a career in early-stage investing.
The Venture Initiation Program introduces and coaches students through the key aspects of entrepreneurship — from ideation and product development to fundraising, business planning, launching, scaling, and more. VIP is structured into five dynamic programs designed to engage and empower aspiring entrepreneurs at every stage of their journey.
The social entrepreneurship programming is available to all of the Penn community, inclusive of undergraduate students, graduate students, and alumni. Financial award opportunities are open to all students who are enrolled full time in a University of Pennsylvania academic program.
The Startup Challenge is Venture Lab at The University of Pennsylvania’s flagship event, which brings together successful entrepreneurial alumni and Penn student entrepreneurs to showcase the best student-founded ventures from across Penn’s campus. Teams have a chance to win cash prizes, in-kind support, and additional resources.
The Wharton Scale School series hosted in conjunction with Lifelong Learning in San Francisco guides entrepreneurs making the transition from a successful startup to a large enterprise. Hear from experts who share solutions to critical challenges faced by rapidly growing companies.
Latest Founders Events
15
April
Professor Charbel Zreik will discuss how to thrive under stress and the 5 shifts for entrepreneurial leaders during all steps of the ETA process. This is part 2 of Professor Zreik's series on Wellness.
This session is open to any Penn student interested in learning more about ETA and the different potential paths to pursue for anyone considering acquiring and operating a business.
This event is organized by Venture Lab's Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition program.
This session is open to any Penn student interested in learning more about ETA and the different potential paths to pursue for anyone considering acquiring and operating a business.
This event is organized by Venture Lab's Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition program.
09
April
Professor Charbel Zreik will discuss how to thrive under stress and the 5 shifts for entrepreneurial leaders during all steps of the ETA process. This is part 1 of Professor Zreik's series on Wellness.
This session is open to any Penn student interested in learning more about ETA and the different potential paths to pursue for anyone considering acquiring and operating a business.
This event is organized by Venture Lab's Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition program.
This session is open to any Penn student interested in learning more about ETA and the different potential paths to pursue for anyone considering acquiring and operating a business.
This event is organized by Venture Lab's Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition program.
This session is an interactive workshop, led by business consultant and VIP Advisor John Ondik, covering the skills and tools founders need to build and manage a successful team. Sessions will be held in person at Tangen Hall in Room 706.**
**Note: This event is only open to members of the Penn community. An active Penn ID card is required for entry into the building.
**Note: This event is only open to members of the Penn community. An active Penn ID card is required for entry into the building.
This series offers an introductory workshop on protecting intellectual property through patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets for founders followed by two Q&A sessions. If you missed the first session, please watch the session recording posted on the VIP-C canvas and bring your questions!
Location: Tangen Hall, Room 706.
**Note: This event is only open to members of the Penn community. An active Penn ID card is required for entry into the building.
Location: Tangen Hall, Room 706.
**Note: This event is only open to members of the Penn community. An active Penn ID card is required for entry into the building.
Whether you're eager to pitch an idea, provide feedback, support peers, or just enjoy the entrepreneurial vibes, you're invited to be part of the Pitch Night experience. We welcome you to participate in Pitch Nights as a pitching founder or as a member of the audience. Each pitch night will have a theme and be co-hosted by a student organization. Following the pitches, we invite everyone to mingle, connect with the founders who pitched, and enjoy light refreshments. Spring term themes:
Latest Founders News
via Daily Pennsylvanian
Alumni entrepreneurs who launched successful startups through Venture Lab return to guide a new wave of student innovators.
Jochi, founded by Yash Dhir, SEAS'24, and Rahul Nambiar, SEAS'24, has been making waves in the Penn startup scene, securing multiple awards and recognition, including Venture Lab's 2024 Startup Challenge's Launch Award, The AI at Wharton Award, The Audience Choice Award, the Draper Bridge Fund Award and has also taken home the prestigious President's Innovation Prize!
PHILADELPHIA, APRIL 16, 2024–The University of Pennsylvania’s Venture Lab is pleased to announce the winner of its annual Startup Challenge: Nirby, founded by Piotr Lazarek SEAS'25 W'25. Nirby is a real-time soil analytics and farmland management tool for large agricultural enterprises, leveraging satellite data and proprietary drone systems to deliver actionable insights within minutes. The tool enables up to 40% savings on fertilizer expenses and up to 15% increase in crop yields.
news provided by Kasa Living
by Jeff Schmitt, Poets&Quants
