Top Resources For Investors
The Innovation Fund exists to fund creative and meaningfully innovative ventures from the Penn student community. All funding decisions are made by our Investment Team, which is comprised of students from across the University of Pennsylvania.
A VC fund and network of founders, executives and investors committed to mentoring and investing in leading early-stage, student and alumni founders
Apprenticeship in early-stage venture capital. Pear Fellows work directly with Pear’s Investment Partners to learn how we find, pick, and help the best founders.
Our incredible community of experts, operators, and advisors is built by students and backed by First Round Capital. We give our portfolio companies all the help they need to take their companies to the next level.
Through our network of student investors who receive hands-on training and mentorship from GC, we partner with the brightest student founders across the US.
The Bet on Entrepreneurship program provides First Generation and/or Lower Income members of the Class of 2026 at the University of Pennsylvania with an eight-week, summer immersive placement with San Francisco/Bay Area-based charter venture capital firms.
Red + Blue Ventures is a privately owned and operated, seed and early-stage venture capital fund that invests in companies from the Penn ecosystem.
Investor Events & Workshops
01
May
Join us on Friday, May 1, 2026, at Tangen Hall, Second Floor Colloquium to witness the top student-founded startups go head-to-head in a live pitch competition for over $200,000 in cash prizes and in-kind awards.
This year’s competition received applications from student founders across schools at the University of Pennsylvania, demonstrating the interdisciplinary nature of innovation at Penn. The finalist teams are building ventures across industries, including travel and hospitality technology, food and beverage technology, cybersecurity, government technology, robotics and automation, industrial and agricultural technology, and media and entertainment technology.
This year’s competition received applications from student founders across schools at the University of Pennsylvania, demonstrating the interdisciplinary nature of innovation at Penn. The finalist teams are building ventures across industries, including travel and hospitality technology, food and beverage technology, cybersecurity, government technology, robotics and automation, industrial and agricultural technology, and media and entertainment technology.
09
April
A joint workshop between Venture Lab, International Student and Scholar Services, and Klasko Immigration Law Partners.
17
April
Zach is passionate about leveraging data in the additive manufacturing (i.e. 3D printing) industry. He is a past Venture Lab/Penn alumni.
16
April
Alex was Co-CEO/Co-Founder of LOLA, a mission-driven, omni-channel women’s health brand. She now works at BCG X as the Managing Direct
14
April
Ethan Beard is a longtime technology operator, entrepreneur, and investor, most recently co-founder of Yoz Labs.
Related Articles & Stories
Find out what's happening with founders across the #entrePENNeur community! Want to tell your story? Contact us at venturelab@upenn.edu.
PHILADELPHIA, May 5, 2026 — The University of Pennsylvania’s Venture Lab is proud to announce the winner of its tenth annual Startup Challenge: Cloak, founded by an all freshmen team, Rishi Ambavanekar, ENG'29, W'29, and Tyler Sacharow, C'29.
3 Min Read
On Apr 22, 2025, Venture Lab’s Food Innovation Lab and ZenBroth (founded at the innovation Lab!) hosted a tasting and demo cooking session at Tangen Hall.
1 Min Read
Announcing the Finalists of the 2026 Venture Lab Startup Challenge
1 Min Read
At Tangen Hall, Penn’s interdisciplinary hub for makers, designers, and entrepreneurs, two alumni chose to leave a lasting mark by naming state-of-the-art labs that reflect their personal journeys. Amish Jani (W'99 and WG'00) and Svetlana Dunaevskaya (WG'06) share how naming spaces in Venture Lab became a way to invest in future entrepreneurs, honor family legacies, and create a sense of belonging across borders.
1 Min Read
Two Venture lab alumni are among this year’s 84 Scholars from 25 countries!
2 Min Read
PHILADELPHIA, MAY 02, 2025–The University of Pennsylvania’s Venture Lab is pleased to announce the 2025 winner of its annual Startup Challenge: Sync Labs, founded by Melanie Herbert, EE'25
5 Min Read