Investor

For those who want to help make capital accessible, shape business plans, construct a portfolio of promising startups, and frequently build expertise in an industry or company stage.

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.

The Bet on Entrepreneurship program provides First Generation and/or Lower Income members of the Class of 2025 at the University of Pennsylvania with an eight-week, summer immersive placement with San Francisco/Bay Area-based charter venture capital firms.

Admitted students are required to attend a six-week Spring pre-program Bootcamp. This co-curricular program will provide the BoE cohort with hands-on and actionable training to prepare them for their summer immersive experience.

Investor Events & Workshops

28
November
This session will explore the variety of alternative entrepreneurship through acquisition and search fund models with Professor Charbel Zreik.
14
November
Join us for an info session about Venture Lab's Bet on Entrepreneurship program. Attend to learn about the program and application process, and hear from alumni of the program.
16
February
Join the Venture Lab team in a session with Marty Rodgers, Senior Managing Director at Accenture, on Feb 16th, 2023 for a discussion surrounding social impact, intrapreneurship, and community engagement as part of the Social Entrepreneurship Initiative Speaker Series. The session will be moderated by Nicolaj Siggelkow, Professor of Management at Wharton.
01
November
Seth Berger (C'89, WG'93) is the Managing Director of the Sixers Innovation Lab, supporting rapidly growing, early-stage companies in the consumer product space and providing speed and flexibility, individualized, industry-leading consulting and investment opportunities to startups with potential.
01
November
Join Red & Blue Ventures and Venture Lab as we co-host our first-ever Pitch Night on Nov. 1st from 5-7p ET, bringing together founders and investors from across the University of Pennsylvania and City of Philadelphia ecosystem.

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.
News
August 17, 2023 11:29 AM
No surprise here, but the University of Pennsylvania has produced a whole bunch of venture-backed companies.
1 Min Read
May 03, 2022 10:33 AM
Left to right: Rob Goergen, WG’00, Founder and Chairman of G5 Capital; Udit Garg, ENG’25; Andrew Diep-Tran, W’25; Aravind Krishnan, C’25, W’25; and Aarush Sahni, C’25.
4 Min Read
December 21, 2021 12:00 PM
Venture Lab is pleased to announce the creation of a new Entrepreneur in Residence program, a marker of the continued growth for the newly-formed entrepreneurship center. The newly-established position is a long-term engagement with the center to provide workshops, office hours, and general advising/mentoring to support early-stage student and alumni ventures in our Venture Initiation Program. Open to all Penn alumni, the role doubles as a meaningful way for former participants of the program to return to their innovative roots and support the development of the entrepreneurial ecosystem at the university. After a strict selection process, the center is delighted to announce that Doug Baldasare, CEO and Founder of ChargeItSpot, a world leader in cell phone charging stations, will serve as the inaugural Entrepreneur in Residence. Baldasare developed the concept for ChargeItSpot during his time in the program as an MBA student at the Wharton School and continues to serve as CEO.
5 Min Read
October 12, 2021 04:32 PM
EMBAs are no longer the preserve of corporate high-flyers, as alumni go it alone
1 Min Read
By  Dee Patel
, October 12, 2021 02:29 PM
Legend, an undergraduate alumnus, was recently honored by Venture Lab, the University’s entrepreneurship center, during a virtual livestream event.
1 Min Read
September 23, 2021 01:34 PM
This article was originally published in 2019.
3 Min Read