What You'll Learn
VIP-Practicum is an opportunity for students to learn about startup life, be educated about critical concepts in venture creation, and apply skills learned in their entrepreneurship and innovation classes to a specific project connected to a student-founded venture in Venture Lab’s Venture Initiation Program (VIP).
Students commit to a project with a VIP venture for one semester (approximately 10 weeks/ 10 hours per week). As this fellowship is educational in nature and for the student’s benefit, all fellows are unpaid. Students also can participate in VIP workshops, boot camps, and advising sessions alongside founders.
The program is open to all Penn students.
Students commit to a project with a VIP venture for one semester (approximately 10 weeks/ 10 hours per week). As this fellowship is educational in nature and for the student’s benefit, all fellows are unpaid. Students also can participate in VIP workshops, boot camps, and advising sessions alongside founders.
The program is open to all Penn students.
Penn acts as a great mechanism to vet the talent with whom you will work, and because of this, Penn is able to churn out successful startup after successful startup.
Featured Startups
Pairfect // Modern-day matchmaking service
About the Venture
Pairfect is a modern-day matchmaking service that introduces single people to other singles through a combination of technology and matchmakers who screen each user and suggest matches.
What is unique about your venture and why would someone want to work with you? How will your company provide a good experience for the VIP Fellow?
Online dating users are tired of endlessly swiping on profiles. For those seeking more intentional relationships, working with a matchmaker is expensive and often costs at least thousands per match.
Pairfect combines elements of modern dating apps and traditional matchmaking to create a dating service that is both personalized and accessible. We offer an authentic alternative to dating apps by having our matchmakers meet with every user. We also differ from traditional matchmakers because we incorporate technology that enables matches to be formed across our network of matchmakers.
At Pairfect, our vision is to create a world where anybody seeking a meaningful relationship can find one. Joining us at this stage will give you the opportunity to play an influential role in how we scale our service to additional cities. Pairfect has previously raised funding, which will be dedicated to ongoing customer acquisition.
You will be working directly with the founder on integral functions to the company, including customer discovery, marketing, and external partnerships. You will also be in close collaboration with our incredible team of matchmakers, who have backgrounds in clinical psychology and social work. We are committed to delivering hands-on experiences and strong mentorship for fellows interested in consumer-centric marketing roles.
What stage of venture implementation are you currently in? What is your next milestone and how will you achieve it? How can your fellow help make an impact?
Last year, Pairfect piloted its service among UPenn graduate students, and will be launching its service across graduate students in Philadelphia this fall. Below are our upcoming goals, and the responsibilities we will entrust to our fellows:
What skills and attributes are you looking for in a VIP Fellow?
The primary roles that we are seeking pertain to customer acquisition and marketing. We are seeking students who are passionate about our mission and eager to connect people in meaningful ways. Below are specific details on what responsibilities will be entrusted to our fellows:
Social Media Marketing:
Partnerships:
We are seeking students who are passionate about our mission and eager to connect people in meaningful ways. If you do not have these specific skill sets but are eager to add value to Pairfect, please reach out to admin@pairfect.net.
Pairfect is a modern-day matchmaking service that introduces single people to other singles through a combination of technology and matchmakers who screen each user and suggest matches.
What is unique about your venture and why would someone want to work with you? How will your company provide a good experience for the VIP Fellow?
Online dating users are tired of endlessly swiping on profiles. For those seeking more intentional relationships, working with a matchmaker is expensive and often costs at least thousands per match.
Pairfect combines elements of modern dating apps and traditional matchmaking to create a dating service that is both personalized and accessible. We offer an authentic alternative to dating apps by having our matchmakers meet with every user. We also differ from traditional matchmakers because we incorporate technology that enables matches to be formed across our network of matchmakers.
At Pairfect, our vision is to create a world where anybody seeking a meaningful relationship can find one. Joining us at this stage will give you the opportunity to play an influential role in how we scale our service to additional cities. Pairfect has previously raised funding, which will be dedicated to ongoing customer acquisition.
You will be working directly with the founder on integral functions to the company, including customer discovery, marketing, and external partnerships. You will also be in close collaboration with our incredible team of matchmakers, who have backgrounds in clinical psychology and social work. We are committed to delivering hands-on experiences and strong mentorship for fellows interested in consumer-centric marketing roles.
What stage of venture implementation are you currently in? What is your next milestone and how will you achieve it? How can your fellow help make an impact?
Last year, Pairfect piloted its service among UPenn graduate students, and will be launching its service across graduate students in Philadelphia this fall. Below are our upcoming goals, and the responsibilities we will entrust to our fellows:
- Increase brand awareness across all graduate universities around the benefits of using Pairfect (e.g., identifying and attending in-person events, designing marketing materials, contacting university organizations, drafting newsletters)
- Enhance reach to graduate students through social media (e.g., increasing Instagram / Facebook / LinkedIn followers, launching TikTok / creating Instagram reels); design and test social media strategies
- Implement search engine optimization strategies to improve website visibility
- Form partnerships with restaurants in Philadelphia to offer discounts to our users
What skills and attributes are you looking for in a VIP Fellow?
The primary roles that we are seeking pertain to customer acquisition and marketing. We are seeking students who are passionate about our mission and eager to connect people in meaningful ways. Below are specific details on what responsibilities will be entrusted to our fellows:
Social Media Marketing:
- Skilled in creating social media content (e.g., posts on Instagram, videos on TikTok) and designing email & social media campaigns
- Proactive in identifying in-person events to increase brand awareness, organizing outreach events, and communicating with student organizations
- Creative in collecting insights from matchmakers and customer feedback from students on campus to incorporate into videos
- Previous experience contacting influencers or building their own base of followers
- Enthusiastic about expressing themselves through social media and interacting with customers
Partnerships:
- Proactive in identifying and reaching out to local restaurants who are interested in partnering with Pairfect
- Takes an analytical approach in structuring a partnership monetization strategy
We are seeking students who are passionate about our mission and eager to connect people in meaningful ways. If you do not have these specific skill sets but are eager to add value to Pairfect, please reach out to admin@pairfect.net.
Jochi // Student-life management software for middle & high schools
About the Venture
Jochi develops student-life management software for middle & high schools that enables students to better manage their lives outside of the classroom while streamlining administrative duties.
What is unique about your venture and why would someone want to work with you? How will your company provide a good experience for the VIP Fellow?
After the pandemic, school administrators are demonstrating a stronger appreciation for the importance of student well-being, inclusivity, and extracurricular experiences. Jochi exists to support schools in facilitating this.
We're at an exciting stage where we're now generating revenue and scaling our tools. In joining our team, fellows will gain exposure across the board. This includes interacting with our customers, supporting future product development, and collaborating on existing projects.
What stage of venture implementation are you currently in? What is your next milestone and how will you achieve it? How can your fellow help make an impact?
We spent the last school year piloting our solution and are now going to market - exciting times ! Jochi currently supports over 1k users and is looking to scale our two solutions.
This fall, we'll be "launching" our digital planner, for special ed. centers within schools, to a wider audience. Our goal for this semester is to onboard more centers as well as continue to pilot another solution we're building for student-life deans. Our next big milestone is a successful launch and reaching 10k users.
What skills and attributes are you looking for in a VIP Fellow?
In the past, we've had fellows specialize in projects/certain areas but we're also open to hosting fellows looking to get general exposure across the board (supporting day-to-day operations).
Business Development/Sales - supporting outbound & inbound sales efforts & strategic initiatives to attract more schools.
Product (frontend & backend development is a plus!) - supporting our dev team in managing tickets, building new features, conducting demos, and collecting feedback from our partners.
If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to us - contact@jochi.info.
Jochi develops student-life management software for middle & high schools that enables students to better manage their lives outside of the classroom while streamlining administrative duties.
What is unique about your venture and why would someone want to work with you? How will your company provide a good experience for the VIP Fellow?
After the pandemic, school administrators are demonstrating a stronger appreciation for the importance of student well-being, inclusivity, and extracurricular experiences. Jochi exists to support schools in facilitating this.
We're at an exciting stage where we're now generating revenue and scaling our tools. In joining our team, fellows will gain exposure across the board. This includes interacting with our customers, supporting future product development, and collaborating on existing projects.
What stage of venture implementation are you currently in? What is your next milestone and how will you achieve it? How can your fellow help make an impact?
We spent the last school year piloting our solution and are now going to market - exciting times ! Jochi currently supports over 1k users and is looking to scale our two solutions.
This fall, we'll be "launching" our digital planner, for special ed. centers within schools, to a wider audience. Our goal for this semester is to onboard more centers as well as continue to pilot another solution we're building for student-life deans. Our next big milestone is a successful launch and reaching 10k users.
What skills and attributes are you looking for in a VIP Fellow?
In the past, we've had fellows specialize in projects/certain areas but we're also open to hosting fellows looking to get general exposure across the board (supporting day-to-day operations).
Business Development/Sales - supporting outbound & inbound sales efforts & strategic initiatives to attract more schools.
Product (frontend & backend development is a plus!) - supporting our dev team in managing tickets, building new features, conducting demos, and collecting feedback from our partners.
If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to us - contact@jochi.info.
MineMe // Enabling everyday internet users to own, control, and monetize their data
About the Venture
MineMe enables everyday internet users to own, control, and monetize their data while providing companies access to robust, ethically sourced consumer data. MineMe is built on the following tenets: You own your data. You are in control. And with MineMe, you can monetize.
What is unique about your venture and why would someone want to work with you? How will your company provide a good experience for the VIP Fellow?
Today, the data-brokerage market represents a multi-billion-dollar opportunity. However, key stakeholders are dissatisfied with the data brokerage market in status quo. Consumers are demanding more ownership and visibility over their data while companies struggle to connect with their customers amidst rising marketing costs and declining returns on ad spend.
MineMe is envisioning a data marketplace where both users and enterprises are incentivized to participate. User consent will unlock a higher quality of data relative to what companies have access to today. Users will gain visibility and control of their data sharing, alongside the compensation they deserve for their information.
How does it work? Our plug-in securely collects and stores user data. Users maintain complete control over what and with whom data is shared through our sleek and simple interface. MineMe aggregates and anonymizes data into macro datasets that companies license. Users receive a portion of the profits from licensed datasets, creating a secure data marketplace that benefits everyone.
Joining us at this exciting building stage allows you to heavily influence the company’s product and strategy. Fellows will be exposed to every aspect of building a company including product, engineering, marketing, customer engagement, and much more. We are committed to creating a hands-on learning experience that will enable you to learn and grow alongside us throughout this entrepreneurial journey.
What stage of venture implementation are you currently in? What is your next milestone and how will you achieve it? How can your fellow help make an impact?
We have conducted rigorous customer discovery to prove the need for our product through 200+ interviews/survey respondents across potential users and enterprises. We have built the initial MVP of our data collection tool and are running a beta test with ~100 active users. Our conversations have validated the need for our product and have informed the next key features to build. The most exciting steps are to come, and we’re excited to bring on Fellows interested in paving the way to upcoming milestones:
What skills and attributes are you looking for in a VIP Fellow?
We are seeking fellows excited about big data, marketing, and consumer tech. We are open to a variety of backgrounds as long as fellows are willing to challenge themselves, try new things, bring a new perspective to the team, and learn together. Our focus at this stage is building our product and building our brand narrative, so we are exceptionally excited about Fellows with interest and experience in (1) front-end engineering, (2) back-end engineering, and (3) marketing:
Key Workstreams:
*Please note – we hope you think working with MineMe is an exciting opportunity! That being said, please ensure you are committed to owning your workstream amidst all your other commitments before applying. Every member of the team (including Fellows) is equally critical to our success, and we cannot move forward without the same level of commitment from every team member. Thank you!
MineMe enables everyday internet users to own, control, and monetize their data while providing companies access to robust, ethically sourced consumer data. MineMe is built on the following tenets: You own your data. You are in control. And with MineMe, you can monetize.
What is unique about your venture and why would someone want to work with you? How will your company provide a good experience for the VIP Fellow?
Today, the data-brokerage market represents a multi-billion-dollar opportunity. However, key stakeholders are dissatisfied with the data brokerage market in status quo. Consumers are demanding more ownership and visibility over their data while companies struggle to connect with their customers amidst rising marketing costs and declining returns on ad spend.
MineMe is envisioning a data marketplace where both users and enterprises are incentivized to participate. User consent will unlock a higher quality of data relative to what companies have access to today. Users will gain visibility and control of their data sharing, alongside the compensation they deserve for their information.
How does it work? Our plug-in securely collects and stores user data. Users maintain complete control over what and with whom data is shared through our sleek and simple interface. MineMe aggregates and anonymizes data into macro datasets that companies license. Users receive a portion of the profits from licensed datasets, creating a secure data marketplace that benefits everyone.
Joining us at this exciting building stage allows you to heavily influence the company’s product and strategy. Fellows will be exposed to every aspect of building a company including product, engineering, marketing, customer engagement, and much more. We are committed to creating a hands-on learning experience that will enable you to learn and grow alongside us throughout this entrepreneurial journey.
What stage of venture implementation are you currently in? What is your next milestone and how will you achieve it? How can your fellow help make an impact?
We have conducted rigorous customer discovery to prove the need for our product through 200+ interviews/survey respondents across potential users and enterprises. We have built the initial MVP of our data collection tool and are running a beta test with ~100 active users. Our conversations have validated the need for our product and have informed the next key features to build. The most exciting steps are to come, and we’re excited to bring on Fellows interested in paving the way to upcoming milestones:
- Iterate on our data-collection MVP
- Design and build the front-end customer experience
- Design and build our mobile app
- Continue to onboard users to our beta program / continuously collect feedback
- Build our brand through content generation and organic media campaigns
What skills and attributes are you looking for in a VIP Fellow?
We are seeking fellows excited about big data, marketing, and consumer tech. We are open to a variety of backgrounds as long as fellows are willing to challenge themselves, try new things, bring a new perspective to the team, and learn together. Our focus at this stage is building our product and building our brand narrative, so we are exceptionally excited about Fellows with interest and experience in (1) front-end engineering, (2) back-end engineering, and (3) marketing:
Key Workstreams:
- Engineering (full-stack/mobile experience preferred, former technical experience required)
- Data Collection Tool: Iterate based on user feedback; build additional data-collection use cases
- Front End (User / Enterprise Portal): Build MVP based on initial user research & wireframes
- Mobile App: Scope and build MVP for mobile app for data collection tool & portal
- Product
- Front end (User / Enterprise Portal): Iterate on lo-fi wireframes to produce hi-fi prototypes of the customer journey, informed by user feedback
- Engineering Collaboration: Collaborate with engineers to ensure design specifications are implemented accurately
- Customer Research: Conduct customer research studies, including usability testing, customer interviews, and survey research
- Growth (Organic marketing experience preferred)
- Beta: Manage the end-to-end beta program including attracting and onboarding new beta users and monitoring participation
- Marketing Content: Create content for MineMe’s blog, social media channels, etc; manage campaigns and track results to refine go-to-market strategy
- Discovery: Conduct additional discovery interviews to continue collecting customer pain points and test new product features
*Please note – we hope you think working with MineMe is an exciting opportunity! That being said, please ensure you are committed to owning your workstream amidst all your other commitments before applying. Every member of the team (including Fellows) is equally critical to our success, and we cannot move forward without the same level of commitment from every team member. Thank you!
BUILD Nigeria // Empowering Nigerian youth with higher education
About the Venture
We believe that access to high-quality higher education can have a transformative impact on a person’s life prospects. BUILD Nigeria provides low-income and high-achieving Nigerian youth with a lifelong community of dedicated mentors who empower them to produce outstanding college applications, prepare for the college environment, and achieve their aspirations.
What is unique about your venture and why would someone want to work with you? How will your company provide a good experience for the VIP Fellow?
We offer one of the limited opportunities in the Wharton ecosystem to practically engage in social entrepreneurship, and experience what it is like to shape a nonprofit from the ground up. You will experience a true startup culture, owning your subprojects end-to-end under the supervision of the COO and CEO, while refining business skills and analytical thought processes and having tangible social impact.
As an organization created by students for students, we understand the pressures that can arise and therefore have a culture of caring commitment, which means that whilst we are dedicated to our work, we are also adaptable, using open communication and mutually agreed expectations to ensure that we are able to care for both our students and ourselves.
If you have interest in organizational development, social entrepreneurship, education, youth empowerment or marketing, this is definitely the opportunity for you!
What stage of venture implementation are you currently in? What is your next milestone and how will you achieve it? How can your fellow help make an impact?
Having run the cohort cycle in completion once with 300% ROI in the form of financial aid for our students, we are currently operating our second iteration, and are actively working to scale, enhance processes and thus multiply our impact.
We are looking to launch our Ambassador program, build a more advanced student recruitment and monitoring platform, establish long term corporate partnerships, and add to team capacity by the end of Q4. A fellow would boost capacity to launch the ambassador program and source ideal partner organizations.
What skills and attributes are you looking for in a VIP Fellow?
Anyone with CSR, marketing, grant writing, or research experience is welcome but this is not required.
We believe that access to high-quality higher education can have a transformative impact on a person’s life prospects. BUILD Nigeria provides low-income and high-achieving Nigerian youth with a lifelong community of dedicated mentors who empower them to produce outstanding college applications, prepare for the college environment, and achieve their aspirations.
What is unique about your venture and why would someone want to work with you? How will your company provide a good experience for the VIP Fellow?
We offer one of the limited opportunities in the Wharton ecosystem to practically engage in social entrepreneurship, and experience what it is like to shape a nonprofit from the ground up. You will experience a true startup culture, owning your subprojects end-to-end under the supervision of the COO and CEO, while refining business skills and analytical thought processes and having tangible social impact.
As an organization created by students for students, we understand the pressures that can arise and therefore have a culture of caring commitment, which means that whilst we are dedicated to our work, we are also adaptable, using open communication and mutually agreed expectations to ensure that we are able to care for both our students and ourselves.
If you have interest in organizational development, social entrepreneurship, education, youth empowerment or marketing, this is definitely the opportunity for you!
What stage of venture implementation are you currently in? What is your next milestone and how will you achieve it? How can your fellow help make an impact?
Having run the cohort cycle in completion once with 300% ROI in the form of financial aid for our students, we are currently operating our second iteration, and are actively working to scale, enhance processes and thus multiply our impact.
We are looking to launch our Ambassador program, build a more advanced student recruitment and monitoring platform, establish long term corporate partnerships, and add to team capacity by the end of Q4. A fellow would boost capacity to launch the ambassador program and source ideal partner organizations.
What skills and attributes are you looking for in a VIP Fellow?
- Strong interpersonal skills
- Self-motivated/Driven
- Open-minded and flexible
- Advanced written communication skills
- Fill the gap mentality: Working on the early stages of any startup requires one to wear many hats, looking for individuals eager to get a taste of everything and fill in where necessary
Anyone with CSR, marketing, grant writing, or research experience is welcome but this is not required.
Fitalyst // Humanizing campus data for First-Gen success
About the Venture
Fitalyst re-humanizes campus data to help close the achievement gap for First-Generation college students and their institutions.
What is unique about your venture and why would someone want to work with you? How will your company provide a good experience for the VIP Fellow?
For many students, the transition to college life is challenging, but for First-Gen students this transition can be particularly more daunting as some face unique challenges due to cultural and socioeconomic differences. These challenges can lower outcomes for student academic success; for example, according to the Pell Institute, only 10% of First-Gen students receive their bachelor's degree in 6 years, and 44% drop out. For colleges, this translates into higher dropout rates of First-Gen students, underutilized campus resources, and misallocation of alumni donations & federal funding. Our team believes that true innovation is inextricably tied to social impact and if our solution works for First-Gen students, it’ll work for all students! Social innovation-focused fellows will have the opportunity to gain practical skills (biz & product/tech development) in managing our flagship product, Dash, as we pilot with students this semester. Our team spends the first couple of meetings aligning team and individual goals to make sure that the fellow's time with us is truly enriching and impactful. "I’ve learned a lot working on the backend for Fitalyst, and I’ve definitely been able to add to my skill set." - Abdi Mohamed (Summer 2023 intern)
What stage of venture implementation are you currently in? What is your next milestone and how will you achieve it? How can your fellow help make an impact?
Our Dash product leverages behavioral science principles to help First-Generation college students anticipate their intentions around academic and wellness outcomes. Dash is a browser extension that transforms your new tab into a self-regulation tool. It includes a countdown timer for due dates, meetings, or bedtime, an emoji bar to monitor mood, energy, and activities, and a traffic light indicator to prioritize urgent tasks. Fellows will be essential in maintaining and iterating Dash throughout the semester while also helping to strengthen our pitch and Go-to-Market strategy.
What skills and attributes are you looking for in a VIP Fellow?
Fitalyst re-humanizes campus data to help close the achievement gap for First-Generation college students and their institutions.
What is unique about your venture and why would someone want to work with you? How will your company provide a good experience for the VIP Fellow?
For many students, the transition to college life is challenging, but for First-Gen students this transition can be particularly more daunting as some face unique challenges due to cultural and socioeconomic differences. These challenges can lower outcomes for student academic success; for example, according to the Pell Institute, only 10% of First-Gen students receive their bachelor's degree in 6 years, and 44% drop out. For colleges, this translates into higher dropout rates of First-Gen students, underutilized campus resources, and misallocation of alumni donations & federal funding. Our team believes that true innovation is inextricably tied to social impact and if our solution works for First-Gen students, it’ll work for all students! Social innovation-focused fellows will have the opportunity to gain practical skills (biz & product/tech development) in managing our flagship product, Dash, as we pilot with students this semester. Our team spends the first couple of meetings aligning team and individual goals to make sure that the fellow's time with us is truly enriching and impactful. "I’ve learned a lot working on the backend for Fitalyst, and I’ve definitely been able to add to my skill set." - Abdi Mohamed (Summer 2023 intern)
What stage of venture implementation are you currently in? What is your next milestone and how will you achieve it? How can your fellow help make an impact?
Our Dash product leverages behavioral science principles to help First-Generation college students anticipate their intentions around academic and wellness outcomes. Dash is a browser extension that transforms your new tab into a self-regulation tool. It includes a countdown timer for due dates, meetings, or bedtime, an emoji bar to monitor mood, energy, and activities, and a traffic light indicator to prioritize urgent tasks. Fellows will be essential in maintaining and iterating Dash throughout the semester while also helping to strengthen our pitch and Go-to-Market strategy.
What skills and attributes are you looking for in a VIP Fellow?
- Business Fellows will work on:
- Ambassador Program that spreads the brand on college campuses
- Bottoms-up market sizing
- Help develop go-to-market strategy
- Explore grant opportunities
- Research Fellows will work on:
- Help run out 3 planned pilots this semester
- Develop and execute interviewing and surveying strategy
- Market & customer research on different Higher Ed stakeholders, First-Gen students, and other under-represented students (neuro-divergent, transfer, and international)
- Software Engineering Fellows will work on:
- Iterate on the Frontend and Backend of our Dash product based on pilot feedback
- Wireframe and help design our educator-facing tool
- Software Engineering Fellow skills should include:
- Wireframing, data modeling, data analysis, and backend data infrastructure development
- Experience consuming and/or building REST and/or GraphQL APIs
- Authentication and authorization flows
Enclai // Market research copilot for investment analysts, powered by generative AI
About the Venture
Enclai is a best-in-class market research copilot that is powered by generative AI built for investment analysts.
What is unique about your venture and why would someone want to work with you? How will your company provide a good experience for the VIP Fellow?
We have validated the venture through 30+ conversations with our target persona. We have several beta users from top-name buy-side firms. We are getting mentorship from a top VC firm and will be starting the fundraising process this fall. We have had VIP fellows before and know how to create a great environment for learning and growing.
What stage of venture implementation are you currently in? What is your next milestone and how will you achieve it? How can your fellow help make an impact?
We have an initial MVP and are building out our product roadmap. We are getting live feedback from beta users in order to further refine our product. Fellows can help with further developing the MVP in several ways.
What skills and attributes are you looking for in a VIP Fellow?
We have a strong preference for fellows who have some finance background (full-time or internships), especially at buy-side firms with a focus on public equities. Fellows should be excited by Generative AI and LLMs and the impact this new technology can have on workflow. We are looking for fellows in the following areas:
Enclai is a best-in-class market research copilot that is powered by generative AI built for investment analysts.
What is unique about your venture and why would someone want to work with you? How will your company provide a good experience for the VIP Fellow?
We have validated the venture through 30+ conversations with our target persona. We have several beta users from top-name buy-side firms. We are getting mentorship from a top VC firm and will be starting the fundraising process this fall. We have had VIP fellows before and know how to create a great environment for learning and growing.
What stage of venture implementation are you currently in? What is your next milestone and how will you achieve it? How can your fellow help make an impact?
We have an initial MVP and are building out our product roadmap. We are getting live feedback from beta users in order to further refine our product. Fellows can help with further developing the MVP in several ways.
What skills and attributes are you looking for in a VIP Fellow?
We have a strong preference for fellows who have some finance background (full-time or internships), especially at buy-side firms with a focus on public equities. Fellows should be excited by Generative AI and LLMs and the impact this new technology can have on workflow. We are looking for fellows in the following areas:
- Engineering:
- Focus on full-stack development (expertise in Python and React/Typescript)
- Build additional product features and functionality
- Product (Finance/Research):
- Experience in some type of investment management firm required (internships or full-time)
- Experience in some type of investment management firm required (internships or full-time)
- Doing deep dives on model outputs to help identify accuracy and areas of improvement
- Help with product roadmap based on historical modeling
ProBook // B2B SaaS software that helps HVAC & Plumbing businesses maximize profitability
About the Venture
Probook is an exploding B2B SaaS software in the home services space. Probook is an automated dispatch plug-in for field service management tools that helps HVAC & Plumbing businesses maximize profitability.
What is unique about your venture and why would someone want to work with you?
Probook fundamentally reinvents how home service businesses think about dispatching. Rather than focusing on driving time and relying on human dispatchers, Probook enables HVAC companies to send correct techs to calls to maximize ticket size in the most efficient way possible. Probook is unique in that its team is entirely technical and founded by M&T students with backgrounds in the trades. Blue-collar tech is a massive yet untapped market that private equity is heavily invested in.
How will your company provide a good experience for the VIP Fellow?
Probook will fully handle onboarding and bring fellows up to speed on the fundamental home services industry before getting into our service. Probook will provide fellows with a meticulously designed ecosystem designed over a year of trial and error to facilitate maximal personal growth for fellows.
What stage of venture implementation are you currently in? What is your next milestone and how will you achieve it? How can your fellow help make an impact?
Probook is moving from product-market fit to a scaling phase. Probook has 3 B2B clients with about 80 managed technicians. Our next milestones include onboarding 6 more 50-tech HVAC companies by the end of 2023, while also beginning the onboarding process with a major private equity group with more than 30 HVAC brands. Our goal is to have 2,000 techs managed by Probook in a year's time. We will achieve this milestone by augmenting strong existing relationships and visiting conferences throughout the fall. We are traveling to 5 conferences in the next 6 weeks and visiting several prospective clients onsite. Sales prospects and channel sales opportunities are very promising and our short-term sales effort. Fellows can make an impact by helping improve sales systems and bringing in clients using a variety of methods. We will provide fellows with systems, but encourage them to explore their own methods of customer acquisition. We believe that a motivated fellow would be invaluable to our business development efforts. Our operational side is also becoming more involved so an analytical fellow would be helpful for managing existing customer relations.
What skills and attributes are you looking for in a VIP Fellow?
While we don't expect home services knowledge, we are seeking fellows with sales experience, especially in B2B settings. Home services are a relationship-driven space, so a fellow with experience in B2B growth is preferred. An ideal business development fellow is process-oriented and willing to talk to prospective clients. An ideal operations fellow is analytical and self-driven to draw his or her own insights from provided reports.
Probook is an exploding B2B SaaS software in the home services space. Probook is an automated dispatch plug-in for field service management tools that helps HVAC & Plumbing businesses maximize profitability.
What is unique about your venture and why would someone want to work with you?
Probook fundamentally reinvents how home service businesses think about dispatching. Rather than focusing on driving time and relying on human dispatchers, Probook enables HVAC companies to send correct techs to calls to maximize ticket size in the most efficient way possible. Probook is unique in that its team is entirely technical and founded by M&T students with backgrounds in the trades. Blue-collar tech is a massive yet untapped market that private equity is heavily invested in.
How will your company provide a good experience for the VIP Fellow?
Probook will fully handle onboarding and bring fellows up to speed on the fundamental home services industry before getting into our service. Probook will provide fellows with a meticulously designed ecosystem designed over a year of trial and error to facilitate maximal personal growth for fellows.
What stage of venture implementation are you currently in? What is your next milestone and how will you achieve it? How can your fellow help make an impact?
Probook is moving from product-market fit to a scaling phase. Probook has 3 B2B clients with about 80 managed technicians. Our next milestones include onboarding 6 more 50-tech HVAC companies by the end of 2023, while also beginning the onboarding process with a major private equity group with more than 30 HVAC brands. Our goal is to have 2,000 techs managed by Probook in a year's time. We will achieve this milestone by augmenting strong existing relationships and visiting conferences throughout the fall. We are traveling to 5 conferences in the next 6 weeks and visiting several prospective clients onsite. Sales prospects and channel sales opportunities are very promising and our short-term sales effort. Fellows can make an impact by helping improve sales systems and bringing in clients using a variety of methods. We will provide fellows with systems, but encourage them to explore their own methods of customer acquisition. We believe that a motivated fellow would be invaluable to our business development efforts. Our operational side is also becoming more involved so an analytical fellow would be helpful for managing existing customer relations.
What skills and attributes are you looking for in a VIP Fellow?
While we don't expect home services knowledge, we are seeking fellows with sales experience, especially in B2B settings. Home services are a relationship-driven space, so a fellow with experience in B2B growth is preferred. An ideal business development fellow is process-oriented and willing to talk to prospective clients. An ideal operations fellow is analytical and self-driven to draw his or her own insights from provided reports.
Odyssey Notebooks // D2C brand for premium paper products
About the Venture
Odyssey Notebooks is a D2C brand for premium paper products. We create the highest quality stationery for fountain pen users, bullet journalists, and more. Since our start two years ago, we have sold tens of thousands of notebooks to a loyal and enthusiastic community. Our products have received rave reviews and have been featured on several prominent blogs and channels.
What is unique about your venture and why would someone want to work with you? How will your company provide a good experience for the VIP Fellow?
We're at a stage where everything the fellow does would translate directly into sales and impact in the company. This past summer, we worked with 4 different students (3 from the Penn ecosystem) and had a great experience with them - fellows will really be able to own and take charge of their respective workstreams.
What stage of venture implementation are you currently in? What is your next milestone and how will you achieve it? How can your fellow help make an impact?
The product is on the market, and we are aiming to expand our customer base through a number of new initiatives (e.g. website, marketing strategies, finding a 3PL, etc) Our fellows will be helping us with running analytics & generating content to test different hypotheses with our customers / audience. A lot of this can be tracked by KPI, which shows off how much impact the fellow is making.
Some responsibilities include:
What skills and attributes are you looking for in a VIP Fellow?
Odyssey Notebooks is seeking motivated and detail-oriented fellows. This internship will provide an opportunity to gain hands-on experience in marketing, eCommerce, and business development. The ideal candidate should be comfortable with ambiguity and working in a fast-paced, startup environment.
Please also see attached for a past ON JD!
Odyssey Notebooks is a D2C brand for premium paper products. We create the highest quality stationery for fountain pen users, bullet journalists, and more. Since our start two years ago, we have sold tens of thousands of notebooks to a loyal and enthusiastic community. Our products have received rave reviews and have been featured on several prominent blogs and channels.
What is unique about your venture and why would someone want to work with you? How will your company provide a good experience for the VIP Fellow?
We're at a stage where everything the fellow does would translate directly into sales and impact in the company. This past summer, we worked with 4 different students (3 from the Penn ecosystem) and had a great experience with them - fellows will really be able to own and take charge of their respective workstreams.
What stage of venture implementation are you currently in? What is your next milestone and how will you achieve it? How can your fellow help make an impact?
The product is on the market, and we are aiming to expand our customer base through a number of new initiatives (e.g. website, marketing strategies, finding a 3PL, etc) Our fellows will be helping us with running analytics & generating content to test different hypotheses with our customers / audience. A lot of this can be tracked by KPI, which shows off how much impact the fellow is making.
Some responsibilities include:
- Social media track
- Develop and execute social media strategies (e.g., establish an affiliate network)
- Create content with existing Odyssey products and manage IG and TikTok accounts; analyze data and trends to expand Odyssey’s reach and engagement
- Copy track
- Build out Odyssey’s web copy and improve its SEO rankings (e.g, optimizing product descriptions and category pages)
- Create a welcome email flow on Klaviyo to strengthen customer relationships, including drafting content, segmenting the list, and analyzing performance data
- Design track
- Conduct market research (e.g., customer surveys, industry interviews) to identify trends and advise on / build out future product designs
- Assist with Shopify shop-front development to improve user experience
What skills and attributes are you looking for in a VIP Fellow?
Odyssey Notebooks is seeking motivated and detail-oriented fellows. This internship will provide an opportunity to gain hands-on experience in marketing, eCommerce, and business development. The ideal candidate should be comfortable with ambiguity and working in a fast-paced, startup environment.
Please also see attached for a past ON JD!
Munch // Building food automation for quick-service dining areas
About the Venture
Munch Industries is building food automation for quick-service dining areas. Our first product is Orble, a customer-facing automatic bubble tea machine for dining areas to get into the 4 billion dollar boba market.
What is unique about your venture and why would someone want to work with you? How will your company provide a good experience for the VIP Fellow?
We believe that food automation is the next big thing. Yet, as rent and labor costs rise, most solutions show a robotic arm that makes food like a person would.
Our team of engineers is challenging the idea that people cook in an optimal way. Existing methods are made around human constraints: most of us have two hands for one task at a time. If instead, you start with the needs of the food product and not the existing process, we can make the space-efficient food automation that people need.
That’s the thinking behind our first product, Orble. We’ve already built a prototype for Orble, a free-standing boba machine that belongs not only alongside vending machines at malls, universities, and other high-traffic public spaces but also in office break rooms and coworking spaces. We’ve parallelized a previously sequential process, developing IP transferable across foods, and we’re running pilots in the spring with plans to sell machines and ingredients.
Build alongside us on the cutting edge of IoT and automation, work directly with our customers, investors, and regulatory stakeholders, and join us for tastings in our state-of-the-art test kitchen. The VIP Fellow will get to work closely with Orble co-founders and have a significant opportunity to contribute to the company’s strategy and direction.
What stage of venture implementation are you currently in? What is your next milestone and how will you achieve it? How can your fellow help make an impact?
We are currently a pre-seed company building our second prototype. On the business development side, we are about to embark on our largest funding campaign yet, launching in November. Our business development fellows will shape our fundraising strategy and marketing, support pilot program, set up endeavors and pilot-to-customer transitions, and rigorously test the assumptions behind our economic model.
On the engineering side, we’re transforming our proof-of-concept prototype to a food-safe machine by October, and rigorously testing the product to make sure it can handle our large-scale pilot program for the rest of the semester. We’re looking for passionate fellows to take our award-winning prototype to the next level.
What skills and attributes are you looking for in a VIP Fellow?
Business Development Fellow
Marketing Fellow
Mechanical Engineering fellow
Electrical Engineering fellow
Munch Industries is building food automation for quick-service dining areas. Our first product is Orble, a customer-facing automatic bubble tea machine for dining areas to get into the 4 billion dollar boba market.
What is unique about your venture and why would someone want to work with you? How will your company provide a good experience for the VIP Fellow?
We believe that food automation is the next big thing. Yet, as rent and labor costs rise, most solutions show a robotic arm that makes food like a person would.
Our team of engineers is challenging the idea that people cook in an optimal way. Existing methods are made around human constraints: most of us have two hands for one task at a time. If instead, you start with the needs of the food product and not the existing process, we can make the space-efficient food automation that people need.
That’s the thinking behind our first product, Orble. We’ve already built a prototype for Orble, a free-standing boba machine that belongs not only alongside vending machines at malls, universities, and other high-traffic public spaces but also in office break rooms and coworking spaces. We’ve parallelized a previously sequential process, developing IP transferable across foods, and we’re running pilots in the spring with plans to sell machines and ingredients.
Build alongside us on the cutting edge of IoT and automation, work directly with our customers, investors, and regulatory stakeholders, and join us for tastings in our state-of-the-art test kitchen. The VIP Fellow will get to work closely with Orble co-founders and have a significant opportunity to contribute to the company’s strategy and direction.
What stage of venture implementation are you currently in? What is your next milestone and how will you achieve it? How can your fellow help make an impact?
We are currently a pre-seed company building our second prototype. On the business development side, we are about to embark on our largest funding campaign yet, launching in November. Our business development fellows will shape our fundraising strategy and marketing, support pilot program, set up endeavors and pilot-to-customer transitions, and rigorously test the assumptions behind our economic model.
On the engineering side, we’re transforming our proof-of-concept prototype to a food-safe machine by October, and rigorously testing the product to make sure it can handle our large-scale pilot program for the rest of the semester. We’re looking for passionate fellows to take our award-winning prototype to the next level.
What skills and attributes are you looking for in a VIP Fellow?
Business Development Fellow
- Strong technical skills in financial modeling and analysis
- Interest in developing go-to-market strategies and navigating health and safety regulatory pathways
- Excellent written and oral communication skills to explore hard-tech VC funding and grant opportunities
Marketing Fellow
- Experience with Photoshop or Illustrator
- Previous projects in graphic design and branding
- Strong written communication skills to develop our marketing efforts, including our social media content and promotional materials
Mechanical Engineering fellow
- Must be in the last two years of a mechanical engineering undergraduate program or in a graduate program
- High degree of proficiency in CAD
- Access to PML (completion of MEAM 2010)
- Access to RPL and experience laser cutting, 3-D printing
- Experience in structural, thermal, and insulation design preferred
Electrical Engineering fellow
- Must be in the last two years of an electrical engineering undergraduate program or in a graduate program
- High degree of proficiency in KiCad, Altium, or Eagle
- Experience in PCB design and manufacturing
InvenTABLE // Kid-safe power tool that allows kids to cut through cardboard and build 3D models with ease.
About the Venture
InvenTABLE is a kid-safe power tool that teaches valuable STEM skills by giving kids ages 8-12 the ability to cut through cardboard and build 3D models with ease.
What is unique about your venture and why would someone want to work with you? How will your company provide a good experience for the VIP Fellow?
We (Kausi & Max AKA the co-founders of InvenTABLE) are both Integrated Product Design graduates and this product was first thought up in an IPD class. From the very beginning, we have placed a lot of importance on following the design process - specifically when it comes to co-designing with our customers, testing, re-designing, and testing again and again. We've been working on this product for over a year to make sure that we have designed something that our customers truly want. We care so much about feedback and advice because it often leads us down really interesting paths. As a VIP Fellow, you would be joining a super collaborative and fun environment.
What stage of venture implementation are you currently in?
We are at a super exciting stage right now where we have a finished (enough) product that is ready to launch on Kickstarter. We're launching on September 28th and are doing some major marketing in order to make sure we have guaranteed backers. We went viral on TikTok with one video nearing 9 million views, and have seen a ton of growth/interest in our product in the past week. By the time you join, we might already have a successful Kickstarter, in which case we'll be doing a lot of building relationships with manufacturers, product development, VC fundraising, compliance testing/getting certifications, and more.
What skills and attributes are you looking for in a VIP fellow?
The most important thing we're looking for is someone who is passionate about education and play! Beyond that, we have a lot of different things we need help with. Here are some options:
InvenTABLE is a kid-safe power tool that teaches valuable STEM skills by giving kids ages 8-12 the ability to cut through cardboard and build 3D models with ease.
What is unique about your venture and why would someone want to work with you? How will your company provide a good experience for the VIP Fellow?
We (Kausi & Max AKA the co-founders of InvenTABLE) are both Integrated Product Design graduates and this product was first thought up in an IPD class. From the very beginning, we have placed a lot of importance on following the design process - specifically when it comes to co-designing with our customers, testing, re-designing, and testing again and again. We've been working on this product for over a year to make sure that we have designed something that our customers truly want. We care so much about feedback and advice because it often leads us down really interesting paths. As a VIP Fellow, you would be joining a super collaborative and fun environment.
What stage of venture implementation are you currently in?
We are at a super exciting stage right now where we have a finished (enough) product that is ready to launch on Kickstarter. We're launching on September 28th and are doing some major marketing in order to make sure we have guaranteed backers. We went viral on TikTok with one video nearing 9 million views, and have seen a ton of growth/interest in our product in the past week. By the time you join, we might already have a successful Kickstarter, in which case we'll be doing a lot of building relationships with manufacturers, product development, VC fundraising, compliance testing/getting certifications, and more.
What skills and attributes are you looking for in a VIP fellow?
The most important thing we're looking for is someone who is passionate about education and play! Beyond that, we have a lot of different things we need help with. Here are some options:
- Mechanical Engineering/DFM Fellow: Support manufacturing strategy & product testing as we begin the post-Kickstarter manufacturing process
- Business Fellow: Supporting sales efforts (especially in building/maintaining relationships with companies that want to supply InvenTABLE to schools and makerspaces), help develop fundraising strategy & pitch decks
- Physical Product Design Fellow: Design & develop STEM-based cardboard projects and patterns for kids to follow
- Graphic Design Fellow: Visually design spreads for a workbook that teaches kids about cardboard joinery, how to think in 3D, cardboard project ideas, and space to draw and create
- UI/UX Design Fellow: Help us design our online community platform for kids to share their cardboard creations and patterns with one another
Caboodle // Sustainable, bespoke, DIY craft kits for adults
About the Venture
Caboodle is a luxury DIY craft kit for adults. We purchase deadstock and unused raw materials from luxury brands and partner with them to create sustainable, bespoke, DIY craft kits.
What is unique about your venture and why would someone want to work with you? How will your company provide a good experience for the VIP Fellow?
We are both passionate about DIY and love having Caboodle as an outlet to encourage others to lean into their own creativity. A VIP Fellow will have the opportunity to create a number of projects that they will be able to directly enjoy. We also have an engaged and passionate community of crafters, who are fun to be around :)
What stage of venture implementation are you currently in? What is your next milestone and how will you achieve it? How can your fellow help make an impact?
Depending on the Fellow's goals, we welcome their engagement across a variety of business functions or one particular area where they feel passionate. Megan and Rachel are very hands-on and work collaboratively, but our work with interns/ fellows provides them the space to own their projects and prioritize a scope of work that supports their goals.
What skills and attributes are you looking for in a VIP Fellow?
There are several domains we have scoped for near-term engagement. Depending on the Fellow's interests and goals, we are looking for support around the following areas:
Caboodle is a luxury DIY craft kit for adults. We purchase deadstock and unused raw materials from luxury brands and partner with them to create sustainable, bespoke, DIY craft kits.
What is unique about your venture and why would someone want to work with you? How will your company provide a good experience for the VIP Fellow?
We are both passionate about DIY and love having Caboodle as an outlet to encourage others to lean into their own creativity. A VIP Fellow will have the opportunity to create a number of projects that they will be able to directly enjoy. We also have an engaged and passionate community of crafters, who are fun to be around :)
What stage of venture implementation are you currently in? What is your next milestone and how will you achieve it? How can your fellow help make an impact?
- Product development and prototype iteration: We have developed a prototype of our first kit (mother of pearl nametag necklace); and hosted a series of live prototyping events with test audiences to improve product design and usability. In this next phase, we would like to finalize our first kit for sale and begin product testing on the next several kits.
- Market Validation: We have conducted iterative hypothesis-tests and consumer surveys to identify brand value proposition, stakeholder needs, and competitive landscape. In our next phase, we will continue incorporating feedback into our product development and business model.
- Branding: We have developed a brand identity and visuals; and began the IP process to secure namerights and trademarks. We are working with a Penn Marketing group to develop a comprehensive brand and logo, which we will roll out in our next phase.
- Supply Chain & Ops: We have developed an initial sustainable sourcing framework for materials and packaging; and identified and developed strategic supplier relationships for our first product line. As our product development evolves, we will continue building out a more formal supply chain for long term operational health.
Depending on the Fellow's goals, we welcome their engagement across a variety of business functions or one particular area where they feel passionate. Megan and Rachel are very hands-on and work collaboratively, but our work with interns/ fellows provides them the space to own their projects and prioritize a scope of work that supports their goals.
What skills and attributes are you looking for in a VIP Fellow?
There are several domains we have scoped for near-term engagement. Depending on the Fellow's interests and goals, we are looking for support around the following areas:
- Business Development: We are looking for support in developing a launch strategy, setting a price point, developing a strategic roadmap
- Operations: We need assistance developing a supply chain, specifically contract manufacturers to assemble kits
- Product Development: While our inspiration boards are extensive and we love to craft, we would welcome a Fellow who enjoys crafting to support with the refinement of our next kit launches
Airalux Medical // Revolutionizing respiratory care with our innovative smart spirometer
About the Venture
Airalux Medical is a smart, digital incentive spirometer and companion app designed to address unmet needs in incentive spirometry (IS).
What is unique about your venture, and why would someone want to work with you? How will your company provide a good experience for the VIP Fellow?
Airalux uses a clever and simplistic measurement technique to generate new actionable data, increase patient compliance, and streamline hospital workflows during post-op respiratory treatment. Our user-centric design differentiates Airalux; there are no digital incentive spirometers on the market, and our design and features are tailored to the needs of both patients and clinicians within IS.
A fellowship at Airalux will provide direct exposure to both technical development and business development within healthcare.
What stage of venture implementation are you currently in? What is your next milestone, and how will you achieve it? How can your fellow help make an impact?
This past summer, our team worked with stakeholders across the healthcare ecosystem to fine-tune our device and is on track to initiate a pilot of our device in Q1 of 2024 at Penn Medicine. As a VIP fellow, you will work as a backend developer to supplement our work as we refine both our prototype and app to prepare for a pilot study.
Outside of technical development, you will have the chance to gain experience and learn what it means to work at a startup. You’ll work alongside us as we apply for grants, meet with investors, refine our business model, and interview key hospital stakeholders.
What skills and attributes are you looking for in a VIP Fellow?
A strong understanding of computer programming and electronics is desired, but most importantly we are looking for a driven individual with a passion for the health-tech space.
Airalux Medical is a smart, digital incentive spirometer and companion app designed to address unmet needs in incentive spirometry (IS).
What is unique about your venture, and why would someone want to work with you? How will your company provide a good experience for the VIP Fellow?
Airalux uses a clever and simplistic measurement technique to generate new actionable data, increase patient compliance, and streamline hospital workflows during post-op respiratory treatment. Our user-centric design differentiates Airalux; there are no digital incentive spirometers on the market, and our design and features are tailored to the needs of both patients and clinicians within IS.
A fellowship at Airalux will provide direct exposure to both technical development and business development within healthcare.
What stage of venture implementation are you currently in? What is your next milestone, and how will you achieve it? How can your fellow help make an impact?
This past summer, our team worked with stakeholders across the healthcare ecosystem to fine-tune our device and is on track to initiate a pilot of our device in Q1 of 2024 at Penn Medicine. As a VIP fellow, you will work as a backend developer to supplement our work as we refine both our prototype and app to prepare for a pilot study.
Outside of technical development, you will have the chance to gain experience and learn what it means to work at a startup. You’ll work alongside us as we apply for grants, meet with investors, refine our business model, and interview key hospital stakeholders.
What skills and attributes are you looking for in a VIP Fellow?
A strong understanding of computer programming and electronics is desired, but most importantly we are looking for a driven individual with a passion for the health-tech space.
Alopex Golf // Technology products and AI tools for indoor golf and golf instruction.
About the Venture
Alopex Golf creates technology products and AI tools for indoor golf and golf instruction.
What is unique about your venture and why would someone want to work with you? How will your company provide a good experience for the VIP Fellow?
Alopex Golf is a small team of engineers with a core philosophy that sufficient resources and user feedback are the only requirement for building impactful technology. Alopex Golf is positioned at an exciting intersection of recreation, technology innovation, and user experience design.
Inspired by advancements in golf simulator and launch monitor technology, at Alopex Golf we share a vision for the future of golf learning and off-course golf. We believe that convenient swing analysis and intuitive feedback can create more productive and engaging golf experiences. Our primary objective at this time is building quick-to-market tools for our development partners and pilot customers to evaluate with amateur golf clients. VIP Fellows joining the team will have the opportunity to train and deploy machine learning models and collect real user and industry expert feedback.
Depending on the background and interests of prospective fellows, we have specific marketing, business development, and machine learning projects to work on. We are also interested in teaming up with inspired developers who work well with less structure and have their own proposals for high-impact projects that fit our priorities and needs.
What stage of venture implementation are you currently in? What is your next milestone and how will you achieve it? How can your fellow help make an impact?
Alopex Golf is currently prototyping and testing various use cases for software tools in golf instruction to estimate the market value and viability of our B2B business model. As the winter season approaches, many customers in the golf market will be flocking to indoor golf simulator amenities. In anticipation of seasonal trends, we are accelerating our customer acquisition process and developing a preliminary web platform with swing analysis tools and golf coaching workflows.
What skills and attributes are you looking for in a VIP Fellow?
A background in golf is NOT required. We are looking for team members who are inspired by the potential of technology and AI. We are prepared to offer mentorship and guidance, the following skills and interests should broadly cover the scope of the projects available and are not necessarily prerequisite areas of experience.
Engineering/Machine Learning Skills:
Product:
Business Development/Marketing:
Alopex Golf creates technology products and AI tools for indoor golf and golf instruction.
What is unique about your venture and why would someone want to work with you? How will your company provide a good experience for the VIP Fellow?
Alopex Golf is a small team of engineers with a core philosophy that sufficient resources and user feedback are the only requirement for building impactful technology. Alopex Golf is positioned at an exciting intersection of recreation, technology innovation, and user experience design.
Inspired by advancements in golf simulator and launch monitor technology, at Alopex Golf we share a vision for the future of golf learning and off-course golf. We believe that convenient swing analysis and intuitive feedback can create more productive and engaging golf experiences. Our primary objective at this time is building quick-to-market tools for our development partners and pilot customers to evaluate with amateur golf clients. VIP Fellows joining the team will have the opportunity to train and deploy machine learning models and collect real user and industry expert feedback.
Depending on the background and interests of prospective fellows, we have specific marketing, business development, and machine learning projects to work on. We are also interested in teaming up with inspired developers who work well with less structure and have their own proposals for high-impact projects that fit our priorities and needs.
What stage of venture implementation are you currently in? What is your next milestone and how will you achieve it? How can your fellow help make an impact?
Alopex Golf is currently prototyping and testing various use cases for software tools in golf instruction to estimate the market value and viability of our B2B business model. As the winter season approaches, many customers in the golf market will be flocking to indoor golf simulator amenities. In anticipation of seasonal trends, we are accelerating our customer acquisition process and developing a preliminary web platform with swing analysis tools and golf coaching workflows.
What skills and attributes are you looking for in a VIP Fellow?
A background in golf is NOT required. We are looking for team members who are inspired by the potential of technology and AI. We are prepared to offer mentorship and guidance, the following skills and interests should broadly cover the scope of the projects available and are not necessarily prerequisite areas of experience.
Engineering/Machine Learning Skills:
- Web App Development (HTML/JS, React, API design, DB engineering)
- Computer Vision (Image segmentation, Human pose estimation and pose detection)
Product:
- User experience design
- An enthusiasm for data science and data interpretability
Business Development/Marketing:
- Customer discovery and golf markets
- An interest in niche technology markets and customer needs
dubbo // Redesigning everyday household products for a healthier, more sustainable lifestyle
About the Venture
dubbo is improving personal health and sustainable living through the redesign of everyday household products. We do this by creating a new dimension of value for familiar tools in your home, making use of our products easier and more intuitive.
What is unique about your venture, and why would someone want to work with you? How will your company provide a good experience for the VIP Fellow?
We are building a customer-first, design-centric company that develops innovative technologies to make everyday living healthier and more sustainable. Unlike other companies that design good-looking products, we design our products to not only look better but be better both functionally and aesthetically.
VIP fellow will have first-hand experience in converting customer insights into product features and taking a product from concept to market.
What stage of venture implementation are you currently in? What is your next milestone, and how will you achieve it? How can your fellow help make an impact?
Currently, we’re in the Product development & customer validation phase. Our plan over the course of the semester is to finalize user testing of our current prototype, develop a high-fidelity MVP, and get out of the building to conduct customer engagement & validation study.
What skills and attributes are you looking for in a VIP Fellow?
We are looking for a fellow with experience in sales/customer service/project management. The fellow should have excellent interpersonal skills (written & verbal), be detail & goal-oriented, and have proven critical thinking & problem-solving skills.
dubbo is improving personal health and sustainable living through the redesign of everyday household products. We do this by creating a new dimension of value for familiar tools in your home, making use of our products easier and more intuitive.
What is unique about your venture, and why would someone want to work with you? How will your company provide a good experience for the VIP Fellow?
We are building a customer-first, design-centric company that develops innovative technologies to make everyday living healthier and more sustainable. Unlike other companies that design good-looking products, we design our products to not only look better but be better both functionally and aesthetically.
VIP fellow will have first-hand experience in converting customer insights into product features and taking a product from concept to market.
What stage of venture implementation are you currently in? What is your next milestone, and how will you achieve it? How can your fellow help make an impact?
Currently, we’re in the Product development & customer validation phase. Our plan over the course of the semester is to finalize user testing of our current prototype, develop a high-fidelity MVP, and get out of the building to conduct customer engagement & validation study.
What skills and attributes are you looking for in a VIP Fellow?
We are looking for a fellow with experience in sales/customer service/project management. The fellow should have excellent interpersonal skills (written & verbal), be detail & goal-oriented, and have proven critical thinking & problem-solving skills.
Divulge Alliance, Inc. // Teaching intercultural allyship to youth and young adults
About the Venture
Divulge Alliance, Inc. is a 501c3 nonprofit that teaches intercultural allyship to students aged 14-26 through our innovative allyship training programming.
What is unique about your venture and why would someone want to work with you? How will your company provide a good experience for the VIP Fellow?
Our allyship training translates concepts often reserved for leaders within corporate environments to make them more accessible and relevant for young adult audiences. Furthermore, we teach participants to not only recognize their own biases but also to actively shift their own thoughts and behaviors over a long period of time.
Our company, while focused on diversity education, will also give VIP Fellows exposure to the consolidation/application of academic research, experts and leaders both at Penn and in the Philadelphia community, and the basic day-to-day operations of a nonprofit organization.
What stage of venture implementation are you currently in? What is your next milestone and how will you achieve it? How can your fellow help make an impact?
We are looking for 2-3 Fellows to help our leadership team complete the following tasks— (1) Rebrand our website and other platforms to accommodate incoming allyship training workshop requests, (2) Update our book-keeping, payroll, and spending processes to a format that better-suits a growing organization, and (3) Build new relationships with potential clients and donors both on-campus and throughout the Philadelphia area.
What skills and attributes are you looking for in a VIP Fellow?
(1) For this role, we would prefer a Fellow with some experience with social media and website management (especially Wordpress). If a Fellow has less experience with website building, they must be willing to devote extra time to mastering foundational skills using tutorials and guides that we will provide.
(2) For this role, experience with budgeting is a must. Preference will be given to the applicant(s) who have held a Treasury position in the past, but we invite everyone to apply.
(3) For this role, we are looking for a Fellow who is outgoing and passionate about diversity education— as you will be invited to attend multiple coffee chats and networking events with potential clients and donors at Penn, Drexel, and Center City Philadelphia. Having taken some classes on or otherwise gained experience with sales, public speaking, or negotiation would push you to the front of the line.
Divulge Alliance, Inc. is a 501c3 nonprofit that teaches intercultural allyship to students aged 14-26 through our innovative allyship training programming.
What is unique about your venture and why would someone want to work with you? How will your company provide a good experience for the VIP Fellow?
Our allyship training translates concepts often reserved for leaders within corporate environments to make them more accessible and relevant for young adult audiences. Furthermore, we teach participants to not only recognize their own biases but also to actively shift their own thoughts and behaviors over a long period of time.
Our company, while focused on diversity education, will also give VIP Fellows exposure to the consolidation/application of academic research, experts and leaders both at Penn and in the Philadelphia community, and the basic day-to-day operations of a nonprofit organization.
What stage of venture implementation are you currently in? What is your next milestone and how will you achieve it? How can your fellow help make an impact?
We are looking for 2-3 Fellows to help our leadership team complete the following tasks— (1) Rebrand our website and other platforms to accommodate incoming allyship training workshop requests, (2) Update our book-keeping, payroll, and spending processes to a format that better-suits a growing organization, and (3) Build new relationships with potential clients and donors both on-campus and throughout the Philadelphia area.
What skills and attributes are you looking for in a VIP Fellow?
(1) For this role, we would prefer a Fellow with some experience with social media and website management (especially Wordpress). If a Fellow has less experience with website building, they must be willing to devote extra time to mastering foundational skills using tutorials and guides that we will provide.
(2) For this role, experience with budgeting is a must. Preference will be given to the applicant(s) who have held a Treasury position in the past, but we invite everyone to apply.
(3) For this role, we are looking for a Fellow who is outgoing and passionate about diversity education— as you will be invited to attend multiple coffee chats and networking events with potential clients and donors at Penn, Drexel, and Center City Philadelphia. Having taken some classes on or otherwise gained experience with sales, public speaking, or negotiation would push you to the front of the line.
Joiner Events & News
No surprise here, but the University of Pennsylvania has produced a whole bunch of venture-backed companies.
HILADELPHIA, MAY 3, 2022 – The University of Pennsylvania’s Venture Lab is pleased to announce the winner of the sixth annual Startup Challenge, sponsored by Eric Aroesty, C’92: ToxiSense, co-founded by a team of four University of Pennsylvania freshmen, Aravind Krishnan, C’25, W’25; Udit Garg, ENG’25; Andrew Diep-Tran, W’25; and Aarush Sahni, C’25. The Startup Challenge was held on April 29, 2022 at Tangen Hall, the University of Pennsylvania’s hub for student entrepreneurship and innovation.
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.
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