VIP-X in Philadelphia
VIP-X is an intense, 3-month accelerator program for the most dedicated student and alumni entrepreneurs and the most advanced startups in VIP-C.

VIP-X runs three times annually: fall, spring, and summer
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What We Offer

When your startup is ready to launch, VIP-X provides the additional resources and mentoring that you need to take your venture to the next level.
Individual advising
Dedicated seed funding
Advanced workshops
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Alberto and Gay Peisach Mentoring Initiative

After receiving support during their time in VIP-X, many founders need industry-specific advice to progress ventures and scale. Thanks to the Alberto and Gay Peisach Mentoring Initiative, VIP-X founders can receive additional support and are matched with alumni mentors with industry and/or specific functional expertise.

If you a Penn Alumni interested in mentoring a VIP-X founder, fill out the form here to register.

Spring 2023 VIP-X Cohort

ALL-in Eduspace is an education consulting firm that offers personalized mentoring.
Creating social change through education for Nigerians.
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Joseph Han, WG'23
Clédo offers clinically proven skin and hair care products to fight public enemy no.1: aging.
NEPRI pasta is a nutritious pasta for the health-conscious consumer.
Odyssey Notebooks uses special papers to create premium and sustainably crafted paper products for fountain pen users, artists, and every-day writers.
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Evan Adamo, WG'23; Conor Brown, WG'23; Aayush Garg WG’24
SecureFlow is the first-ever web-based platform that streamlines the workstreams required to exchange cash in mergers and acquisitions.

Media Mentions

By  Emilee Gu
, November 11, 2022 10:44 AM
In May 2022, Nemu took home the Ashton Family Award for Female Founders in the 2022 Venture Lab Startup Challenge. In this article, Sarah Powers (WG '23), Nemu's founder, unveils the mission and values of Nemu. Follow her journey below!
5 Min Read
By  Emilee Gu
, October 25, 2022 11:00 AM
When Shivani Desai (W ‘25) first came to Penn as a freshman studying in the Wharton School of Business, she did not envision herself as an explorer in the entrepreneurship space.
4 Min Read
, June 17, 2022 10:33 AM
An interview with Peter Bertone, founder of Expansa and a Engineering Graduate.
3 Min Read
, June 10, 2022 11:06 AM
An Interview with Jacob Donnini, founder of Nobo Robotics and an Engineering Freshman.
2 Min Read
, June 10, 2022 11:06 AM
An interview with Rohan Parikh, Wharton graduate and one of the three co-founders of Keye.
3 Min Read

Upcoming Events

05
April
Shaz Kahng is a visionary leader, strategist, and game-changing senior executive who has achieved breakthrough results for consumer focused businesses. She is adept at turning around, growing, and expanding businesses globally and has extensive expertise in omni-channel, apparel/footwear, consumer goods, health & beauty, and consumer tech. A serial Board Director and CEO, Shaz excels at devising unique strategies, building brand equity, and delivering outstanding results. One of the most rewarding aspects of her career has been coaching and mentoring others.

Shaz has a wealth of experience running companies and businesses such as Gymboree, Lucy Activewear, Nike and working with brands like Staples, Carters, Sephora, Tiffany, Levi Strauss, Macy's, Quaker Oats, Kraft, and P&G. As the first female to hold a global business P&L at Nike, Shaz led a turnaround of the Nike Cycling business making it profitable for the first time in history. As CEO of Lucy Activewear, Shaz and her team reinvented the company and achieved profitability in 13 months, nearly two years ahead of corporate expectations. She has served on the boards of children’s apparel retailer Gymboree and OMSignal, a smart apparel company.

Register Here
13
February
While most people’s definition of entrepreneurship only involves starting a venture from scratch, the strategy of buying an existing business, known widely as Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition (ETA), is an accessible, potentially lucrative, and often overlooked path for aspiring entrepreneurs.

Join us on Monday, February 13, at 5:15 pm as Venture Lab launches its Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition program with an ETA Fireside Chat. The event will take place at Steinberg-Dietrich Hall 351.

The conversation will be moderated by Professor Richard Perlman (W’68), Co-founder and Executive Chairman of ExamWorks Group, Inc, and Professor of MGMT 2130 – Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition.

Professor Perlman will be joined by Max Francois and Jason Vahn (both C’11, WG’19), Managing Partners and Co-Founders of Fidelity Memorial Group. The pair will share their pathway to ETA and their experiences purchasing their first business. Specifically, they will discuss how they acquired businesses that had already found product market fit, allowing them to flip the startup model on its head and become CEOs of revenue-generating businesses on day one.

The conversation will provide valuable concepts to inspire newcomers to explore acquisitions as an entrepreneurship pathway and tactical insights for those already exploring the space.

Register Here
02
December
Focused only on Intellectual Property (IP) Questions

Josh Slavitt is a Founding Partner at Slavitt IP Law, LLC and he's been a registered patent attorney for almost 20 years.

At his firm Josh helps clients protect and profit from their intellectual property through the use of IP creation/acquisition strategies, the management of IP portfolios, and the development and implementation of patent enforcement/monetization campaigns.

Prior to starting Slavitt IP Law, Josh was a partner in the Philadelphia office of Gordon & Rees, Scully, Mansukhani.

Josh holds a B.A from the University of Pennsylvania and his J.D. from Boston University School of Law.

Register Here for 1-on-1 session
15
November
The Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Initiative is thrilled to announce that the Lauren & Bobby Turner Executive Speaker Series will return to Penn’s campus for the first time since the pandemic. This year’s event will feature a fireside chat between social impact entrepreneurs Bobby Turner, W’84, CEO of Turner Impact Capital, and Gregg Renfrew, Founder and Executive Chair of Beautycounter. They will share insights, lessons learned, industry advice, and more.
29
November
Arina is a corporate and securities lawyer with extensive experience representing startups and emerging growth companies from formation through initial rounds of financing and beyond, ensuring that the companies are well protected and enabled to grow and succeed. She also advises angel investors and venture capital funds in making investments.

For her clients in the technology space, Arina drafts and negotiates complex software license agreements, master services agreements, support level agreements, software escrow agreements, purchase orders, and terms of use for technology company clients.

In addition, Arina advises on the current legal framework relating to equity crowdfunding and security and utility token issuances in the United States.

As a native Russian speaker, Arina works to enable Russian-speaking founders and investors to conduct and expand their business in the United States or to get venture financing for an exit transaction.

Arina is active in the New York City startup community and is a member of the Wall Street Blockchain Alliance. She is an adjunct professor at Fordham Law School, where she teaches Entrepreneurial Law.

Arina received a BA from Mount Holyoke College and her JD from the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School.


Register Here for 1-on-1 session

Previous Cohorts

Fall 2022
Summer 2022
Spring 2022
Fall 2021

Spring 2021

Fall 2020

Spring 2020

Fall 2019

Summer 2019

  • Air23: (Sieva Kozinsky, WG’20; Vishnu Rachakonda, ENG’18, GEN’19) Helping Pharma Companies Recruit For Clinical Trials
  • Avior Analytics: (Ryan Wosick, ENG’19; Joseph Scheidt) Improving Patient Engagement in Physical Therapy
  • BioAlert Technologies: (Marc Rosenberg, C’18, GEN’19; Soleil Carrero, GEN’19) The First Continuous Infection Monitoring System
  • ConnectED Mobile: (Andie Kaplan, WG’20) Cell phone service made easy
  • Frutero Ice Cream: (Mike Weber, WG’20; Vedant Saboo, WG’20) Sweet Treats Straight From The Tropics

Spring 2019

  • Elix: (Lulu Ge, WG’20) Personalized Plant-Based Healing Formulas
  • Cobare: (Jelece Morris, WG’19) Sustainable Solutions For Feminine Care
  • Keaton: (Melina Flabiano, WG’19) Carefully Crafted Office Workwear For Women
  • Polyview: (Amreeta Gill, WG’19; Tyler MacBroom, WG’18) Enhancing Operational Productivity with Management Software
  • Synovium: (Elston He, L’20, WG’20; Rajiv Patel-O’Connor, C’19; Evan Zou, C’19, W’19) Leveraging Data For Treating Autoimmune Diseases

Fall 2018


Summer 2018


Spring 2018

Fall 2017


Summer 2017

  • brEDcrumb: (Scott Elfenbein, WG’17) Getting Low-Income Kids to Great Colleges
  • E-Health Now: (Kelly Xu, WG’17; Vinayak Kumar, C13, G13, M18, WG18; Ram Prasadat) Bringing Hope to Chinese Cancer Patients
  • Eager Academy: (Chris Hanson, C’17)  Teaching Students How To Learn
  • Fellow Hunter: (Parker Barnett, GEN’18A) A Sharing Economy for Hunters
  • Neuroflow: (Chris Molaro, WG’17; Adam Pardes, GR’19)  Curing PTSD with Wearables
Spring 2017

Fall 2016

VIP-X in San Francisco is an accelerator open to Penn alumni and student entrepreneurs in the Bay Area who are founders or leaders of early-stage ventures. This four-month program runs twice per year, in the fall and in the spring. The company must have traction, and the team must be based in the San Francisco Bay Area during their time in the program.
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