Student Opportunities

Curricular Opportunities

IDST 299 Design Thinking Course (available spring semesters).

Are you interested in becoming a ChangeMaker?
Do you have an idea for how to better the world or design a new product?

This course is designed as an introduction and immersive experience for students with creative ideas, who want to convert those ideas into value-driven solutions for both non-profit and for-profit spaces. This course is open to all majors, does not count towards the Entrepreneurship minor or concentration, but is the first step in CIE’s Richmond Innovation Fellows program.

Arts Management Concentration

The interdisciplinary concentration in arts management is approachable by studio art, art history, music, theatre and dance majors or minors. The concentration combines artistic sensibilities with business acumen. More information > 

Entrepreneurship Minor

The entrepreneurship minor is available to any undergraduate student other than those majoring in business, accounting, or economics, or minoring in business.*

This minor is specifically designed to provide non-business school students with knowledge and training that will allow them to practice their (non-business) major studies within start-up and small business environments. Entrepreneurship, innovation, and design are inherently multi-discipline topics and complement many other courses of study. Therefore, the program integrates business foundations with entrepreneurship and innovation skills. Thus, our goal is that students who pursue this minor will learn how to integrate their primary areas of study with knowledge from the courses embodied in this program to broaden their thinking and enhance their creativity and problem-solving skills.

*Business school students who are interested in entrepreneurship can obtain such training by following the Management Entrepreneurship Concentration, which is offered by the Management Department.

Bench Top Innovations 

A Robins School of Business program in collaboration with the Jepson School of Leadership, School of Arts and Sciences, and Creativity, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship initiative (CIE), is a year-long student-managed course where 16 students collaborate, ideate, iterate and commercialize a consumer packaged food or beverage product concept. More information >

Co-Curricular Opportunities

CIE Summer Incubator

UR Summer Incubator is powered by a partnership between George Mason University’s I-CORP program and Virginia’s Innovation Commercialization Assistance Program (ICAP). With mentoring and expert guidance, teams learn how to identify initial customer segments, conduct ethnographic research, analyze data, validate ideas, and create a statement to articulate why your idea should exist and an experiment strategy to move your idea forward. Students learn and use the Lean Launchpad as its principal methodology. The program is open to all majors and is fully remote, 240 hours over 6 weeks beginning in May annually, with ongoing mentorship post-program. Students apply to CIE; accepted students receive a $3000 stipend to work on their idea with CIE. More information available on request.  Contact us >

RVA Ecosystem Excursions

Join UR faculty, students, and staff into the innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem to meet potential mentors, collaborators, and employers. Trips are limited to 20 people on a first-sign-up, first-served basis. Trips typically depart the Tyler Haynes Commons bus loop on Fridays.  More information and signup links forthcoming.

Student Competitions

If you decide to apply, CIE is here to support you. CIE will cover travel and lodging expenses so you can focus entirely on representing your concept at competitions. Support for competition costs is for students who work with CIE on materials before applying and for pitch preparation (upon acceptance). Please reach out to the CIE team if you are interested in applying. CIE updates competitions regularly.

Accelerate DC - The Accelerate Student Competition is designed to inspire students to take a business idea, plot out its journey, and engage with a community of entrepreneurs to identify resources and investments for their business idea to succeed. Through the competition, students will engage in creative business brainstorming, practice effective communication, develop collaborative abilities, and interact with business leaders across the community. Deadline - Wednesday, September 11, 2024, 5PM EST. Application Link > 

CEO Global Pitch Competition - Launching a new venture is the simplest path toward job security & financial freedom for any aspiring business founder. Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ have a great advantage in applying for and obtaining funding from Pitch Competitions, not to mention the lack of direct risk in launching a business. Deadline to Submit Applications is September 25th. Application link and More information >

VentureWell E-Team Program - part of the VentureWell Accelerator, supports student ventures as you embark down the path you’re likely to take as an innovator and entrepreneur. We help you advance your invention through a powerful mix of up to $25,000 in grant funding, entrepreneurship training, mentorship by dedicated staff, national recognition, and networking with peers and industry experts. Application Deadline: October 2, 2024. More information >

Baylor New Venture Competition - The John F. Baugh Center for Entrepreneurship and Free Enterprise will host the 13th Annual Baylor New Venture Competition on March 28-29 at Baylor University’s Foster Campus for Business and Innovation. This business plan and elevator pitch competition showcases collegiate student created, managed and led ventures from across the globe. Since its inception, more than 600 student entrepreneurs world-wide have applied to compete in the competition. Nearly $1 million in cash and prizes has been awarded to these collegiate entrepreneurs. Applications for the competition are open Sept. 1 through Nov. 3. More information >

The Launch Place -The Launch Place strives to foster an environment for new and serial entrepreneurs to raise capital and garner the support system needed to take their products and/or solutions into the market place. By doing so, The Launch Place has positioned the Danville City and Pittsylvania County region of  Virginia and Caswell County in North Carolina, to become once again a hub for innovation. More information > 

TCU Values and Ventures Competition - Empowering the next generation of entrepreneurs. We invite undergraduate students from around the world to pitch ideas for conscious capitalism ventures that make a profit while also solving a problem. Recycling plants that employ the homeless. Better access to autism treatment. Human-powered farm machines. Real-time organ donor communication. Winners take home thousands of dollars to help make their ideas come true. More information >

The Heartland Challenge - designed to simulate the process of raising venture capital for a high-growth venture. This graduate student competition allows students to gain valuable experience and networking opportunities, while developing new ventures that may be based on their own ideas/technologies or those developed by others. More information >

Startup Runway’s flagship program is the the Startup Runway Showcase which occurs multiple times a year. It’s an opportunity to show off your work and get access to funding. More information >

BioDesign Challenge - 50+ schools across 15 countries participate in Biodesign Challenge, an international education program for students that introduces the intersection of biotechnology, art, and design and connects them to a global network of leaders in academia, industry, and entrepreneurship who are defining the field of biodesign. BDC aims to pioneer, envision, create, and critique transformational applications in biotech. More Information and deadlines >

Planet Forward StoryFest - an annual competition that selects the most compelling environmental storytelling from university students around the world for a chance to win a trip with Lindblad Expeditions on an experiential learning trip. Winning students come from a diverse variety of backgrounds and schools. Their stories cover the innovations and issues impacting everything from local sustainability initiatives to the effects of climate change around the world. More Information >

Global Social Innovation Challenge - The Fowler GSIC inspires student social entrepreneurs around the world to connect and create business solutions that address social and environmental challenges. Since 2011, we’ve connected more than 3,000 students from more than 25 countries around the world - including Australia, South Korea, Rwanda, The Philippines, Ghana, Mexico, and Peru - recognizing their outstanding social ventures based on positive impact and financial sustainability. To date, we’ve distributed more than $700,000 in funding and in kind-services, to seed the most innovative and promising global ventures. And our goal is to increase that impact! More information >

Student Clubs

Spider Ventures (Student entrepreneurship club)

Spider Diligence Group (Student Investment Diligence Club)