Entrepreneurship can be hard. Small teams start with a crumb of an idea that they build and shape over time into something impactful — something they can scale. But they need funding, access to workspace and talent, distribution networks and customers. It can be a long, lonely, though incredibly fulfilling process.
That's where Carnegie Mellon University's VentureBridge program aims to help.
An initiative of CMU's Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship and in its fourth year, VentureBridge is a free business accelerator exclusively for alumni. Over 12 weeks, participants receive focused support from CMU leadership, build connections and troubleshoot with fellow founders, and meet mentors and potential investors. Acceptance into the program comes with co-working or incubation space and a $25,000 investment funded through the Robert and Kathleen Dobkins Intuitive Foundation.
"Hopefully this is just the beginning of a long journey for our founders," said Namrata Banerjee, director of VentureBridge, a CMU entrepreneur-in-residence and a 2004 Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences graduate. "It takes hard work and passion just to get started. We want to put together a support system they can always count on whether they're happy, frustrated, exhausted or proud."