Purdue Foundry Launches Entrepreneur Program
(IIB photo courtesy: Wes Mills)
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe Purdue Foundry has launched a 10-week program designed to help up to 10 teams of entrepreneurs get their ideas off the ground. The university says Boost will provide teams with business-building guidance and connect them with industry mentors, culminating in a pitch competition that could award up to a total of $300,000 in investment.
Purdue says the teams will be competitively selected and must prove their solution addresses a market need and that they are close to launching a business or product. Each team selected for Boost will receive a $5,000 grant.
As part of the program, which runs from October 29 through February 24, teams will consult with entrepreneurs-in-residence, mentors and industry professionals with the goal of avoiding pitfalls that affect many early-stage startups.
“Each team will design and iterate on growth-hacking experiments that prepare them for pre-seed or seed-stage funding,” Bill Arnold, managing director of the Purdue Foundry, said in a news release. “Participants will test their business model, develop a customer acquisition strategy, create a repeatable sales model, develop or refine unit economics and financials, design a defensible IP strategy, strategize on building a winning team and develop equity strategy.”
The program will culminate with pitches to a panel of early stage venture capital and angel investors. Purdue says if two panelists decide a team is worthy of investment, that team will receive $25,000.
Teams interested in Boost have until October 18 to apply. You can connect to the application by clicking here.