Events

Led by the NSF I-Corps Hub: Interior Northeast (IN I-Corps), the free, month-long, virtual NSF I-Corps Regional Courses are designed for university-based STEM researchers and early-stage founders interested in exploring the market potential of their technology and learning valuable entrepreneurial skills. 

September 18 – October 18: Hosted by Syracuse University, an IN I-Corps Hub partner. 

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Apply now! Questions? Contact icorps@cornell.edu or visit  www.in-icorps.org/regional-courses. 

The Center for Technology Licensing (CTL) at Weill Cornell is offering a new experiential course for graduate students seeking to learn about innovation management and academic business development. The next class will be held Fall 2023 and is designed to provide hands-on experience cultivating, marketing and commercializing life science innovations. Interested? Join our virtual info session to learn more. https://bit.ly/PHAR9021-Fall2023

Wondering how to secure non-dilutive funding to take your startup to the next level?

Join Cornell University's Center for Regional Economic Advancement and Kirk Macolini, President of InteliSpark, LLC, for this virtual workshop providing insights into the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) application process.

During the workshop, Macolini will share an overview of the SBIR/STTR programs, discuss eligibility requirements, and tell you how to use SBIR/STTR to enhance your company's value. He'll also answer questions regarding:

• Writing and submitting a successful SBIR/STTR proposal
• Locating additional non-dilutive funding sources
• Applying to the SBIR/STTR Assistance Program, which can help eligible companies, based in upstate New York, hire a qualified grant writing consultant to help them develop a proposal

Register here. 

The next webinar in OUP’s Funding and Equity Webinar Series will focus on cap tables over funding rounds and what happens to equity at exits. Panelists, Manny Stockman and Anurag Agarwal, will run through a sample cap table as it evolves from founding through possible exit scenarios. They will explain differences that may occur in high tech versus life science financings, and they will show how terms reviewed in the OUP valuations and term sheets webinar from February 2023 impact the cap table and resulting exits. Attendees will learn how dilution, increased valuation, down rounds, option pools, and liquidation preferences affect equity ownership and the possible outcomes for investors, founders and employees. Register here. 

Considering a proof-of-concept fund and wondering how to start and operate it? Or already have a proof-of-concept fund and considering some changes? Come join Osage University Partners and its panelists to hear descriptions of programs from three institutions (Northwestern’s N.XT program, Johns Hopkins’ University Grant Programs and related funding, and University of Washington’s CoMotion Innovation Gap Fund). 

Topics covered will include:

• Missions of the funds
• What the fund provides besides funding
• How the fund operates
• Where the funding originated from
• The application and review processes
• Tracking of applications and awardees
• Best practices in operating PoC funds
• OUP’s resources on PoC Funds

Please submit any questions you have for the panelists when you register. This will help in materials preparation for the webinar. Register here. 

Join the Weill Cornell Medicine community for a night of cocktails and networking to celebrate the successful completion of the Business Plan Challenge program by our ambitious newcos.

In this highly selective program, faculty-led newcos complete 12 weeks of seminars led by subject matter experts in market concepts, intellectual property, R&D planning, licensing/partnering, budgeting/fundraising and others. Industry mentors are matched to the teams to support development of their business plans and finalization of their investor pitches.

A panel of VC judges will choose winners for the $100K prize at the end of a pitch competition.

Osage University Partners (OUP) is pleased to invite you to a webinar on the Art of Communicating Your Science and Startup. Join panelists Otto Pohl of Core Communications and Lori Lennon of Thinkubator Media as they share their expertise. Otto will discuss how to think about PR for your startup, from its strategy and purpose to creating a customer conversion funnel optimized to extract the maximum benefit of your media efforts. Lori will share the essential communication pieces needed for a successful company launch. This includes how to build a message (and what that means exactly), storytelling and preparing for your big media opportunity. Register here.

Interested in the cross-section of entrepreneurship, biotechnology and health care? Want to explore starting a company around your research but looking for a program and team to help you along the way?  

The BioEntrepreneurship Initiative provides Ph.D., M.D., and D.V.M. candidates, as well as post-docs from across Cornell’s campuses and Tri-Institutional partners, with the opportunity to immerse themselves in real-world startup creation. Participants will be matched with a dedicated MBA student to design their own life science startup. Along the way, participants will gain the tools, training and connections they need through a certificate program offered by the SC Johnson Graduate School of Management.   

Up to 30 applicants will be selected to start the program in the Spring of 2023 – half of the selected Fellows will be MBA students, and half will be researchers, innovators, and clinicians in the life sciences.   

Apply for the program. The deadline for researchers, innovators and clinicians to apply is April 7. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. For more information, contact bioentrepreneurship@cornell.edu. 

The 2023 AIM-HI Women’s Venture Competition is now open to women-led oncology companies! Women-led oncology companies seeking pre-seed, seed and Series A investments are eligible to apply. The company must have a woman in senior leadership, who has an equity stake – could be Founder or C-level executive. The applying company must have technology ownership in place. Application is due Wednesday, March 15, 2023. Apply here. 

The BenDaniel Venture Challenge (BVC) is Big Red Venture’s Annual Pitch Competition. Five finalists will be selected to pitch their business ideas to a panel of investors during Entrepreneurship at Cornell Celebration on April 13. Winners of the competition will earn a cash prize totaling $25,000 with an additional $25,000 match if the company’s technology is licensed through Cornell.

Companies based in New York state or with a Cornell affiliation are eligible to apply. Applications are open through March 10, 2023. Apply here.