Every startup begins with an idea. For Startup Yale, that idea was to celebrate student innovation across campus.
In 2015, the first iteration of the event took place. It was called the Entrepreneurship Across Yale contest weekend, and four prizes were awarded to students, with ideas ranging from an ed-tech startup scaling early literacy to a crowd-sourced matchmaking app. Two years later, the Startup Yale brand officially launched.
Now, 10 years since its inception, Startup Yale has become a critical part of the university's thriving entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystem.
Each year the campus event continues to convene promising student entrepreneurs, industry leaders, and investors for a series of pitch competitions, workshops, and discussions. During the event, dozens of student entrepreneurs present innovative ideas to address a range of global challenges, competing for eight prizes totaling more than $200,000 in prizes.
And over time it has fostered a growing network of partnerships across Yale and beyond, with innovation hubs campuswide, strengthening the university's entrepreneurial ecosystem and expanding opportunities for student founders.
