This grant supports federal SBIR/STTR Phase I awardees to make their Phase II proposals more competitive while increasing UT’s Phase II funding rates. Grants are reviewed quarterly, and awards are up to $30,000.

Hosted by the Texas Innovation Center, KS WEL Institute's Female Founder Pitch Competition showcases emerging businesses and technologies that are paving the way to have a significant impact on the world. Open to all UT Austin undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, alumnae, and startup ecosystem women-founders, this startup competition aims to highlight innovation happening in the heart of Texas.

Genesis is a student-alumni partnership with over $1.8 million to distribute to student-founded companies through non-dilutive grants, along with the time and talent of our diverse and entrepreneurial leadership team. Genesis has helped founders develop their businesses, build their products, generate their first revenue, recruit cofounders and early employees, brainstorm ideas, and raise future funding from top investors. All students can apply for funding and mentorship.

The George Kozmetsky Memorial Student Challenge is an interdisciplinary program that links students from any major/or year in teams to address relevant community problems. The program begins each Fall and generally engages 150 students across the campus. Teams are given problems, research possible solutions, and submit presentations. Top 10 presentations pitch to judges and $15K in prize monies are presented to top solutions. Solutions are shared with communities.

The James D. Pippin Veteran Entrepreneurship Award is a $1,000 prize awarded to one of the top teams in the Texas Venture Labs Investment Competition with one or more U.S. military veteran cofounders. The award is named after James D. Pippin, a Retired Command Sergeant Major in the U.S. Army who served with RideScout co-founder and CEO Joseph Kopser. Sergeant Major Pippin is the only active duty serviceman to have conducted three airborne combat jumps.

Longhorn Startup Lab is a joint program with Capital Factory that allows student entrepreneurs to work on their startup under the guidance of successful mentors and provides students with a vast network they can use to accelerate growth. The Longhorn Startup Seminar is a semester-long class that brings guest speakers in to introduce students to the world of entrepreneurship. It is designed as a beginner course and students do not need a startup idea to be involved.

Pivot allows researchers in all disciplines to quickly discover funding opportunities that match their interests and expertise. Pivot is available to all UT faculty, staff researchers, research administrators and students.

The Sustainability Education and Enterprise Development (SEED) program is more than just a competition. Unlike other challenges that occur over a shorter period, we provide mentorship, curriculum, and networking opportunities for students over two semesters. Our goal is to train future problem solvers to address root problems through a sustainability lens – not just to give a great pitch. SEED’s long-term mission is to create a collaborative network of educational institutions, impact businesses, and community programs to train youth to become sustainability innovation leaders in any career through education and experiential learning.

Texas Health Catalyst supports the translation of promising ideas and discoveries into solutions that improve health outcomes and lower health care costs. The program provides support through timely and customized guidance on the research and development pathway from industry and clinical experts (Phase 1 awards), as well as seed funding for awardees (Phase 2 awards of $5K-$50K per project).

The Texas Innovation Center offers a personalized environment for faculty and students to explore entrepreneurship that includes educational workshops, speaker series, coaching sessions, and direct guidance for technology commercialization pathways; from ideation to market validation to fundraising. We accomplish this through Startup-In-A-Box Resources, TxIC Friends and Mentors Network, Innovation Lab, and co-working space. A place to inspire, create and commercialize.