The Center for Creative Entrepreneurship (CCE) was formed to empower students in the cultural arts with the confidence, skillset and practice necessary to transform their passion and ideas into viable business opportunities. For too long creatives have missed out on learning the core fundamentals of building a sustainable business, or how to think entrepreneurially about their career. But the business of art has changed in the last decade, and requires the mindset that CCE empowers.

Annual grant for one faculty member to explore an industry related to their area of research with the goal of discovering near-term commercialization opportunities. Over a 12-month period, the faculty member receives a $30,000+ grant to lead a team consisting of a graduate student, undergraduate researchers / market analysts, and paired with an Industry Guide to support their efforts.

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.

Global Career Launch supports faculty with an established relationship at a university or an industry partner abroad to serve as faculty director to lead and supporting cohorts of up to 10 UT students as they intern or conduct research with said collaborator/institution. Interdisciplinarity is encouraged and the faculty’s research or teaching does not need to align with students’ internships. Research and internships focused on entrepreneurship and innovation are invited to apply.

Graduate students and postdoctoral fellows can meet confidentially with a graduate-specific career advisor from Texas Career Engagement to discuss building an entrepreneurial career. Receive personalized feedback and support on identifying your career interests, setting goals, and finding resources to succeed as an entrepreneur.
 

Graduate students and postdoctoral fellows can meet confidentially with a graduate-specific career advisor from Texas Career Engagement to discuss navigating internships with startups. Receive personalized feedback and support on finding internships, developing application materials, preparing for interviews, and setting internship goals.

At the Herb Kelleher Entrepreneurship Center, our dedicated focus is on fostering the growth of entrepreneurial skills and empowering Longhorns to embrace this mindset in their careers, whether through starting their own businesses or driving innovation within established industries. UT founders can tap into the HKEC’s wealth of entrepreneurial resources through our networking and funding opportunities, interactive speaker events, one-on-one mentorship, pitch competitions, and our semester-long practicum, the Forty Acres Founders Program.

Texas Venture Labs works campus-wide across disciplines to transform graduate students into entrepreneurs and business leaders, take their innovations to market, and accelerate startups in our ecosystem. We do this through our Practicum course and Fellows program that provide experiential learning for grad students, our Investment Competition, and our Accelerator. Let us help you build your skills while launching your dreams.

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.

Texas Momentum is a student organization on a mission to create a vibrant entrepreneurship community for students. We run a semester-long startup accelerator that connects student-founders with product managers, software engineers, and designers to build, launch, and scale their venture. Membership in Momentum is open to all majors.