The Center for Entertainment & Media Industries provides opportunities for innovators and entrepreneurs interested in the media and tech industries. Our focus is on facilitating access to these industries, mapping their presence in Austin, and researching their convergence to assess and improve labor conditions and equity issues. In addition to speaker series that hone entrepreneurial skills and build professional networks, we support and promote research, outreach, and innovation projects.

Here at The Dallas Morning News Innovation Endowment, we are working toward innovating journalism with our students. This means creating podcasts, building bots and planning community events. These projects give students the work experience they both want and need to develop stellar careers.

The KS WEL Institute empowers and spotlights female-owned startups monthly through their application-based Featured Female Founders program. The Featured Female Founders program provides resources and exposure to the Austin startup community for these founders. Come stop by the KS WEL Institute or apply online if you're interested in becoming a Featured Female Founder!

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.

The Freshman Research Initiative (FRI) engages first-year students in real-world research experiences with UT faculty and scientists. Each year, more than 1000 undergraduates explore unanswered questions in STEM fields to uncover new knowledge and develop innovative technologies in 30 faculty-led research groups. FRI has become a national model for science education, as students are more likely to complete STEM degrees and graduate better prepared to pursue advanced degrees or industry jobs.

Hacking For Defense (HFD) is an undergraduate course sponsored by the National Security Innovation Network, a problem-solving network under the Department of Defense. In H4D, teams of students apply lean startup principles to validated and curated problems presented by organizations within the US military and intelligence communities. Students work collaboratively with national security professionals to rapidly address the nation’s emerging threats and security challenges.

The Harkey Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies is the corner of Main and Main for all undergraduate entrepreneurs at the University of Texas. We support interdisciplinary education and enriched extra-curricular experiences for students at any stage in their entrepreneurial journey. From the Entrepreneurship Minor, to the Undergraduate Mentor Program, there is a resource to get you to your next step.

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.

Resources for understanding how engaging with industry for your research works at UT Austin and tools to help find industry funding and support.

The Kendra Scott Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership Institute (KS WELI) supports creatives, founders, leaders, and allies by redefining leadership and entrepreneurship. KS WELI equips and empowers students of all backgrounds through engaging programming and events, spotlighting women-led businesses through the FoundHER Program, and sponsoring interdisciplinary courses within the McCombs Entrepreneurship Minor. Since its founding, KS WELI has become a force on UT’s campus to grow and support the number of women-owned and women-led businesses.