Have a business idea? Apply for the next eLab

From left, the 2015 Student Entrepreneur Fellowship winners were Mahmoud Kamal Ahmadi, Rohan Shah, Jorge Cueto and Joseph Peacock. (Photo by Douglas Levere)

Release Date: November 16, 2015 This content is archived.

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“[The eLab] is so practical and applicable to what I’m doing as an entrepreneur that I can’t imagine any student with a startup not taking the course. ”
April LoTempio, Professional MBA Student
School of Management

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Undergraduate and graduate students with entrepreneurial ideas may apply for the University at Buffalo’s Entrepreneurship Lab (eLab), a business boot-camp-style course that gives students the skills to develop and manage a successful new venture.

Students have until Nov. 24 to apply for the next eLab, which will be held during UB’s winter session in January.  

Students in the 3-credit course evaluate their idea, learn every step of the startup process and attend guest lectures from entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, consultants and business lawyers. They also attend a Western New York Venture Association pitch session and can network with angel investors.

Each student who completes the eLab will receive a scholarship, of $500 for undergraduates and $1,000 for graduate students, to help defray tuition costs. In addition, students compete for a Student Entrepreneur Fellowship, which includes at least $5,000 of seed funding, co-working space at STOR’s tenX facility and up to a year of mentoring and other professional services.

In the past two years, eLab students have gone on to win the Henry A. Panasci Technology Entrepreneurship Competition, participate as a finalist in the Rise of the Rest competition, complete a successful Kickstarter campaign and receive a grant from the National Science Foundation Innovation Corps program, among other achievements.

“I am sure this will be the best use of the tuition dollars I have invested in my education,” says April LoTempio, a Professional MBA student in the UB School of Management who won the fellowship in 2014 for her business, B2Y Education. “It’s so practical and applicable to what I’m doing as an entrepreneur that I can’t imagine any student with a startup not taking the course.”

Joseph Peacock, a computer engineering student who won the fellowship earlier this year, says, “eLab helped solidify my business background even after I had a startup that raised a round of funding.”

The eLab is offered in partnership by the School of Management and the Office of Science, Technology Transfer and Economic Outreach (STOR), with funding provided through an anonymous donation to the School of Management.

The course is taught by Yong Li, associate professor of strategy and entrepreneurship in the School of Management, along with Robert Genco, vice provost, STOR, and Martin Casstevens, business formation and commercialization manager, STOR.

For more information, contact the UB School of Management’s Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership at mgt-cel@buffalo.edu or 716-885-5715.

The UB School of Management is recognized for its emphasis on real-world learning, community and economic impact, and the global perspective of its faculty, students and alumni. The school also has been ranked by Bloomberg Businessweek, the Financial Times, Forbes and U.S. News & World Report for the quality of its programs and the return on investment it provides its graduates. For more information about the UB School of Management, visit mgt.buffalo.edu.

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Contact
Matthew Biddle
Assistant Director of Communications
School of Management
716-645-5455
mrbiddle@buffalo.edu