StartUP Grants
$500-$5K grants along with mentorship for undergraduate students to pursue an entrepreneurial opportunity of their choice.
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BY THE NUMBERS
Students Served
Funds Given
Mentorship Sessions
Average Grant Amount
Students Identify as BIPOC
Students Identify as Female
Meet Valeria, a StartUP Grant recipient
Valeria received a StartUP Grant for Cabilde - A software as a service tool founded by student activists to facilitate civic engagement in Mexico.
Disorganized bureaucratic data and political jargon makes finding legislative information tedious for the average Mexican constituent. Cabilde provides a simple way for constituents to get informed, contact their representatives, and take action.
She received funding not once, but TWO semesters in a row! In that time, she was able to find a cofounder, incorporate her venture, become a Next Gen Fellow with the United Nations Foundation, and give a TED Talk at UT Austin's TedX event!
Meet Abhi, a StartUP Grant recipient
Abhi received a StartUP Grant for Loop Medical Innovations - a company that makes more accurate and easier to use spirometers to help doctors better access and monitor their patients' lung health.
After being awarded a StartUP Grant, Abhi and his team completed a two-week clinical validation study, conducted 50 trials and patient interviews, confirmed their product’s value for both patients and clinicians, and greatly improved their product. They even filed for incorporation!
Program Details
Benefits
* Structure, accountability, and mentorship
* Grant funding between $500-$5K (does not affect financial aid)
* Community of StartUP recipients and alumni
Ideal Participants
* Current UT undergraduate student of any major
* Curious, self-motivated, and organized individuals who can clearly articulate their goals
* Able to fulfill mentorship requirements and 2 video deliverables (intro and exit reflections)
Time Commitment
Program: Oct 15-Dec 7, 2022
* 3x 30-min mentorship meetings with assigned LaunchPad mentor
* 2 video deliverables (intro and exit reflections)
Application
The application for Spring 2023 OPEN:
Application opens: Dec 15th, 2022 - Jan 23rd, 2023
Notified: TBD
Students will be asked to provide:
* A one-page overview of their entrepreneurial opportunity (Who are you? What is the opportunity? How will this grant be used? What are your goals? How do you measure success?)
* A budget spreadsheet ($5,000 max)
* One recommendation (3-5 sentences OR a video from a trusted friend, colleague, supervisor, or professor)
* Optional: résumé
APPLICATION
Alumni Testimonials
“Being a recipient of the StartUP Grant has helped keep me accountable in the pursuit of my goals. I'm super ambitious and like to dream big, but sometimes I can get lost in the big picture and lose sight of what I need to do today. The mentorship at the LaunchPad has guided me in creating actionable steps to grow my business into the empire I envision it becoming.”
Marketing
“The StartUP Grants program was extremely helpful to the progress of my early-stage venture. The funding, mentorship, and additional resources the program provided was invaluable to help my startup Locket continue growing its online presence and further explore sustainable revenue models. Thank you, LaunchPad!”
Business Honors & Management Information Systems
“The StartUP Grants program provided me a way to connect closely with not only the UT community, but with fellow student entrepreneurs like myself. I was able to learn in collaborative peer environments, gain mentorship, and understand what the entrepreneurial mindset really is. My venture, boxEdu, really benefited under the guidance of The LaunchPad at UT Austin, and really helped me focus my venture with detailed research and market-fit.”
Public Health and Social Sciences & Religious Studies
“Throughout my time as a StartUp grant recipient, I’ve learned a lot of new methods to entrepreneurship. The one that has left a lasting impression is asking what, how, and why questions when interviewing potential customers. This has allowed me to be more present when interviewing. Lastly, I learned the importance pf setting smaller, more subsequent goals (i.e SMART goals). Setting smaller goals has allowed me to build out an achievable timeframe.”
Global/International Studies
"From the opportunity to connect with entrepreneurs-in-residents and mentors to leveraging the LaunchPad’s network of events and founders the program has been fantastic for Gazelle. Our team has enjoyed connecting with subject matter experts in our field and gaining unique insights from the interdisciplinary background of the Launchpad’s mentors. I would highly recommend founders, whether in the ideation stage, MVP, or scaling to utilize the LaunchPad!"
Finance & History
“Being a recipient of the StartUP was really helpful in covering the costs for my startup display table and prototype at this year's SXSW event. This was also a great experience for me to learn from, since it was my first time presenting at an event of that magnitude. Overall, this grant facilitated this part of my entrepreneurial journey by giving me the means necessary to reach more target customers and have several meaningful interactions with them. From this I was also able to learn to communicate my ideas better.”
Biochemistry