News
The influence of UNC Charlotte’s growing research enterprise is solidified in a new report that evaluated the universities in the United States most proficient at creating new knowledge; instilling it into their science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) graduates; and transferring it to new and existing enterprises. https://inside.charlottewp.psapp.dev/news-features/2022-06-03/unc-charlotte-inventions-p…
The 2022 Charlotte Venture Challenge provided the proverbial cherry on top of a year-long process during which student entrepreneurs honed their business or project ideas, streamlined their plans and perfected their presentations in preparation for pitching their ideas. The goal: Win support that will help transform their envisioned enterprises into reality. A total of 24 […]
Ventureprise, UNC Charlotte’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center, works with students, faculty and community members on commercializing their research, elevating their ideas and incorporating entrepreneurial thinking into the campus academic experience. With core programming, Ventureprise Launch NSF I-Corps provides University innovators with commercialization advice, training and funding to identify potential customers and crucial lab-to-market knowledge. While […]
Undergraduate Certificate in Entrepreneurship Students of all colleges are encouraged to apply! The Undergraduate Certificate in Entrepreneurship provides students with an understanding of how to think and act entrepreneurially in efficient and effective ways. Open to all UNC Charlotte undergraduate students, the certificate aims to satisfy the increasing societal demand for skill sets related to […]
Abi Olukeye, DeAndrea Salvador and Desmond Wiggan were all recognized as North Carolina’s African American leaders and organizations in the science, technology, engineering and math fields for their critical work. Governor Cooper Honors North Carolina’s Black STEM Leaders During Black History Month
THE UNICORN HUNTERS SHOW ANNOUNCES FINAL EPISODE OF 2021 How Many Investors Said Yes? https://youtu.be/acE7E-5Tlbg The series closes out the year featuring Grocery Shopii, an innovative, woman-led retail tech company that seamlessly embeds personalized meal planning and recipes into a grocer’s eCommerce platform. LOS ANGELES – December 15, 2021 — Unicorn Hunters, the most iconic […]
As we conclude the first semester back on campus since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, we want to reflect on our Fall 2021 programs and look at what is in store for Ventureprise in 2022. We have seen so many excellent and innovative minds this semester, and we are thrilled to work with even […]
“Take the next step, whatever small, baby step that is to move your idea along. I say all of this so that you can hear your ideas outside of your head, outside of yourself, and really see that they are all worth pursuing.” The Fall 2021 49er Impact Pitch Competition featured seven undergraduate and graduate […]
Take a look at all the students, faculty members and community highlighted entrepeneurship this year. Recap of Events
Innovate Charlotte’s inaugural Ignite Grants Pitch Competition took place on Monday, November 8th to kick off #GEW2021. Great job to all ten companies that pitched their businesses and huge congrats to the four winners, all of whom were Ventureprise Alumni! Penny Campbell, Seniors in Transition Quentin DeBerry, BLKResumes Kimberly Evans, Just Her Ridshare Jackie Moss, […]
Congratulations to Rick Chakar (Spring 2021 Participant), Armada IQ Founder, Kim Harclerode (2021 Summer Accelerator Particpant), No Mess SPF founder, and Derrick Knox (Fall 2019 Participant), founder of iEDAPTS, for being three of the 22 Micro Grant Awardees, receiving $10,000 to continue to advance their start up. NC IDEA Press Release
Inclusive Innovation Leadership Academy Diverse representation in mainstream culture and professional spaces has seen a positive trend in our society today, but marginalized groups are still in need of inclusion in the entrepreneurial sector. With this in mind, Ventureprise and City Startup Labs have designed a collaborative learning program that educates, empowers and inspires women […]
On the heels of our Fire Awards honoree celebration is another, equally important, group deserving of recognition. Each year, Charlotte Inno honors a group of the area’s top young innovators, those who are well on their way to making an impact in the local tech and startup ecosystem. To highlight these bright tech leaders, Inno […]
As Ventureprise begins to conclude our summer programming, we are following up with some of our program alumni. After graduating this summer’s cohort, 275 teams have participated in our customer discovery program, Ventureprise Launch. We will begin our coverage with seven teams that focused these last 18 months on reaching some major milestones; utilizing resources […]
From pre-seed-stage startups to multibillion-dollar tech firms, the Fire Awards are a peek at what set these companies ablaze over the last year — things like new funding rounds, product launches and pandemic pivots that not only saved the business, but benefited customers along the way. They’re companies that have expanded, inked major acquisition deals […]
UNCC Ventureprise and City Startup Labs are collaborating on an accelerator program aimed at drawing in a new batch of mentors for local entrepreneurs. The program, called the Inclusive Innovation Leadership Academy, was created to diversify the leaders and mentors who work alongside founders and entrepreneurs, said Ventureprise Director Devin Collins. READ MORE
Davidson-based Grocery Shopii has raised a $1 million seed round that comes on the heels of a partnership with Microsoft. Grocery Shopii, founded in 2018 by Katie Hotze, is a meal-planning application that helps grocers get more customers to fill their online carts and purchase online orders. Grocery Shopii has created a tool that allows […]
Local tech startup BatteryXchange seems to have hit its stride. The startup announced last week that it recently closed on an investment from local venture capital firm Defiance Ventures. The VC, founded in 2020 by John Espy and Tareq Amin, focuses on B2B enterprise technology companies. It combines capital and early-stage investment expertise with real-world […]