School:University of Virginia

Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Virginia Venture Fund

The Virginia Venture Fund is a student administered investment fund with the sole purpose to fund and mentor UVA student started business. They usually have $50,000 to $100,000 dollars to use for funding. Students who participate in the fund learn venture fund analysis techniques first hand, work with local venture funds to do due diligence and host Shark Tank events.

Enactus

Enactus is a community of student, academic and business leaders committed to using the power of entrepreneurial action to transform lives and shape a better more sustainable world.

ENtrepreneurial—having the perspective to see an opportunity and the talent to create value from that opportunity;

ACTion—the willingness to do something and the commitment to see it through even when the outcome is not guaranteed;

US —a group of people who see themselves connected in some important way; individuals that are part of a greater whole.

Their mission as a team is to empower individuals to construct their own wealth by enriching their minds with invaluable knowledge and skills that will stimulate and sustain a spirit of free enterprise, and inspire them to live an environmentally sustainable lifestyle, ultimately leading to the economic security and the betterment of their quality of life and standard of living.

Entrepreneurship Group at UVA       

The Entrepreneurship Group at UVA engages students with high-quality programming. This organization invites world-class speakers and entrepreneurs to speak to our members about their experiences. In addition, they offer informational + recruiting sessions for startups and high-tech firms, such as an annual Google Leadership Lab. EG empowers students to expand upon traditional methods of learning and doing. EG's officers organize creative workshops to educate students in design thinking and rapid prototyping. Furthermore, EG's members are encouraged to participate in ideation and pitch seminars that are based on constructive critique. EG consistently seeks to establish a network of students driven towards entrepreneurial action at U.Va. This organization creates a forum for students, professors, and alumni to engage in discussion. It connects Commerce, Engineering, Architecture, and other students with those who share a passion for entrepreneurship.

Parfait

Parfait is UVA’s first club dedicated solely to mobile development (Android and iOS). Created with the goal of connecting teams of student programmers with mobile projects, Parfait will create a framework for programmers interested in mobile development to work together and carry a project to completion. Parfait is a student run mobile development club at the University of Virginia. The group caters to students of all backgrounds who are interested in mobile dev and have some prior coding knowledge.

Social Entrepreneurs for Economic Development (SEED)

Social Entrepreneurs for Economic Development (SEED) is a passionate group of students committed to fostering sustainable development in communities around the world. They do this by giving free consulting services to NGOs and social entrepreneurs wherever they need them, with an emphasis on sound microfinance. By forging long-term relationships, they are able to increase the efficacy and efficiency of their partners, and intensify the positive social change in their communities. They also seek educational and personal development within the University of Virginia. Through working in teams to solve problems for their partners, students are able to broaden their knowledge horizons while actively practicing the skills they learn in class. By developing a partnership with the McIntire School of Commerce, SEED has been able to utilize the full resources offered to them, while still maintaining the UVA motto of student self-governance. With over 250+ members working on projects for NGOs around the world, SEED has now established itself in the University of Virginia community, attracting members from all schools and disciplines within the University.

Faculty Innovation and Entrepreneurship

The E*Society an organization that connects entrepreneurial students and faculty from all colleges of The University of Virginia, as well as like-minded members of the greater Charlottesville community. The group’s goal is to aggregate resources, people, and information from every corner of the local entrepreneurial ecosystem and promote a culture of collaboration and action for new ventures. This is all about high energy, interdisciplinary thinking and initiative. The E*Society hosts a variety of events with the intention of bringing people with similar interests, but different areas of expertise together. These include guest speakers and speaker panels, networking events, competitions, educational workshops, and member presentations.

University Technology Transfer Function

Licensing & Ventures Group

The Licensing & Ventures Group researches patents, new inventions and discoveries in order to help faculty (and sometimes students) to bring their products to the marketplace through licenses with industry, new venture formation, and other available pathways. Faculty recieve 35% royalty from their inventions developed with significant UVA resources. They list all UVA inventions and discoveries available for licensing throughflintbox.

Regional and Local Economic Development Efforts

Tom Tom Founders Festival

The Tom Tom Founder’s Festival (TTFF) is an annual event in Charlottesville that makes the entire city aware of innovative works in areas ranging from technology to food.  TTFF connects people and new ideas to the future as various disciplines such as art, music, science, entrepreneurship, and design fuse together in this festival. This movement is representative of the innovation that takes place in Charlottesville and coincides with increasing activity of entrepreneurship and startups.