海角社区

Key Dates

1. Apply by January听12, 2025, 11:59pm ET. -听
2. Accepted teams will be notified via email by听January听17, 2025.
3. Attend a kick-off meeting to meet the other teams in your cohort and get in touch with your team's assigned mentor in the week of January 20听(in person and virtual options will be provided).
4. Follow听the Lean Startup Methodology modules online via the Empowered Startup Platforms and advance听your team's project/venture with the help of your assigned mentor.
5. Attend monthly cohort check-in meetings.
6. Submit progress and final reports and complete mandatory surveys.
7. Present your venture at the TechAccel Showcase in September 2025.

Eligibility

• 海角社区 student teams of 2-4 people.

• Lead Applicant:

  • Must be a 海角社区 student (undergraduate, graduate, or postdoc) enrolled full-time (all faculties are eligible)

  • The lead applicant must be returning as a full or part-time student for at least one more semester (for example, if you are applying for the Fall TechAccel Program the lead applicant must be returning in the Winter semester, and if you are applying for the Winter or Summer TechAccel Program they must be returning in the Fall semester)

• To be eligible for the TechAccel project funding, at least one team member must be enrolled in a faculty* that is STEM-related at 海角社区. (* Students of 海角社区 School of Continuing Studies are eligible to receive mentorship through the TechAccel program but are not eligible for TechAccel project funding.)

• A team that already has an established business model with听recurring revenues is not eligible.

• A team that has prior funding of over $25,000 is not eligible.

Evaluation Criteria

• Level of technological and business innovation. Does the team have sufficient competitive advantage/differentiation from similar ideas?

• Educational potential/experiential learning opportunity for students. Will the TechAccel program contribute to the team acquiring new business and technical skills?

• Clearly defined and validated problem. Is the idea/solution appropriate for the problem identified?

• Plan to build and test an MVP to try and achieve product-market fit. Have appropriate milestones been identified in order to advance the idea toward a viable business/solution?

• Level of market and impact potential.