Stories of Technology, Innovation, & Entrepreneurship in the Southeast

From Emory University:

Thanks in large part to the generosity of longtime supporters Stuart and Mimi Rose, Emory University is clearing new pathways to student entrepreneurship. The Stuart and Mimi Rose Program for Student Start-ups, launching in the 2025-26 academic year, will offer a series of courses, programming, and mentoring opportunities open to students interested who are founding their own ventures.

Administered through Goizueta Business School and housed in The Hatchery, the Rose Program will offer all Emory undergraduates an opportunity to transform their bold, creative ideas into real-world solutions for real-world problems.

The Rose Program engages students from the start, with a week-long Ignite pre-orientation course focused on innovation for incoming first-year Oxford College and Emory College students. It continues with a three-course academic sequence focused on experiential learning, innovation and mentorship:

1. Foundations of Entrepreneurship: Introduces fundamental principles, tailored for non-business students.
2. Applied Entrepreneurship (Startup Lab): Students explore real-world business scenarios and test startup concepts.
3. Business Development (Startup Launchpad): Students develop their business ideas and write a business plan.

From the University of Chicago:

The University of Chicago’s Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation has announced Cohort 2 of the Resurgence Fellowship – a program connecting students with start-ups in its cleantech accelerator.

A Breakthrough Energy Fellows Ecosystem Grant supports the program and provides selected University of Chicago students with the opportunity to support innovation and business development in the clean energy and sustainability space.

“Breakthrough Energy believes the path to a sustainable future begins with bold ideas and the right support to bring them to life. Our partnership with the Polsky Center and the Resurgence Fellowship connects emerging cleantech ventures with sharp, ambitious MBA students who are ready to roll up their sleeves,” said Ashley Grosh, Vice President of the Discovery Program at Breakthrough Energy.

“These Fellows have brought strategic insight and fresh energy to start-ups tackling some of the hardest climate and energy challenges. Programs like Resurgence are essential to transforming promising technologies into real-world solutions and shaping the next generation of climate leaders along the way,” she added.

The cohort of Resurgence Fellows is made up of MBA candidates at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. They will support the start-ups in key business development areas such as financial modeling and projections, customer discovery, market opportunity assessment, investor readiness, and product development.

From Illinois Wesleyan University:

Illinois Wesleyan University celebrated a milestone moment recently during a groundbreaking ceremony for The Petrick Idea Center, marking the transition from planning to physical construction.

The 14,850-square-foot facility will serve as a hub for imagination, creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship, featuring prototyping tools, an amphitheater, collaborative meeting and teaching spaces, a test kitchen, 3D printers, sewing machines, power tools, audio/video equipment, and more.

The foundational donors that made The Petrick Idea Center possible included the late David Petrick and his wife, Ellen (Reid) Petrick, Marc Talluto and his wife, Noel, and Ann (Marquis) Fisher and her husband, Alan Fisher.

“Seventy percent of high school students are currently involved in something entrepreneurial or want to be (while) in college or after college,” said Illinois Wesleyan President Sheahon Zenger. “Why reinvent the wheel? Meet them where they’re at. We believe we are becoming the nation’s leader in entrepreneurial liberal arts education.”

From New Mexico State University:

The Hunt Center for Entrepreneurship at New Mexico State University’s Arrowhead Center is launching two cutting-edge programs to help start-ups in New Mexico and the Borderplex region harness the power of generative artificial intelligence (AI): the GenAI Product Development Sprint and the GenAI Fundraising Excellence Sprint.

The fast-paced, virtual accelerators are designed to empower early stage start-ups to integrate AI into core business functions, significantly enhancing how they develop products and raise capital. The GenAI Sprints are open to start-ups based in New Mexico, as well as those in the broader Borderplex region, including El Paso, TX, and Chihuahua, Mexico. This regional focus underscores the Hunt Center for Entrepreneurship’s mission to advance economic prosperity by fostering innovation, supporting high-growth ventures, and expanding equitable access to entrepreneurial resources.

1. The GenAI Product Development Sprint is designed to help founders streamline the entire product lifecycle, from ideation to market launch, by integrating GenAI into key stages of the process. Sessions will be held on Thursdays from August 7 to September 11 via Zoom. Participants will learn how to use AI tools for feature prioritization and customer requirement analysis, conduct competitive benchmarking, build data-driven product roadmaps, and automate product marketing and launch planning to accelerate time-to-market and improve execution.
2. The GenAI Fundraising Excellence Sprint aims to help start-ups simplify and optimize their capital-raising process by leveraging the power of generative AI. Sessions will take place on Thursdays from October 9 to November 13 via Zoom. Throughout the program, participants will gain tools to automate investor research, personalize outreach strategies, and create compelling, data-driven pitch decks. Founders will also receive tailored insights to better prepare for investor meetings and communicate their value proposition with greater clarity and impact.

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