Ideas Competition
The Blackstone LaunchPad Ideas Competition is designed to provide students with early-stage ideas to compete for various prizes including cash prizes! More importantly, participating students will gain access to other LaunchPad programs on their campus and additional support as they develop their entrepreneurial skills.
This signature program supports LaunchPad’s goal of promoting innovation skills like – growth mindset, creativity, critical thinking, and leadership; broadening accessibility; and diversifying engagement with a focus on recruiting underrepresented and under-resourced students to participate. The competition is virtual and hosted on the StartupTree platform. Students must have a StartupTree account to participate. You will create your account when you select “Enter Now”.
CHOOSE YOUR TRACK
- Social and Climate Impact
- Health & Life Science
- Consumer Products & Services
- General
PRIZES
The four winners of the UC Merced Innovation + Design Hub for each track will take home $1,000. Furthermore, the four finalists from each campus will move forward to the national Network Round competing for $10,000 in additional prize money to further develop your idea.
For more information visit: https://competitions.startuptree.co/event/s/h2t7NULkgzu5jtsC6Rr7tR/UC-Me...
September 1st- October 9th
LinkedIn Learning Workshop
Come learn tips on how to market yourself professionally and strengthen your personal brand on LinkedIn. This workshop will show you how to use the platform to further your professional goals and showcase your qualifications as an entrepreneur. The workshop will cover 4 topics:
- Why Be Active on LinkedIn
- Crafting the Perfect LinkedIn Profile
- Network Growth Made Easy
- Maximizing Your LinkedIn Posts
We will talk about how and what you should post on LinkedIn to get the most out of it.
Date: Wednesday, October 25, 2023
Time: 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm
Location: Granite Pass 103
Innovation + Design Hub Speaker Series - Luke Cooper: CEO of No Mud No Magic
Join us in learning about Luke Cooper's entrepreneurial journey. Mr. Cooper is a Black tech entrepreneur with multiple $50M exits. As one of 3 Black founders in the U.S. to get to a multi-million dollar exit during Covid, he is recognized as one of Baltimore's “40 Under 40” Business Leaders and the 2019 Entrepreneur of The Year by Ernst & Young. As only the 2nd Black founder in Baltimore to lead a company to a successful tech exit, he skillfully discusses the hustle, mentorship, and luck it took on the way to achieving an 11x outcome for Fixt. Impressively, he's done it twice. Luke is recognized as a prominent voice advocating for more equitable participation of underrepresented communities in entrepreneurship. His latest venture, Latimer, is a $400M fund focused on creating 100 billionaires by investing in women and BIPOC-focused funds that marry investment with technical training and M&A support.
Date: Wednesday, November 1, 2023
Time: 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm
Location: Granite Pass 103
I+D Tabling Sessions
The Innovation + Design Hub powered by Blackstone hosts tabling/information sessions every week for our UCM students to engage with and learn more about the available opportunities and events we are hosting.
Date: Wednesdays, August - November, 2023
Time: 9:00 am - 1:30 pm
Location: Scholars Lane
