StartUP Grants

$250-$1.5K grants, workshops, and mentorship for undergraduate students to pursue an entrepreneurial opportunity of their choice.

BY THE NUMBERS

98

Students Served

$107K

Funds Given

125

Mentorship Sessions

$1K

Average Grant Amount

42%

Awardees in the "Create" Phase

50%

Awardees are Seniors

Meet Valeria, a StartUP Grant recipient

Valeria received a StartUP Grant for Cabilde - A software as a service tool founded by student activists to facilitate civic engagement in Mexico.

Disorganized bureaucratic data and political jargon makes finding legislative information tedious for the average Mexican constituent. Cabilde provides a simple way for constituents to get informed, contact their representatives, and take action.

She received funding not once, but TWO semesters in a row! In that time, she was able to find a cofounder, incorporate her venture, become a Next Gen Fellow with the United Nations Foundation, and give a TED Talk at UT Austin's TedX event!

Meet Abhi, a StartUP Grant recipient

Abhi received a StartUP Grant for Loop Medical Innovations - a company that makes more accurate and easier to use spirometers to help doctors better access and monitor their patients' lung health.

After being awarded a StartUP Grant, Abhi and his team completed a two-week clinical validation study, conducted 50 trials and patient interviews, confirmed their product’s value for both patients and clinicians, and greatly improved their product. They even filed for incorporation!

Program Details

Benefits

* Structure, accountability, and mentorship

* Grant funding between $250-$1.5K

* Community of StartUP recipients and alumni

Ideal Participants

* Current UT undergraduate student of any major

* Curious, self-motivated, and organized individuals who can clearly articulate their goals

* Able to fulfill workshop attendance requirements and intro and exit surveys.

Time Commitment

Program: Mar-May, 2024

* 2hr cohort workshop, Apr 3, 5:30-7:30PM

* 2hr Mentor Mixer, Apr 22, 5:30-7:30PM

Application

The application for Spring 2024  OPEN:

Application opens: 
Jan 16 - Mar 8, 2024

Notified: Mar 22

Students will be asked to provide: 

* A one-page application of their entrepreneurial opportunity (Who are you? What is the opportunity? How will this grant be used? What are your goals? How do you measure success?)

* A budget spreadsheet ($1,500 max) 

* Optional: résumé 

APPLICATION

Alumni Testimonials

“Being a recipient of the StartUP Grant has helped keep me accountable in the pursuit of my goals. I'm super ambitious and like to dream big, but sometimes I can get lost in the big picture and lose sight of what I need to do today. The mentorship at the LaunchPad has guided me in creating actionable steps to grow my business into the empire I envision it becoming.”

Joyce Kabwe
Class of Fall '21
Marketing

“The StartUP Grants program was extremely helpful to the progress of my early-stage venture. The funding, mentorship, and additional resources the program provided was invaluable to help my startup Locket continue growing its online presence and further explore sustainable revenue models. Thank you, LaunchPad!”

Alyssa Le
Class of 'Spring 24
Business Honors & Management Information Systems

“The StartUP Grants program provided me a way to connect closely with not only the UT community, but with fellow student entrepreneurs like myself. I was able to learn in collaborative peer environments, gain mentorship, and understand what the entrepreneurial mindset really is. My venture, boxEdu, really benefited under the guidance of The LaunchPad at UT Austin, and really helped me focus my venture with detailed research and market-fit.”

Vaishnavi Lakshmanan
Class of Spring '23
Public Health and Social Sciences & Religious Studies

“Throughout my time as a StartUp grant recipient, I’ve learned a lot of new methods to entrepreneurship. The one that has left a lasting impression is asking what, how, and why questions when interviewing potential customers. This has allowed me to be more present when interviewing. Lastly, I learned the importance pf setting smaller, more subsequent goals (i.e SMART goals). Setting smaller goals has allowed me to build out an achievable timeframe.”

Justin Rogers
Class of Spring '23
Global/International Studies

"From the opportunity to connect with entrepreneurs-in-residents and mentors to leveraging the LaunchPad’s network of events and founders the program has been fantastic for Gazelle. Our team has enjoyed connecting with subject matter experts in our field and gaining unique insights from the interdisciplinary background of the Launchpad’s mentors. I would highly recommend founders, whether in the ideation stage, MVP, or scaling to utilize the LaunchPad!"

Amod Daherkar
Class of Spring '24
Finance & History

“Being a recipient of the StartUP was really helpful in covering the costs for my startup display table and prototype at this year's SXSW event. This was also a great experience for me to learn from, since it was my first time presenting at an event of that magnitude. Overall, this grant facilitated this part of my entrepreneurial journey by giving me the means necessary to reach more target customers and have several meaningful interactions with them. From this I was also able to learn to communicate my ideas better.”

Joyance Liao Mendoza
Class of Spring '22
Biochemistry