Throughout the fall 2021 semester, the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program has been in full swing moving student engagement from virtual offerings to in-person ones. The following is a list of opportunities that nearly 100 students had this past semester to engage with the E&I program, led by Ja-Nae Duane.
Entrepreneurship Class: This semester, the entrepreneurship class saw its largest registration ever with 56 students. The class created 15 business ideas with the intent of five of them to continue on after the semester. Additionally, the students engaged with three alumni during the semester to hear their insights about entrepreneurship.
HC Launch: This semester, the student-led incubator supported three business ideas and two businesses with a total of 19 students involved. The students also continued their successful virtual alumni mentor meets and had 13 alumni meet with the students throughout the semester.
Innovation Challenge: This falls the theme of the Innovation Challenge was “Systems of the Future” with a focus on the systems here on campus. The event was co-sponsored by the Information Technology Services Department at Holy Cross and had 14 students participate from across campus with eight concepts pitched. Currently, three of the eight are moving forward into the conceptual and prototyping stages.
Business Strategy, and Innovation Workshop: This fall, the Business Strategy and Innovation workshop was offered again for students in all of the Business Certificate Programs. This workshop ran virtually in October for students and will be held in-person during January break for another ten students.
Venture Hill: This semester was the inaugural semester for Venture Hill, the student-led venture fund. During the semesters, nine students learned some of the fundamentals of venture capital with the intent to begin investing in student ventures (no equity taken) in the spring.
Watch for more opportunities to get involved in the new year! Keep an eye out for Entrepreneurship Week in March 2022 and get involved in the clubs.
