Trine among Elevate Ventures grant recipients

INDIANAPOLIS — Today, Dec. 20, Elevate Ventures announced the 2019 Elevate Nexus Higher-Education Grant recipients. Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), University of Notre Dame, Purdue University and Trine University — each received $50,000 to launch and improve entrepreneurship programming within their university and community.

“We are excited to award our first set of higher-education grants and are eager to watch them amplify their entrepreneurial programming,” said Chris LaMothe, CEO of Elevate Ventures. “Universities play a vital role in the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Indiana, and the more they focus on entrepreneurial programming, the more entrepreneurs we will see emerge.”

Grant proposals were due on Oct. 7 and were required to include language on how the higher-education institution will locate, cultivate and educate innovation-driven entrepreneurs; how the community will be engaged; and how the programming will continue beyond the life of the grant. Grant recipients were selected by Elevate Ventures and Elevate Nexus leadership.

Below are summaries of the proposals:

• IUPUI: Establish a Center for Student Innovation. This central entity will market various efforts on campus to students and faculty and facilitate engagement.
• Notre Dame: Amplify The Race to Revenue program, which is modeled after top accelerators, and provides startups with a mentor infrastructure, weekly coaching meetings and a concluding Demo Day.
• Purdue University: Amplify Purdue Foundry’s Double Down program, which is designed to tackle a startup’s unique challenges and enable it to rapidly grow and scale through direct business consulting and mentorship.
• Trine University: Establish an incubator of intellectual ideation and amplify student and community entrepreneurial programming.

Elevate Nexus Higher Education Grants are made possible through a partnership with the U.S. Economic Development Administration. A total of $200,000 will be granted annually over the next three years. The funding will enable higher-education institutions to launch or improve programming in order to grow startups across Indiana.

Moving forward Elevate Ventures will begin accepting applications from higher education institutions in April.

To receive up-to-date information on Elevate Nexus and community program and funding opportunities as they roll out, sign up for the Elevate Nexus newsletter.

About Elevate Ventures

Elevate Ventures is a private venture development organization that nurtures and develops emerging and existing high-growth businesses into high-performing, Indiana-based companies. Elevate Ventures accomplishes this by providing access to capital, rigorous business analysis and robust advisory services that connect companies with the right mix of resources businesses