Events and Opportunities
Whether you're just curious to learn more about innovation and entrepreneurship or even ready to launch your next business, we have events and opportunities throughout the year to help you make the real-world impact that you envision. Keep up to date on upcoming events, opportunities and deadlines with our newsletters: Sign Up Now
Signature Programs of the Innovation & Entrepreneurship Initiative
Connecting the CU Boulder campus with the Boulder community to develop innovative ideas and pitch for up to $50,000 in venture funding.
Student entrepreneurs with diverse perspectives who embrace the spirit of innovation and impact on campus and in the Boulder community.
A micro-funding opportunity for CU Boulder undergraduate and graduate students that provides up to $500 in funding for entrepreneurial ideas in the making.
A mini job fair that brings entrepreneurially-minded CU Boulder students and local Front Range startups together with a twist.
Join this collaborative event that's all about making positive changes in the world. Whether you have an idea or are someone eager to help those ideas become real, this is the event you don't want to miss.
CU Boulder's entrepreneurial mentor network supports innovative activity on campus led by students, faculty and staff.
Off-Campus Opportunities
Events
Tuesday, Sept. 30: Longmont Open Coffee Club MORNING COFFEE—A meetup for entrepreneurs, developers and investors with a focus on discussing startups, staffing, marketing and debating the hot topics of the day.
Oct. 6-10: West Slope Startup Week—Five days of ideas, connection, and collaboration— all celebrating rural entrepreneurs and the communities they call home. Powered by Startup Colorado.
Wednesday, Oct. 8: Smart Mining: Innovation at the Core of the Resource Revolution—As global demand for critical minerals accelerates, the mining sector is evolving through sustainability, automation and digitalization. The first quarterly discussion on important energy issues by Colorado Cleantech's Energy Innovators Network.
Tuesday, Oct. 14: RVC Pitch Academy—A half-day workshop to prepare founders to understand many of the terms and processes used by VCs and sharpen their venture strategy.
Wednesday, Oct. 22: BCC Economic Summit—More than 400 decision-makers will gather to explore disruptive technologies, policy shifts and market dynamics. Learn strategies, partnerships and data-driven insights that can help deliver real ROI.
Saturday, Oct. 25: Rocky Mountain ETA Conference—Bringing together search fund entrepreneurs, students, investors, service providers, faculty, and other participants in the ETA ecosystem to connect, learn and share best practices in a growing field. Hosted by hosted by the CU Leeds School of Business in collaboration with Denver ETA Meetup.
Oct. 27-30: CU Boulder Translational Funding Week: Unlock Funding to Move Your Research or Venture Forward—A series of engaging lunchtime sessions designed to demystify the landscape of non-dilutive funding opportunities that support the journey from lab to market.
Applications
Tuesday, Sept. 30 (deadline): BD 101 by Genetech—A nine-week virtual course led by Genentech’s leaders in business development.
Friday, Oct. 3 (deadline): NCI SBIR/STTR Training and Entrepreneurship Program—This program is designed to support U.S. small businesses that have not received an NIH SBIR/STTR award in the last 10 years.
Monday, Oct. 13 (deadline): Research & Innovation Seed Grants—Grants of up to $60K for projects from all disciplines at CU Boulder, especially those involving inter- or multidisciplinary collaboration and projects in emerging fields. Projects to establish or leverage external partnerships (e.g. industry, national labs, universities, community nonprofits, etc.) are also welcomed.
Friday, Oct. 17 (deadline): Alnylam BioVenture Challenge—Designed to support trainee-led ventures translating cutting-edge science into real companies. Finalists will pitch for the $100K Alnylam Science Entrepreneurship Award, plus additional runner-up prizes. Travel and accommodations are fully covered for selected teams.
Thursday, Oct. 30 (deadline): Starting Blocks Customer Discovery Workshop—Offered as part of the National Science Foundation (NSF) I-Corps™ Hub: West Region, this workshop is for anyone from a research or community institution motivated to bring their ideas to life, secure funding and create lasting impact.
Friday, Nov. 7 (deadline): CRI Cohort 2026—This two-year fellowship embeds early-stage startup founders at Argonne to help transform breakthrough science and energy technologies into impactful solutions.
Friday, Nov. 7 (deadline): Innovation Crossroads Cohort 2026—Innovation Crossroads supports and mentors entrepreneurial researchers whose early-stage innovations are presently too challenging or technically uncertain to pursue in a venture capital–financed start-up.
Applications open: EnergyTech University Prize–Student teams compete for more than $540,000 for successfully identifying a promising energy technology, assessing its market potential, and creating a business plan for commercialization.
Applications open: The Environmental Sustainability Entrepreneurship Program—A free expert-led cohort to help sustainability ventures. Participants will receive expert-led training, committed mentorship and pitch coaching.
Rolling Application: Startup Colorado Community and Entrepreneurship Grants–Grants that support rural entrepreneurs who are eager to level up their businesses but need a financial boost to get there.and delivering results.
Rolling Application: OEDIT Advanced Industry Investment Tax Credit—For investors and advanced industries businesses in the amount of 25% to 35% per investment up to $100,000.
Rolling Application: Global Business Development's 2025 Trade Shows–Apply for the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade's funding and trade show participation program.