Auburn University Entrepreneurship

Auburn’s KickStart Fund Receives Grant from Truist Foundation. The Truist Foundation grant marks the first corporate donation to the AU KickStart Fund, which is designed to bridge the gap between new business formation by students, faculty and local area residents and initial seed or Series A funding. The AU KickStart Fund will be administered under the governance and oversight of the Harbert College of Business and the New Venture Accelerator.  The Auburn University KickStart Fund is a designated fund within the Auburn University Foundation that will help provide direct, non-dilutive funding to select Auburn-affiliated companies exhibiting best-in-class potential for success. “We’ve made great progress since announcing the AU KickStart Fund in June,” says Dan O’Keefe, the entrepreneur-in-residence at Auburn’s New Venture Accelerator (NVA) who is leading the establishment of the AU KickStart Fund. “Auburn alumni are stepping up in a big way. Truist Foundation’s recognition of the opportunity to support Auburn entrepreneurs and the alignment between our vision and their mission in the community is a great example of how partnering with the AU KickStart Fund can help young entrepreneurs launch their businesses.”  Read all about it here https://lnkd.in/e6y7FxsH and follow us for more to come. To donate to the AU KickStart Fund, please contact please contact Dan O’Keefe directly at dto0009@auburn.edu. #Entrepreneurship #Entrepreneurs #Auburn #NewVentures #NewVentureAccelerator #Engineering #Philanthropy #Giving #Investors #StartUps #Business #Advancement #Colleges #Universities #HigherEducation

AU KickStart Fund Receives Grant from Truist Foundation. The Auburn University KickStart Fund, a designated fund within the Auburn University Foundation, has received a grant from Truist Foundation that will help provide direct funding to select Auburn-affiliated companies exhibiting best-in-class potential for success. The AU KickStart Fund is designed to bridge the gap between new business formation by students, faculty and local area residents and initial seed or Series A funding and will be administered under the governance and oversight of the Harbert College of Business and the New Venture Accelerator. Dan O’Keefe, Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Auburn’s New Venture Accelerator, is leading the establishment of the AU KickStart Fund and pointed to Truist’s grant as a key step in keeping the initial momentum going strong, especially during the traditional holiday and end-of-the-year giving season.  “We’ve made great progress since announcing the AU KickStart Fund in June,” says O’Keefe, “with Auburn alumni stepping up in a big way. Truist Foundation’s grant in support of their mission in the community is a great example of how partnering with the AU KickStart Fund can help young entrepreneurs launch their businesses.” Read all about it here https://lnkd.in/ePKr-5kn and follow us for more to come. To donate to the AU KickStart Fund, please contact Dan O’Keefe directly at dto0009@auburn.edu. #Entrepreneurship #Entrepreneurs #Auburn #NewVentures #NewVentureAccelerator #Engineering #Philanthropy #Giving #Investors #StartUps #Business

AU KickStart Fund Receives Grant from Truist Foundation. The Auburn University KickStart Fund, a designated fund within the Auburn University Foundation, has received a grant from Truist Foundation that will help provide direct funding to select Auburn-affiliated companies exhibiting best-in-class potential for success. The AU KickStart Fund is designed to bridge the gap between new business formation by students, faculty and local area residents and initial seed or Series A funding and will be administered under the governance and oversight of the Harbert College of Business and the New Venture Accelerator. Dan O’Keefe, Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Auburn’s New Venture Accelerator, is leading the establishment of the AU KickStart Fund and pointed to Truist’s grant as a key step in keeping the initial momentum going strong, especially during the traditional holiday and end-of-the-year giving season.  “We’ve made great progress since announcing the AU KickStart Fund in June,” says O’Keefe, “with Auburn alumni stepping up in a big way. Truist Foundation’s grant in support of their mission in the community is a great example of how partnering with the AU KickStart Fund can help young entrepreneurs launch their businesses.” Read all about it here https://lnkd.in/ePKr-5kn and follow us for more to come. To donate to the AU KickStart Fund, please contact Dan O’Keefe directly at dto0009@auburn.edu. #Entrepreneurship #Entrepreneurs #Auburn #NewVentures #NewVentureAccelerator #Engineering #Philanthropy #Giving #Investors #StartUps #Business

NVA Founder Sees Treasure Where Others See Only Trash. Wooden pallets – we’ve all seen them, either tossed aside in the back of a parking lot or stacked up on the side of a building waiting to be hauled off to the salvage yard. Luke Dixon, however, saw things differently. Always fascinated by the concept of ‘free,’ Luke quickly identified the wooden pallets left behind buildings and on roadsides by local businesses as holding potentially great value. His idea was simple: find discarded pallets, deconstruct them, and turn them into high-quality, handmade furniture. The basic materials were free, all he needed was his labor, time and creativity to transform them into a new business opportunity with minimal overhead. And that’s how PALS was born. Read all about it here https://lnkd.in/eFuS5Q6w and follow us for more to come. #Entrepreneurship #Entrepreneurs #Business #Auburn #Alabama #Auburn #NewVentures #Engineering #StartUps #Investors #SeedCapital #VentureCapital #Universities #Academia #AuburnAlumni #Furniture #Recycling #Sustainability #IndustrialDesign

Announcing the Small Business Summit, coming January 10, 2025! 🎉 The Guide Resource Group is hosting a day-long event that is the ultimate guide to mastering the basics of starting and running a local business. In just one day, you’ll gain valuable insights, resources, and strategies to help your business thrive. Expert speakers will provide practical, actionable advice with real-world examples, clear steps and connections to industry professionals, including business planning, bookkeeping, taxes, payroll, HR, branding, sales and client acquisition. With limited spots available for only $50, tickets are expected to sell out quickly. Don’t miss out! Register today:  https://lnkd.in/eb6fg8rS Date: January 10 Time: 8:30am-4pm New Opelika Chamber Building #SmallBusiness #Entrepreneurship #Entrepreneurs #NewBusiness #Business #Engineerin #Auburn #VentureCapital #Investors #SeedCapital #NewVentures #StartUps 

Accelerating New Ventures at Auburn University. More than 50 active businesses have benefited from the mentorship and support services provided by Auburn's New Venture Accelerator, with more coming on board regularly as new student-, faculty- and local area-based entrepreneurial dreams begin to take flight. Of these, a number of have successfully progressed beyond our Tiger Cage competitions to convince seed, early stage and Series A/B/C investors to commit more than $110 million in next-stage funding to NVA-fostered companies. Among them: Cryptocurrency exchange firm Yellow Card recently closed a $33 million Series C round, bring the total raised to date to $88 million. Customizable protective device maker XO Armor closed a $2 million seed round in April 2023. Construction payment and compliance technology company Flashtract secured $15 million in Series A funding in February 2022. For more about the impact Auburn University’s Entrepreneurship Program is having on students, faculty and local community-based new business formation, see our 2023-2024 Impact Report https://lnkd.in/g7H8EU2M and follow us for more to come. #Entrepreneurship #Entrepreneurs #NewVentures #Auburn #Business #Harbert #Engineering #StartUps #Investors #SeedCapital

Six Reasons Why Auburn University’s Entrepreneurship Program is Ranked Among the Nation’s Best. 1.    Comprehensive Curriculum: Auburn offers a robust academic curriculum that covers the full spectrum of entrepreneurship, including ideation, business planning, funding, scaling, and managing startups. Students gain both theoretical knowledge and practical skills to launch and sustain new ventures. 2.    Ties to Innovation & Research: Backed by resources like the Auburn Research and Technology Foundation, Auburn’s strong focus on innovation creates an entrepreneurial ecosystem where students can leverage cutting-edge research expertise to develop new business ideas. 3.    Entrepreneurial Support: Through Auburn’s New Venture Accelerator, Auburn provides students access to mentorship, networking opportunities, and entrepreneurial events such as the flagship Tiger Cage business pitch competition initiative where students get the chance to present their ideas to potential investors and compete for over $100,000 in prize money. 4.    Experiential Learning: Auburn’s Entrepreneurship Program emphasizes hands-on experience. Through internships, real-world consulting projects and opportunities to work with small businesses, students can apply classroom knowledge in practical settings. 5.    Cross-Disciplinary Opportunities: Auburn’s program encourages students to collaborate across different disciplines, including engineering, business, and agriculture. This interdisciplinary approach fosters creativity and innovation, equipping students to tackle diverse business challenges. 6.    Alumni and Industry Connections: Auburn has a large network of successful alumni entrepreneurs who actively support Auburn students. The program’s partnerships with businesses and entrepreneurs in various industries provide students with access to valuable connections and myriad opportunities for internships and potential new venture funding. For more about the impact Auburn University’s Entrepreneurship Program is having on students, faculty and local community-based new business formation, see our 2023-2024 Impact Report https://lnkd.in/g7H8EU2M and follow us for more to come. #Entrepreneurship #Entrepreneurs #Business #Auburn #Alabama #Auburn #NewVentures #Engineering #StartUps #Investors #SeedCapital #VentureCapital #WarEagle #HigherEducation #Colleges #Universities #Academia #AuburnAlumni

Where Cryptocurrency is Vital to Everyday Life. The co-founder of Yellow Card, a flagship New Venture Accelerator (NVA) company, argues that stablecoin exchanges and cryptocurrency-based payment rails on the African continent deliver real world benefits that enable essential financial transactions and empower economic growth. Since its inception, the cryptocurrency industry has been beset with wild price volatility, rampant regulatory uncertainty and predatory investment schemes that create the impression of a fickle, erratic marketplace – that cryptocurrency is a speculative, risky technology. “That impression misses a lot,” says Yellow Card co-founder Chris Maurice. “It is simply not an accurate depiction of the tremendously powerful value cryptocurrency offers businesses and individuals in emerging economies on the African continent and across other underserved – underbanked – countries and regions.” Yellow Card recently reported the closing of a $33 million Series C round of financing led by existing and new investors. To date, Yellow Card has secured equity financing totaling $85 million, thanks in part to Auburn’s NVA. Read all about how Yellow Card is transforming the international payments market here https://lnkd.in/etv3zZjS and follow us for more to come. #Cryptocurrency #Crypto #Africa #Payments #Finance #Auburn #Entrepreneurship #Entrepreneurs #NewVentures #Investors #Business #Money #Currencies #SEC #Securities #Exchange #Technology

Auburn Ranked #1 Entrepreneurship Program in Alabama.  According to the Princeton Review and Entrepreneur Magazine rankings of the Top 50 Undergraduate Schools for Entrepreneurship Studies, Auburn University is ranked #1 in the State of Alabama. The only Alabama school to make the top 50, Auburn was also ranked second among Southeastern Conference schools and #8 in the South. Overall, Auburn’s undergraduate entrepreneurship program came in at number 24 among all public universities out of the nearly 300 schools in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Europe surveyed. From our New Venture Accelerator mentoring, coaching, and business counseling to our new business idea pitch competitions, the Auburn Research and Technology Foundation, the Intellectual Property Exchange, and the Lowder Center for Family Business and Entrepreneurship, Auburn has developed a reputation for having one of the best entrepreneurship programs in the country. For more information on how to get your own new business idea off the ground, see here https://nva.auburn.edu/ and follow us for more to come. #Entrepreneurship #Entrepreneurs #Business #Auburn #SEC #Alabama #Auburn #NewVentures #Engineering #StartUps #Investors #SeedCapital #VentureCapital

Auburn ranked among top schools for entrepreneurship. The Princeton Review and Entrepreneur Magazine rankings of the Top 50 Undergraduate Schools for Entrepreneurship Studies has included Auburn University among the top 50 out of nearly 300 schools in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Europe. Auburn came in at number 43 overall, and among public universities, Auburn ranked number 24. Auburn was the only Alabama school to make the top 50, and was also ranked second among Southeastern Conference (SEC) schools. “As Alabama’s premier land grant institution committed to driving economic growth, we are honored to receive this national recognition for the university’s innovation and entrepreneurship efforts,” noted Jennifer Mueller-Phillips, Harbert College dean and Wells Fargo professor. Read all about it here https://lnkd.in/ej__rVY6, including more about the role Auburn’s New Venture Accelerator plays in support of the Auburn Entrepreneurial Ecosystem. #Entrepreneurship #Entrepreneurs #PrincetonReview #EntrepreneurMagazine #Business #StartUps #NewVentures #VentureCapital #Auburn #Engineering #Technology #Innovation #Harbert