Funding for Entrepreneurs (and We Don’t Mean Venture Capital)

By On March 13, 2012 · Leave a Comment · In Business, Entrepreneurship, Fellowships

While on our recent university tour, I was asked by several students if there are any fellowships for entrepreneurs. In fact, there are quite few.

Entrepreneurs seeking funding for their ideas, particularly ideas that border on community service, don’t necessarily need to go to Silicon Valley for venture capital. We define fellowships as competitive, short-term, funded opportunities to pursue a project, conduct research, enhance professional skills and pursue higher education. In other words, funding to do something exceptional. Here are some great fellowship opportunities for budding entrepreneurs and established startups.

  1. Venture for America Fellowship - 2 years, stipend, placement at a startup, $100K prize
  2. KPCB Engineering Fellows Program - 3 months, salary
  3. Code for America Fellowship - 11 months, salary, travel, health
  4. Detroit Revitalization Fellowship – 2 years, salary
  5. The Thiel Fellowship – 2 years, $100K
  6. Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation - 3 years, $300K
  7. Echoing Green Fellowship - 2 years, $90K
  8. Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship - startup funding, varies
  9. Unreasonable Fellowship - 6 weeks, stipend
  10. Ashoka - varies
  11. Acumen Fund Fellowship - 1 year, stipend
  12. REDF Farber Fellowship - 1 year, stipend
  13. IDEX Fellowship - 10 months, stipend
  14. Open Society Black Male Achievement Fellowship - 18 months, $70K
  15. Bluhm/Helfand Social Innovation Fellowship - $10K
  16. Mind Trust Education Entrepreneur Fellowship - 2 years, salary, training, travel, mentorship
  17. IDEO Fellowship - 11 months, salary
  18. PopTech Social Innovation Fellowship - multi-day intensive program, all expenses paid
  19. Rainer Arnold Fellows Program - annual/ongoing, $10K/year
  20. Ariane de Rothschild Fellowship - 2 weeks, stipend

This is by no means a complete list of entrepreneurship fellowships, however we hope it’s enough to whet your appetite for now. We’re in the process of building a much more exciting and comprehensive database of fellowship opportunities. If you’re interested in getting an early peek, make sure to sign up for our private beta.

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A Review of Science and Engineering Fellowships

By On February 15, 2012 · Leave a Comment · In Engineering, Entrepreneurship, Fellowships, Science, Technology

In preparation for my upcoming seminar at MIT, I’ve gone back through my posts on science and engineering fellowships. Here’s a review of some of the best we’ve found.

Engineering:
  • The Hertz Foundation Graduate Fellowship is a competitive and prestigious fellowship for exceptionally talented doctoral students in the applied physical, biological and engineering sciences.
  • The Amelia Earhart Fellowship is a $10,000 award for women of any nationality pursuing a doctoral degree in the field of aerospace-related sciences and aerospace-related engineering.
  • The Hydro Fellowship Program is awarded to mechanical and electrical engineering graduate students in their final year of study who are interested in conducting research related to the improvement of conventional hydropower.
  • The  KPCB Engineering Fellows Program is a paid summer fellowship for entrepreneurial engineering students at the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Science:
  • Yale University offers 20-25 annual Gruber Science Fellowships for students of any nationality pursuing a PhD in biomedical and biological sciences or in astronomy and astrophysics.
  • The L’Oreal USA Fellowships for Women in Science is a competitive fellowship program that provides five awards of up to $60,000 to women postdoctoral researchers who are pursuing careers in the life and physical/material sciences, as well as mathematics, engineering and computer science.
Tech:
  • Code for America is a highly competitive professional fellowship program that recuits talented web developers, designers, and entrepreneurs to work on innovative tech projects in city government agencies across the U.S., including Philadelphia, Seattle, Washington, DC and Boston.
  • The Google Policy Fellowship is a paid summer fellowship for undergraduate, graduate, and law students to spend 10 weeks in Washington, DC, San Francisco, Toronto or Ottawa, Canada at public interest organizations working on public policy in broadband access, content regulation, copyright and trademark reform, consumer privacy, and open government.
  • The DHS Emerging Leaders in Cybersecurity is a paid professional fellowship program for computer science graduates; fellows complete rotational assignments at the Department of Homeland Security in Washington, DC.

We hope to see you at our Spring 2012 University Tour in Boston! Read here for details.

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New Undergraduate Research Fellowships at UC Riverside

By On January 24, 2012 · Leave a Comment · In Business, Communications, Creative Arts, Education, Engineering, Fellowships, Fellowships by Location, Medicine / Health Sciences, Public Service, Science, Social Sciences / Liberal Arts, Technology, United States, Vocational Careers

The University of California, Riverside wants its undergraduate students to be more involved in campus research, and recently established a program to do just that.  Announced earlier this month, the new Chancellor’s Research Fellowship (CRF) will support undergraduate student engagement in faculty mentored research and creative activity projects.

The Chancellor’s Research Fellowship is great opportunity for undergraduate students interested in pursuing graduate or professional school to gain relevant experience and stand out from the crowd. All applicants must create a research project proposal, including a description of their methodological approach.

The competition for the Chancellor’s Research Fellowship is currently open. Current UC Riverside sophomores and juniors in any academic discipline who are maintaining a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or above are eligible to apply. The program will award up to 12 fellowships to undergraduate students in amounts as much as $5,000 for the 2012-13 academic year. Applications are due on April 13, 2012. If you’re interested in learning more about UC Riverside’s Chancellor’s Research Fellowship and how to apply, please click here.

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Top Students Flock to Universities With Highest Paying Fellowships

By On December 15, 2011 · Leave a Comment · In Business, Fellowships, United States

In these hard economic times universities have a choice, to play it safe and reduce scholarship and fellowship funding or to take a risk and invest in top talent. Some universities chose the latter and as a result are snatching up the best candidates.

The trend of offering high-paying scholarship and fellowship offerings to attract top talent is most evident in U.S. business schools, where the trend is being described by some as a fellowships “arms race”.

“It is an arms race,” says Alison Davis-Blake, dean of the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business. “The race has gotten so hot, so fast that schools are using operating money to pay for a lot of these scholarships. No one had ever, ever done that in MBA land. Almost everybody is doing it now.” Read more

Some MBA programs, such as Yale, have increased their average scholarship and fellowship payouts by 100-150%. Other schools are adopting an even more aggressive and compelling approach, “premier fellowships”, which in addition to offering full-tuition funding, also provide a living stipend. Some schools are reaching one-step further and are offering additional awards to fellowship recipients. A great example of this is UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, which offers a full-tuition premier fellowship that includes a $5,000 living stipend. UNC further sweetens the pot with it’s “Falls Prize”, which provides a $25,000 total stipend paid in $12,500 increments per year.

By all accounts, it appears that the fellowship opportunities in U.S. business schools will continue to increase for the foreseeable future. Learn more about these exciting fellowship opportunities here.

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Orr Fellowships Provide Unique Opportunity for Young Entrepreneurs

By On December 7, 2011 · Leave a Comment · In Business, Fellowships, United States

The Orr Fellowship is doing its part to nurture and develop Indiana’s best and brightest entrepreneurial talent.   Also known as The Governor Bob Orr Indiana Entrepreneurial Fellowship, the Orr Fellowship offers Indiana’s top recent college graduates with paid opportunities to work with and learn from Indiana’s top business executives and companies.  Click here to see the list of participating host companies.

Fellows spend two years gaining executive-level mentorship, building a one of a kind professional network, attending monthly Business Leader Meetings, and joining an invaluable peer network full of other talented recent graduates.  Fellows are paid a salary by their host company for the duration of the fellowship.

A quote from a recent fellow:

“The Orr Fellowship provided me with an opportunity to join a growing global company and to work closely with senior leadership on key projects.  The responsibilities that I was given were beyond what a typical entry-level marketing coordinator would have been given. This allowed me to grow professionally more quickly than many of my peers.”

To qualify for the Orr Fellowship you must have:

  • Cumulative 3.5 GPA or higher (students with as low as a 3.2 GPA will be considered if they have extensive leadership experience)
  • Demonstrated leadership potential (leaders in on- and off-campus clubs/organizations/athletics)
  • Strong interest in entrepreneurial business or organizational leadership
  • An expected graduation in either December 2011 or May 2012 with one or more undergraduate majors
  • Graduate of an Indiana college or university (or a native Hoosier graduating from any school around the country)
To learn more about The Governor Bob Orr Indiana Entrepreneurial Fellowship please visit http://www.orrfellowship.org/.
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Designers Change the World Through the IDEO.org Fellowship

By On December 4, 2011 · Leave a Comment · In Design, Entrepreneurship, Fellowships, International Develoment, Public Service, Social Entrepreneurship

IDEO.org is a new non-profit working to support designers who can make the world a better. Each year, the IDEO.org Fellowship Program seeks talented people from the design, business and social sectors, who can serve as “innovators in residence” at IDEO.org’s offices in San Francisco, CA for 12 months. Fellows work with experienced IDEO designers to develop innovative solutions to poverty-focused problems around the world, using “human-centered design” to address challenges in areas such as agriculture, gender equity, financial services, health, water, and sanitation.

Good describes the IDEO.org Fellows as “big-picture thinkers that make up a new breed of humanitarians—designers.” Currently, fellows are developing open-source design kits, such as designs for urban gardening in Ethiopia, and are blogging about the process, giving other social sector leaders a chance to learn from their successes, failures, and unusual approaches to eradicating poverty.

The application process for this professional fellowship is highly competitive and open to applicants from around the world. They especially seek candidates who have experience working in developing countries or low-income communities. The start-up environment and frequent travel requires fellows to be flexible, resilient and open to other cultures and lifestyles.

Applications are due December 9, 2011 – so act now!

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PopTech Fellows Bring Science to the Masses

By On November 3, 2011 · Leave a Comment · In Business, Fellowships, Social Entrepreneurship, Technology

The PopTech Fellows are a global network of thought leaders and scientists taking an interdisciplinary approach to social entrepreneurship. Each year, PopTech chooses 10-20 Fellows from all over the world working on “highly disruptive” innovations. They come from a wide variety of disciplines, to be “mashed together” to develop new ideas on how to tackle major social challenges such a poverty and climate change. The Fellows come to Washington, DC to be trained in speaking with the media about science.

An assistant Engineering professor at University of Pennsylvania, Katherine Kuchenbecker, was recently selected as one of ten PopTech Science and Public Leadership Fellows. “I do want to connect [the research that my students and I do] to things that matter to other people — not just scientists and engineers,” said Kuchenbecker. Read more.

The fellowship provides an all-expenses-paid, multi-day intensive program focused on insights and tools for accelerating and scaling “big bet” innovations, such as branding, media relations, social media, finance, leadership, digital storytelling, and design. Fellows also participate in interactive training sessions facilitated by leaders in social innovation, as well as PopTech’s renowned annual conference in Maine, where Fellows eloquently pitch their ideas to leading journalists.

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New NYU Fellowship Offers Mentorship From Vimeo Execs

By On November 1, 2011 · Leave a Comment · In Communications, Entrepreneurship, Fellowships, New Media

IAC, a leading Internet company, and New York University (NYU) are launching a new IAC Teaching and Research Fellowship Fund in partnership with NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. IAC is providing $250,000 to support graduate fellowships for students from the School’s Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP), a graduate education program in interactive media.

Four IAC Fellows, selected based on academic and entrepreneurial excellence, innovative research, and their potential to make an impact on the future of the interactive media space, have been awarded a one year fellowship to develop new technologies and research while providing faculty and student support within ITP’s classrooms. Their mentors include executives from  Vimeo and IAC’s Hatch Labs, an innovation incubator devoted to improving wireless technology.

“Partnering with IAC in creating a Research Fellowship for recent graduates follows the example of many entrepreneurial ITP alumni, most notably Foursquare co-founder Dennis Crowley who spent a year after graduating incubating his ideas around locative media,” said ITP Founding Chair Red Burns. “Through this Fund, selected ITP students will now have a little extra time to deepen their skills and further explore their ideas in collaboration with the innovators at IAC.” Read more.

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William & Mary Accounting Program To Offer New Faculty Fellowships For Research

By On October 28, 2011 · Leave a Comment · In Accounting, Fellowships

The College of William & Mary announced today that it will begin offering new faculty fellowships for tenure-track faculty in the Mason School of Business accounting program.  Thanks to a generous $3 million donation from alumnus Frank J. Wood ’74, the new fellowships will help to attract and retain top talent and increase the competitiveness of the business school.

The Frank J. Wood ’74 Faculty Fellowships will recognize and reward tenure-track faculty with summer faculty fellowship research awards. Peer institutions offer similar rewards for faculty research, and the Mason School’s ability to offer similar opportunities will enhance the accounting faculty’s development — and by implication their effectiveness in the classroom — giving them incentive to remain and grow at William & Mary instead of leaving to advance their careers at other institutions.

Read More

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EDF Climate Corps Summer Fellows Save Corporations Millions

By On September 28, 2011 · Leave a Comment · In Business, Earth Sciences, Environmental Science, Fellowships

The Environmental Defense Fund’s innovative Climate Corps Fellowship is a summer program that places top MBA and MPA students in companies, cities and universities to build the business case for energy efficiency. The results from this year’s class of Climate Corps Fellows: $650 million in energy savings from companies like Target, McDonald’s and Dunkin’ Donuts.

“In this economy, everyone is looking for ways to save, and energy efficiency is a huge, and largely untapped, opportunity,” Victoria Mills, managing director of EDF’s Corporate Partnerships program, told Sustainable Life Media. “EDF Climate Corps has shown once again the magnitude of cost savings and carbon pollution reductions available to organizations that know how to look for them.”

This summer, 96 fellows were provided a high-level work placement, training on energy efficiency best practices, and access to experts in the field. EDF Climate Corps fellows are not expected to have a background in energy efficiency, but are chosen on their ability to do technical and financial analyses, manage projects and help facilitate organizational change. Fellows are paid $1,250/week and reimbursed for travel expenses incurred during Climate Corps training.

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