These 3 venture and tech ed programs launch at Pittsburgh universities this fall

Duquesne New Venture Challenge

For those running a startup with a social mission, know that the Richard King Mellon Foundation and the UpPrize Social Innovation Challenge aren’t the only ones in town offering support.

Duquesne University has opened its applications for the 2023-2024 Duquesne New Venture Challenge hosted by the Palumbo-Donahue School of Business.

Now in its fifth year, New Venture Challenge is a three-stage business plan competition through which participants will be called on to execute business concepts, examine target audiences, and network to pitch their startups to potential startups. Participants will then vie for $100,000 in cash and service prizes. Anyone based in the US is encouraged to apply by Nov. 12, and applicants can be either individuals or teams of up to five people. Past competition winners include 2023 RealLIST Startups companies Advanced Optronics and MindTrace.

“We have a track record of supporting some of the most promising early-stage ventures anywhere, and I encourage entrepreneurs seeking cash, guidance and visibility to enter the DNVC,” said Dr. Dean McFarlin, dean of the Palumbo-Donahue School of Business, in the announcement. “Launching a new business means you have decided it’s time for bigger goals, and the DNVC offers a great opportunity to realize your start-up dreams.”

Corporate Startup Lab Case Competition

The Corporate Startup Lab — housed by Carnegie Mellon University’s Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship and helmed by former Innovation Works exec Jim Jen — is accepting graduate and doctorate students’ project submissions aiming to make financial services more equitable.

The PNC Bank-sponsored Case Competition is offering up to $20,000 in prizes. If you’re a CMU student interested in equity in financial services and can put together a team with three to four members, note that the application deadline is Sept. 29.

This year, the competition’s organizers said, the prompt will ask participants to examine the intersection of affordable housing and climate resilience and “attempt to provide a solution through transformative innovation ideas, products, or services.”

Google Career Certificates and PASSHE

Google, the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) and Gov. Josh Shapiro are teaming up to offer Google Career Certificates to more Pennsylvanians, both currently studying at state schools and not.

Six years ago, the Grow With Google program, which was created to help participants gain the skills they needed to secure “high-growth” jobs, launched in Pittsburgh. Now the program is joining forces with the Shaprio administration to keep the momentum going. By offering Google Career Certificates at higher ed institutions that are a part of PASSHE such as Millersville, Shippensburg and Commonwealth universities, the long-term goal is to help learners gain the qualifications they need to have successful careers in IT, business intelligence, ecommerce and project management.

The partnership is meant to increase accessibility to credentials, particularly in state-owned universities “and position the state-owned universities as engines of economic development,” the announcement said.

Atiya Irvin-Mitchell is a 2022-2024 corps member for Report for America, an initiative of The Groundtruth Project that pairs young journalists with local newsrooms. This position is supported by the Heinz Endowments.