The programs behind the ventures
Across the country, faculty, staff, and program leaders help students explore entrepreneurship, test ideas, and build ventures. They create campus competitions, guide prototype development, and help students recognize what they can contribute.
e‑Fest connects this work with funding, feedback, and a national community of people invested in student entrepreneurship. Together, we create more opportunities for students to learn, build, and make an impact.
What We Do Together
Connections That Extend Beyond The Competition
A campus pitch competition. A conversation with another advisor. Feedback that helps a student see the next step. These connections strengthen the work happening on individual campuses and give student founders more places to turn as their ideas develop.
Build opportunities on your campus
Development Awards support campus programs that help undergraduates explore entrepreneurship and develop their ideas. See how faculty and staff have used this support, and explore the requirements for your program.
Help your students take the next step
Encourage student founders to enter the e‑Fest Online Round and support them as they prepare their submissions. Teams receive feedback from judges, and the Top 25 are invited to Minneapolis for three days of competition, learning, and connection.
Share your experience as a judge
Bring your perspective to the Online Round. Your feedback can help student founders recognize strengths, work through questions, and refine their next steps — whether or not they advance.
Connect with colleagues
Share what’s working on your campus and hear what others are trying. Connect with the e‑Fest team over a Zoom coffee, on social, or at a conference. A conversation about a pitch competition, a classroom approach, or a shared challenge can lead to a useful introduction or an idea worth exploring.
In Their Words
What e-Fest Makes Possible
Allocating some funds to communication and recruitment enabled us to reach a more diverse pool of cross-disciplinary participants.
Receiving the e-Fest Development Award gave us the ability to fund things that make a big difference for students but often get cut from a budget.
Development Awards helped us engage more students, connect prospective teams with past participants, and strengthen the coaching and resources available as they prepare for e-Fest.
With the help of these awards, students have been able to conduct in-depth customer discovery, develop and test prototypes, and validate market demand for their ideas.
In short, e-Fest has catalyzed both student success and the broader entrepreneurial ecosystem at Sacramento State.
We put on a campus-wide innovation challenge modeled after e-Fest’s innovation challenge to encourage students from diverse economic backgrounds to collaborate on entrepreneurial ventures. This will now be an annual event.
Across The Network
Campuses Supported Through Development Awards
Each institution below has received Development Award support for its work in undergraduate entrepreneurship. Together, their programs reflect the many ways students begin exploring ideas and building ventures.
Ashland University | Azusa Pacific University | Boise State University | Buena Vista University | Butler University | California State University, Fullerton | California State University, Monterey Bay | California State University, Sacramento | Campbell University | Case Western Reserve University | Cheyney University of Pennsylvania | College of Saint Benedict | Colorado Mesa University | Dartmouth College | East Carolina University | Eastern Michigan University | Elizabethtown College | Florida State University | Franklin College of Indiana | Georgia State University | Hofstra University | Houston Christian University | Illinois Institute of Technology | Iowa State University | Lake Forest College | Louisiana State University | Loyola University Maryland | Northeastern University | Ohio University | Old Dominion University | Oswego University | Pace University | Quinnipiac University | Rhodes College | Rowan University | Saint Louis University | Shippensburg University | Soka University of America | Stephen F. Austin State University | SUNY Farmingdale College | SUNY New Paltz | Susquehanna University | Talladega College | The New School | University of California, Irvine | University of Louisiana at Lafayette | University of Minnesota, Crookston | University of Northwestern Ohio | University of Oklahoma | University of Southern Mississippi | Calvin University | College of Charleston | Drexel University | Elon University | Grove City College | Indiana University | Loyola Marymount University | Oklahoma State University | Portland State University | Rutgers University | State University of New York | SUNY Plattsburgh | University of Baltimore | University of Minnesota, Twin Cities | University of Tampa | University of Texas at Tyler | University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley | University of Wisconsin, Madison | University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh | University of Wisconsin, Whitewater | Ursinus College | Worcester Polytechnic Institute
