Carnegie Mellon University Startup Week 2025

Carnegie Mellon University Startup Week is a multiday celebration of entrepreneurship, innovation, and frontier tech. Brought to you by the Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship and cross-campus partners, the diverse lineup of events will highlight founders from all stages, researchers, regional partners, and VC firms across our entire ecosystem. With over 25+ events planned over the course of four days from September 23rd to 26th, our program will feature startup founders, researchers, investors, and VIP keynotes. --- **Import Information:** - **AI Model:** Gemini 2.5 Flash - **Processing Time:** 138.9s - **Estimated Cost:** €0.0080 (~0.80¢) - **Tokens Used:** 15 476 input / 25 034 output

Event Start:Sep 23, 2025
Event End:Sep 26, 2025
Carnegie Mellon University
America/New_York (EST/EDT)

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Day 1

Tuesday, September 23, 2025

4 Sessions(1 Session•1 Dinner•1 Break•1 Trivia Night)

09:00 - 21:00

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PearX CMU Professor Breakfast

Break
9:00 AM - 10:00 AM
Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship
Pear VC supports professors and researchers in turning breakthrough ideas into enduring companies. They will share how Pear can help CMU faculty transform cutting-edge research into impactful ventures.
Participants:
Mar
Arash
Eddie

PearX Info Session & AMA with Harris Stolzenberg, Pear Partner & Former Founder

Session
5:30 PM - 6:30 PM
Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship
Join an info session and AMA with Harris Stolzenberg of Pear VC to learn about PearX, a bespoke accelerator for early-stage companies. PearX keeps batches small (~20 companies) and maintains high quality.
Lead:
Harris Stolzenberg

Dinner with CMU Startups & Student Fellows

Dinner
7:00 PM - 8:30 PM
Restaurant Off-Campus
This exclusive dinner provides an opportunity for Tartans across CMU VentureBridge startups, Tartan Entrepreneurs Fund startups, Swartz Fellows, Innovation Commercialization Fellows, and Innovation Scholars to get together.
Lead:
Will Sanders

CMU Sigma Eta Pi Trivia Night

Trivia Night
7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Cohen University Center
Join Sigma Eta Pi, CMU's co-ed entrepreneurship fraternity, in collaboration with CMU VentureBridge and PlaidMatrix fund to host trivia night!
Room:

Connan Room

Day 2

Wednesday, September 24, 2025

8 Sessions(3 Sessions•1 Discussion•1 Workshop•1 Pitch•1 Reception•1 Break)

09:00 - 19:00

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gg

Session
9:00 AM - 10:00 AM

Cyber Innovators Breakfast - Pittsburgh DataTribe/CMU CyLab/CMU Swartz Center

Break
9:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship
This fourth Cyber Innovators event, a new series by DataTribe, connects the brightest minds in cybersecurity. It's for CISOs, startup founders, or investors scouting the next big thing in cyber.

Unlocking Government Funding For Research Translation

Discussion
9:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Scott Hall
This session brings together two back-to-back discussions designed to help researchers unlock $250K–$1M+ in non-dilutive funding. It covers strengthening NSF, NIH, or DoD proposals and crafting winning SBIR/STTR submissions.
Room:

Room 6142

Founders Breakfast

9:00 AM - 10:00 AM
Vienna, Austria
Room:

Restaurant

Visa Strategies for International Founders: Innovate PGH

Session
12:00 PM - 12:30 PM
Newell-Simon Hall
This session is for international entrepreneurs looking to stay or grow their startup in Pittsburgh. The Global Entrepreneur in Residence program creates a pathway for talent to stay and grow in the Pittsburgh region.
Room:

Room 3305

Visas for Founders, Researchers & Academic Entrepreneurs with Sophie Alcorn

Workshop
12:30 PM - 1:30 PM
Newell-Simon Hall
Join a practical session on U.S. visa options for innovators with academic roots and entrepreneurial goals. It will cover O-1 for extraordinary talent, EB-2 NIW for mission-driven founders, Cap-exempt H-1Bs for university-linked ventures, and Self-petition strategies for startup leaders.
Lead:
Sophie Alcorn
Room:

Room 3305

AI & Robotics Venture Day 2025 - Pitch Showcase

Pitch
2:30 PM - 5:00 PM
Cohen University Center
Discover breakthrough technologies shaping foundational industries born in Southwestern Pennsylvania, including Energy, Bio/Health Tech, Industrial Automation, Autonomous Tech, Frontier/Advanced Materials. This segment includes startup pitches and a panel discussion on the AI & Robotics Landscape.
Room:

McConomy Auditorium

AI & Robotics Venture Day 2025 - Networking Reception & Investor Meetings

Reception
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship
An exclusive networking reception and 1:1 investor meetings for investors and startup presenters.
Room:

Tepper Quad [Invite-Only]

Day 3

Thursday, September 25, 2025

5 Sessions(1 Expo•1 Discussion•1 Demo•1 Reception•1 Open House)

08:30 - 21:00

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CMU Lab to Market - Fall 2025

Expo
8:30 AM - 4:00 PM
Tepper Building
An exclusive gathering of investors to look at Carnegie Mellon University's most promising research-driven startups. This day-long event spotlights breakthrough ventures emerging from CMU labs, including those led by CMU faculty, PhDs and postdocs.
Room:

Simmons Auditorium (Room A)

Commercialization of Life Sciences Research

Discussion
3:30 PM - 5:00 PM
Mellon Institute
This session discusses the unique challenges of translating life sciences breakthroughs into impactful businesses. It's for life sciences researchers in Pittsburgh wondering about potential funding and commercialization pathways.
Room:

4400 Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA

Open House @ Module's Last Mile Facility

Open House
3:30 PM - 5:30 PM
Module's Last Mile Facility
Module welcomes you to join them at the Last Mile Facility to celebrate growth, learning, and their first year as a manufacturer. Programming includes facility tours and select speakers.
Room:

730 Superior St, Carnegie, Pennsylvania

Inside Gather AI: Exclusive Member Showcase & Demo Night

Demo
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Gather AI
Celebrate the opening of Gather AI's new 14,000 sq. ft. warehouse office space. This event is a unique opportunity to connect with fellow innovators and thought leaders shaping the future of the robotics industry.
Room:

1138 River Ave, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

SPARK 2025 CMU's Annual Largest Startup Job Fair - Networking & Tabling

Reception
7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Cohen University Center
A networking mixer and tabling event for startups and job seekers.
Room:

Connan Room, Wean and Kirr Commons

Day 4

Friday, September 26, 2025

2 Sessions(1 Expo•1 Reception)

09:00 - 14:00

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99 Tartans - Investor/Founder Meet & Greet

Reception
9:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Tepper Quad, Carnegie Mellon University
An exclusive event for CMU alumni angels part of the 99 Tartans syndicate and the CMU startup founders funded by 99 Tartans. Join for breakfast to wrap up an exciting week of activities for CMU Startup Week.

CMU S4: Swartz Student Startup Showcase

Expo
12:00 PM - 2:00 PM
Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship
An interactive exhibition event showcasing what's coming next from CMU student and recent alum startups. Engage directly with founders and learn about the incredible innovations they are building and critical problems they are solving.