IU Innovates will expand support for student- and faculty-led startups

Across Indiana University, students and faculty are pursuing ideas and innovations that could change our world for the better. With nurturing and support, these ambitions can become reality. That’s the premise behind our new initiative, IU Innovates, which will provide an integrated infrastructure to support students and faculty in the creation and growth of startup ventures. Based initially in the Von Lee building outside the Sample Gates on Kirkwood Avenue in Bloomington, but university-wide in reach, IU Innovates will launch this fall and provide a focal point for university-wide support to advance entrepreneurship and innovation across IU.

This bold initiative will significantly expand university-wide support for student and faculty innovation. In addition to seminars and workshops on entrepreneurship, the IU Innovates curriculum will guide students and faculty through the incubation and launch of new business ideas.

Earlier this year, the IU community celebrated Kelley School of Business undergraduates who, with the support of faculty mentors and alumni, established the nation’s largest undergraduate student-managed real estate private equity fund.

IU Innovates will build on this success and draw on the leadership of the Shoemaker Innovation Center and the Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation, while creating a platform to expand existing innovation and entrepreneurship partnerships in Bloomington, Indianapolis, Kokomo, and Fort Wayne, among others.

Crucially, the IU Innovates initiative also reflects the three pillars of our IU 2030 strategic plan by unifying support for student success in entrepreneurship, strengthening the linkages between our research enterprise and industry, and pursuing business ideas that will spur economic growth contributing to Indiana’s and the nation’s economic vitality.

We are a university where imagination, ideas and entrepreneurship thrive. IU Innovates will further accelerate innovation at IU, paying dividends through new businesses, partnerships, and vital collaborations across our state, across the nation, and beyond.

Pamela Whitten

President
Indiana University