The FORGE Student Startup Residency invites students with advanced venture concepts in the biomedical, semiconductor manufacturing, and/or artificial intelligence vertical market to apply. 

The program offers a sizeable entrepreneurial training grant of up to $5,600 as part of an 8-week Summer ‘Startup Bootcamp’ that includes expert mentoring, notable guest speakers, and pitch to a panel of actual investors. 

Students who complete the bootcamp are invited to apply for paid FORGE Student Entrepreneur in Residence positions in Fall 2024, where they learn about angel and VC investing, support the Wildcat Philanthropic Seed Fund, serve as vertical analysts, and shadow actual startup founders in FORGE’s Venture Advisors accelerators. Student Startup Residents also help promote the program and select the next cohort of students in Spring 2025

Applications open February 16th.  All interested applicants must register for an information session before applying. 

Reserve a spot in an information session here. 

Grant Award Criteria

• Currently enrolled U of A undergraduate and graduate students in any major graduating in May 2025 or later. Up to 30 students will be selected.
• Must submit a ‘venture dossier’ consisting of résumé, startup concept pitch slide, market assessment, and competitive analysis. 
• Startup concept must belong to the student and originate from the student’s own idea. 
• Startup concept must be post-idea: identify a specific problem, have a hypothesis for how to solve it, identify a market for such a solution.
• Must be enrolled full-time for the following fall semester
• Must be available to participate during summer and fall program dates.
• Must meet U of A’s academic achievement standards and be in good standing.
• Must meet U of A’s enrollment requirements.
• Completion of application, see Submission Criteria and Apply.