We support the trailblazers who solve big problems.
In about a decade, the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship has helped launch 88 Cal Poly startups that have gone on to raise $200 million in capital and create thousands of jobs.
On campus, we’re reaching 1,200 students a year in the classroom and more than 3,000 students a year in total. And at the SLO HotHouse, we’re supporting the growth of dozens of startups through our Summer Accelerator and Incubator programs. We’ve been recognized as one of the top undergraduate entrepreneurship programs in the country. But there’s more we can do.
We envision an entrepreneurial ecosystem that allows our most entrepreneurial students to solve big problems. With world-class facilities on and off campus, dedicated faculty in each of the six colleges and unparalleled mentorship and programming, we will embed entrepreneurship in our collective culture, putting Cal Poly on the map as the top undergraduate university for entrepreneurial-minded students.
CAMPAIGN PRIORITIES
- Offer Students the Best Undergraduate Accelerator Experience in the World. Since 2010, 71 student-founded startups have launched in everything from medical devices to sustainable snack foods. With modest seed funding, a whole lot of guidance, and Cal Poly alumni as mentors, there’s no problem too big to solve.
- Create a Hub on Campus. We envision a place where students learn from mentors, faculty and staff to develop solutions to real-world problems, then build those solutions in a state-of-the-art makerspace. We envision a place where our most innovative students feel right at home.
- Meet the Growing Demand for Entrepreneurship. Through an on-campus incubator, entrepreneurship forums, campus-wide competitions and 19 unique entrepreneurship classes, we encourage students to develop big ideas and give them the tools to execute.
