Venture Champions Fellowship
Chart Your Commercialization Career in Hard Tech
The Venture Champions (VC) Fellowship is focused on accelerating commercialization of cutting-edge hard tech ventures originating from research labs and universities on Long Island. Powered by LIHTI’s Venture Champions Initiative, a one-year VC Fellowship provides tangible experience and applied professional development to fellows passionate about commercializing hard tech solutions.
Working directly with the LIHTI team on mission-critical innovation initiatives, Fellows develop their entrepreneurial muscles and solidify their technology commercialization experience through:
- Engaging in critical venture initiation and development activities across Biotech, Cleantech and Infotech verticals at LIHTI.
- Supporting programs that identify, hone, evaluate, and select top hard tech venture concepts for further development.
Who Should Apply
You are a fit for our program if you:
- Are a student, postdoc or professional with strong backgrounds in a STEMM discipline who are currently pursuing or completed graduate education in science, engineering, medicine, business or law
- Aspire to learn and contribute to hard tech commercialization
- Enjoy working collaboratively and independently
- Have excellent communication and research skills
- Are self-motivated, dependable and efficient
Fellowship Expectations
Time commitment: 1 year (10 hours per week)
Schedule: Hybrid (majority in person across various SBU locations)
Work expectations:
- Outreach and recruitment of diverse Fellows, innovators, and founders to engage in the region’s hard tech innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem.
- Work closely with technology commercialization offices at SBU, BNL and other partners to identify innovations with high potential for further development into hard tech ventures that address important unmet societal needs and create positive impact for Long Island.
- Working with professional staff, innovators and founders, to perform due diligence and customer discovery to identify promising opportunities for hard tech venture development.
- Facilitate pursuit of grant and commercial funding opportunities to support the development of top venture development opportunities.
- Assist LIHTI/SBU professional staff as needed to administer the Venture Challenge and Bootcamp programs.
Benefits of the Venture Champions Fellowship:
Stipend support
Receive supplemental stipend support to offset your expenses
Networking
Build a diverse professional network, access career opportunities, and more
Entrepreneurial Training
Free entrepreneurial training delivered by experts. Access to a community of experts, mentors, and like-minded peers
Explore Career Paths
Explore various purpose-driven career paths in hard tech commercialization
Hands On Experience
Gain hands-on experience through evaluating and supporting cutting edge technologies across hard tech commercialization lifecycle
Transferable Skills
Develop transferable leadership, project management and communication skills
Goals
- Gain preliminary understanding & experience in a hard tech commercialization.
- Acquire hands-on training to perform due diligence and customer discovery to identify promising opportunities for hard tech venture development.
- Attain critical research skills by facilitating pursuit of grant and commercial funding opportunities to support the development of top venture development opportunities.
- Develop communication skills by working with professional staff, innovators and founders, assisting marketing and communications team with creating media content.
- Learn about and chart a hard tech commercialization career path throughout the fellowship & beyond.
- Assist LIHTI/SBU professional staff as needed to administer the Venture Challenge and Bootcamp programs.
For any questions, please reach out to Shruti Sharma at: shruti.sharma@stonybrook.edu.