Resources provided by the John Martinson Entrepreneurial Center

Our Accelerators

The Convergence Incubator Space

The incubator program provides Purdue entrepreneurs with a space to develop their business. Within this program, founders will be able to establish and address for their HQ, hold conferences with potential investors, use the workspace, and receive mentorship from our experts. The space is located at Wang Hall, 516 Northwestern Avenue Suite 4008, West Lafayette, IN 47906.
Fill out the application to apply

Spring 2023 Student Incubator

Purdue’s College of Engineering (COE) Student Entrepreneur Incubator Program is an award to guide an Engineering student (undergraduate or graduate) to move the student's startups to market. The primary purpose of this program is to have students transition their unique and innovative ideas into a “minimum viable product (MVP)” integrated with a business plan.  Applications for 2023 Spring semester are accepted from now until the program is full.  

The winners will receive up to a $5,000 award from COE for the full participation of the program.

If interested, apply here: https://forms.gle/ih52by7cUptcGNRj8

Relationships

Silicon Valley Office

Our silicon valley office helps connect students with industry in the valley. For founders we have a network of experts and clients who can connect with investors, mentorship, collaborators, and clients. For job-seeking students we help internship and job placement. We are connection through the Silicon Valley Boilermaker Innovation Group (SVBIG). 

Our contacts are 

  • Steve Sposato: Purdue Engineering- Silicon Valley Initiative, ssposato@purdue.edu
  • Steve VonderHaar, Silicon Valley Boilermaker Innovation Group (SVBIG), steve@svbig.org

Other Entrepreneurship Programs

Education:

  1. Undergraduate Courses: Certificate in Entrepreneurship and Innovation (https://www.purdue.edu/entr/)
  2. Graduate course: TLI 626 Understand Technology Commercialization (https://polytechnic.purdue.edu/departments/technology-leadership-innovation)
  3. On-campus co-op (https://www.purdue.edu/pathmaker/)
  4. Student clubs:

Exploration:

  1. Purdue Business Model Competition in Spring semesters (https://www.purdue.edu/discoverypark/bdmce/competitions/)
  2. Business Plan Competition by Rice University in Spring semesters (https://rbpc.rice.edu/)
  3. Firestarter offered by Purdue Foundry (https://purduefoundry.com/services)
  4. Internship in startups (https://engineering.purdue.edu/JMEC)
  5. Trask fund (https://www.prf.org/otc/trask/proposal-guidelines.html)
  6. NSF Partnerships for Innovation (https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2019/nsf19506/nsf19506.htm)
  7. Protect Intellectual Properties: Office of Technology Commercialization (https://www.prf.org/otc/)
  8. I-Corps (https://krannert.purdue.edu/centers/nsf/)

Registration:

Registration is necessary for acquiring additional resources in many programs. The State of Indiana is exceptionally friendly to entrepreneurs. For example, Indiana provides additional funds to entrepreneurs that have obtained SBIR/STTR from the federal government

(https://www.elevateventures.com/entrepreneurs/investment-funding/sbir-sttr-matching/).

Register a company in Indiana: https://inbiz.in.gov/start-business

If you intend to apply for SBIR/STTR grants, please follow this procedure and register your company.

The John Martinson Engineering Entrepreneurship Center (JMEC) welcomes every potential entrepreneur (students, faculty, staff, alumni, family members, residents in Tippecanoe County). JMEC focuses on helping entrepreneurs in the Execution and Expansion stages of technology-based startup companies that aim to become national or international leaders in the respective markets. For this purpose, JMEC has significant emphasis on partnering with organizations outside Purdue campus.

The following are programs and resources for execution and expansion.

Execution:

  1. Business plans and grants (https://purduefoundry.com/services)
  2. Purdue Double Down Experiment by Foundry (https://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2019/Q4/purdue-foundry-unveils-first-ddx-cohort-ready-to-transform-the-world.html)
  3. Mentorship by Foundry (https://purduefoundry.com/services)
  4. SBIR/STTR advising (https://engineering.purdue.edu/JMEC)
  5. Mentorship with Purdue alumni and experienced entrepreneurs in JMEC

Expansion:

JMEC helps entrepreneurs connect with partners, experienced executives, investors, distributors ...

If you want to receive the announcements of future activities, please join the JMEC mailing list.