The CCEI Summer Fellowship Accelerator is UConn's Startup Accelerator. Open to student, faculty, staff and alumni founders, this 8-week intensive entrepreneurial experience helps participants develop the skills needed to bring new products, services, and technologies to market.
The application deadline for the Summer 2025 cohort is Monday, February 17th at 11:59pm.
Apply and learn more here: https://ccei.uconn.edu/programs/summer-accelerator/
The Summer Fellowship Accelerator takes place June 2 - July 31, 2025 with the selected startups spending 3 days a week over 8 weeks taking a deep dive into their business with the support of mentors, industry experts, and experienced entrepreneurs. These sessions help educate program participants on how to define their business, build their brand, and launch their venture, all while building a community with the other entrepreneurs participating in the program.
The highly competitive program only selects 10 startups to participate each year. As part of the program, these startups receive:
- $15,000 (non-equity, non-diluting) in funding for business development; up to $5,000 (per student) can be used to pay a member of the team (current UConn student or recent UConn graduate).
- Pro-bono legal, accounting, banking, product development and branding services to assist in the proper establishment of your business and deciding how you want to structure your venture.
- One-on-one mentoring and guidance from industry experts and experienced entrepreneurs.
- Expert led sessions covering all scaling fundamentals – go to market strategy, pitch compilation, sales and fundraising to name a few.
- Collaborative cohort environment.
- Networking and access to next step opportunities.
- Eligibility to the Wolff New Venture Competition to compete for over $115,000 in funding.
Startups that have participated in the Summer Fellowship Accelerator have gone on to raise over $496 million in funding. Founders have made deals on Shark Tank, been named to Forbes 30 Under 30, been accepted to TechStars, named Activate Fellows, raised $75 million Series B funding rounds, sold their product to MLB teams and more.
Apply and learn more here: https://ccei.uconn.edu/programs/summer-accelerator/
If you have questions or would like to meet with the program manager, you can schedule a meeting here: Book time with Chrosniak, Alycia
This program is facilitated by the
Connecticut Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation (CCEI) at UConn. CCEI was founded in 2007, and is a focal point for entrepreneurial activity within the University. CCEI supports student, faculty, staff, and alumni entrepreneurs across all academic departments, schools, and colleges.
For more information, contact: Alycia Chrosniak at alycia.chrosniak@uconn.edu