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Ideate

Startup Journey phases, with phase 1: Ideate highlighted

 

Thinking about a new product or business?

Idea generation is the start to your entrepreneurial journey, where new ideas are created. Researchers, inventors, and founders in this stage do not yet have a defined market opportunity and little-to-no funding. 

We love collaborating with innovators in this exciting stage! On campus, you have access to several incubators including The Basement at the Design and Innovation Building. At the Basement, you can apply for a formalized program or have casual meetups during open hours. In addition, there are opportunities to work on teams or take courses that introduce the basics of innovation and entrepreneurship.

Below you'll find our carefully curated programs and resources to help you through the challenges of this stage. If you have questions or you'd like to get connected you with one of these resources, please get in touch and let us know.

 

Check Out These Campus Programs

♦ The Basement Blackstone LaunchPad Incubator

For students
UC San Diego students (both undergraduate and graduate) with entrepreneurial or social impact interests are encouraged to apply to The Blackstone LaunchPad Incubator. Participants in the program gain the entrepreneurship skills and tools to develop their social impact or business idea.


Changemaker Institute

For all
The Changemaker Institute is a hub for fostering social innovation, civic engagement, and sustainability, empowering the university community to create positive change locally and globally.


Design Lab

For all

The Design Lab at UC San Diego is an anchor design institution within the San Diego-Tijuana region that pairs design education and research with community needs to create positive, impactful real-world solutions and design-driven innovations.


Entrepreneur Certificate- Essentials of Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Design

For all

Through UC San Diego Extended Studies, Essentials of Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Design provides an introduction to critical knowledge and skills related to creating new business and product ideas. This ten-week course will help you discover new ways of thinking, learn to drive innovative initiatives, and approach business challenges with a fresh perspective.


♦ Entrepreneurs-in-Residence (EIR)

For students / faculty
This campus-wide resource is designed to support research-based entrepreneurship. Inventors and student entrepreneurs can get expert guidance on early-stage technologies, commercialization strategies, and startup creation.


Entrepreneurship and Innovation Minor

For all
The Rady School of Management’s Entrepreneurship & Innovation Minor is designed to provide students with a strong understanding of business and entrepreneurship theory, practices, and applications. The E&I Minor will appeal to creative and ambitious undergraduate students who envision launching and managing their own business or entering careers in innovation-driven fields.


Entrepreneurship Center

For all
The Entrepreneurship Center offers university-affiliated startups critical incubator space and services to tap into essential resources such as management, legal, and financial support, as well as investment opportunities, facilitating their establishment and expansion as successful, impact-driven enterprises. Members of the community, including investors, entrepreneurs, service providers, incubators, and industry advocacy groups, enjoy direct access to the talent and technologies emanating from one of the world's most innovative universities.


i4NS: Innovating for National Security

For students
A quarter-long program on campus that offers the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) leaders an opportunity to collaborate with talented student teams to develop innovative solutions to their most pressing national security problems.


♦ Innovating for X (i4X)

For students
Innovating for X (i4X) is a variety of multi-quarter-long programs that offers student teams the opportunity to collaborate with leaders from a variety of sectors, including industry, non-profits, and government in developing innovative solutions with real-world impact. This program engages UC San Diego students from across academic disciplines (both undergraduate and graduate) to combine their collaborative, problem-solving, and educational skills to develop innovative solutions through the lens of entrepreneurship. 


Institute for the Global Entrepreneur

For all
A collaboration between Jacobs School of Engineering and Rady School of Management to inspire and prepare engineers to be entrepreneurial leaders and translate technology innovations to market to fuel the economy and benefit society.


Industry Office Hours

For all
Offered to you at no charge, the Entrepreneurship Center brings in incredible guests who lend their expertise and mentorship to our campus. Walk-ins are welcome as time permits. Appointments are given priority. 


 ♦ Librareome

For all
For entrepreneurs of all levels, the Librareome is your self-directed digital library, featuring an exhaustive and ever-evolving curation of incredible articles, lectures, templates, videos and other relevant and informative content to support your entrepreneurial journey.


MicroMBA

For all
The MicroMBA program at UC San Diego's Rady School of Management is an intensive seven-week executive education program designed to provide foundational business skills and strategic insights for professionals and leaders.


Rady School of Management

For all
Rady School of Management is the business school of UC San Diego and offers a variety of STEM-designated programs that are hands-on, innovation-focused, and inspired by the cutting-edge research of our faculty. 


San Diego and Imperial Valley Small Business Development Center (SBDC)

For all
The San Diego & Imperial Valley Small Business Development Center (SBDC) offers free business advising, training, and resources to help entrepreneurs and small businesses start, grow, and succeed.


StartBlue Ocean Enterprise Accelerator

For all
StartBlue Ocean Enterprise Accelerator is a UC San Diego accelerator program, developed in partnership with the UC San Diego Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the Rady School of Management, that is designed to launch and scale the latest ocean-based scientific research into actionable, and commercially viable solutions to support maritime security, coastal resilience, and economic growth.


Startup Science

For all
Startup Science is an all-in-one platform that helps founders successfully navigate the startup journey. Access microlearning courses in step-by-step instructions, exposure to data investors, tools for competitive/market research, and more!


Startup School

For all
Startup School provides free resources to early stage and future founders.


Sullivan Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation

For all
The Sullivan Center offers an array of opportunities – often in collaboration with campus and community partners — to help you take an idea for a venture and begin building it into something more, including Venture Fellows, StartR Accelerators, StartBlue Ocean Enterprise Accelerator and Triton Sustainability Challenge.


Triton Sustainability Challenge

For all
The Triton Sustainability Challenge (formerly Triton Innovation Challenge) focuses on fostering creativity and bringing to the spotlight commercially promising, environmentally focused technologies generated by the finest minds at UC San Diego. Supported through the generosity of The William and Kathryn Scripps Family Foundation Inc., the program is presented through a partnership of the Rady School of Management, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and the Jacobs School of Engineering, and is open to the entire campus.


UC San Diego Profiles 

For all
UCSD Profiles is a research networking and expertise discovery tool that highlights the professional accomplishments, collaborations, and profiles of faculty, researchers, and clinicians at UC San Diego. 


Venture Fellows

For all
Offered by the Sullivan Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Student Venture Fellows bring interdisciplinary teams the opportunity to work directly with founders and faculty to support deep market analysis, the development of business plans, the assessment of commercialization pathways for novel research, and to generate pro-forma financials. Projects are guided by an experienced mentor and may include academic credit for Student Fellows.

 

There are plenty more campus programs. If you’re interested, visit Ideas Council Programs for more information on what's available campus-wide.

♦ Designates OIC program

 

Let's Talk Funding!

Secure the backing you need to succeed. Our office is dedicated to providing budding companies with internal funding opportunities and access to external investors.

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