ASPIRE’s Curated Career Resources: Business and Entrepreneurship
Campus Resources:
Wond’ry: https://www.vanderbilt.edu/the-wondry/entrepreneurship/
Wond’ry Programming: Ideator, Builder, Founder programming
From early-stage startups to fully-fledged technologies, the Entrepreneurship practice area at the Wond’ry offers resources for all faculty, students, staff, and alumni from Nashville-area colleges and universities who are interested in learning how to grow a venture from the ground up.
ASPIRE to Innovate Postdoctoral Fellowship: https://medschool.vanderbilt.edu/career-development/aspire-to-innovate-postdoctoral-fellows-program/
Up to two years paid fellowship to launch a successful start-up leveraging the intellectual property of VU through the BRET office, VU SOM.
Vanderbilt University Course – From Academic Insight to Entrepreneurial Impact (UNIV 6215): https://www.vanderbilt.edu/strategicplan/undergraduate-residential-education/universitycourses-2018/academic_insight_entrepreneurial_impact.php
This year-long course provides a unique opportunity for PhD students in engineering and science, JD students, and MBA students to gain real-world experience as part of an entrepreneurial team. Multidisciplinary teams will examine inventions from Vanderbilt labs from all angles — technical, business, legal and regulatory — thinking about how these inventions can make an impact on markets and clinics. Students will learn about patents, legal and business strategies to optimize value, customer discovery, funding and venture terms from a cross-disciplinary team of Vanderbilt faculty, industry and legal mentors and members of the greater entrepreneurial community.
Vanderbilt Business Immersion summer course: https://business.vanderbilt.edu/accelerator/summer-business-immersion/
This transformational 3-week program is designed for undergrads and recent graduates from all institutions and majors. It blends the classroom, consulting, and coaching to expand your career potential. Combine classroom learning with real consulting projects. You’ll work in teams to devise solutions to real business challenges for a diverse mix of companies. Then, you’ll present your ideas to executives and receive valuable feedback. It’s like gaining the experience of multiple internships. Through the Owens School of Business
Resources outside of Campus
Local Organizations:
Life Science TN (BioTN): https://www.lifesciencetn.org/
Life Science Tennessee is a statewide, non-profit, member organization of more than 130 companies whose mission is to advance and grow the life science industry in Tennessee through advocacy, partnerships and alignment with economic and workforce development. They host events, including an annual conference and Beer and BioTech evenings.
BioTN Academic Alliance Nashville Chapter: https://biotn.org/biotn-academic-alliance-nashville-chapter/
The Academic Alliance is a workforce development program offering graduate students, Ph.D. candidates and post-doctoral researchers attending a Tennessee-based academic institution the opportunity to network, career develop, expand skills and knowledge, and idea share through events and programs.
Nashville Entrepreneur Center: https://ec.co/
The Entrepreneur Center (EC) is dedicated to fostering entrepreneurial growth in Nashville. It provides resources, programs, and a community for entrepreneurs to thrive, offering support in areas such as business development, capital funding, and mentorship. EC hosts various accelerators and events, including specialized programs for sectors like fintech and healthcare. The center also offers membership benefits, workspace rentals, job boards, and networking opportunities. Through initiatives like the NEXT Awards, EC celebrates entrepreneurial achievements, aiming to increase the likelihood of business success in Nashville.
Jumpstart Foundry: https://jsf.co/
JSF is a healthcare-focused venture fund that supports early-stage startups in the health tech, digital health, diagnostic devices, and consumer health sectors. They provide pre-seed investments and an extensive support network to help startups grow, offering mentorship, tools, and resources. JSF is dedicated to empowering innovative health solutions through personalized partnerships and collaboration. With over 150 portfolio companies across 35 states, their mission is to drive improvements in healthcare and make a lasting impact through innovation.
Launch TN: https://launchtn.org/
Public-private partnership actively partners with and provides funding to Network Partner organizations (Nashville Entrepreneur Center and others across the state) so they can offer resources, startup accelerator programs, pitch competitions, business education courses, meaningful networking events, connections with experts
Nashville Innovation Alliance: https://nashvilleinnovationalliance.org/
The Alliance brings together leading organizations and institutions to create an ecosystem fostering innovation, investment and talent in the region. They serve as a matchmaker to connect city leaders with Nashville innovators to develop, test and scale tech-based solutions to improve city services. If you are an innovator interested in participating and supporting community challenges, contact them at info@nashvilleinnovationalliance.org.
National Organizations:
Startup + Health: https://www.startuphealth.com/
A global network supporting founders and entrepreneurs in the health innovation sector. It offers access to Health Moonshot Communities, where members collaborate on solving significant health challenges. The platform provides resources like coaching, media exposure, and connections to funders and partners. It focuses on accelerating growth for health tech, biotech, and life science ventures, helping entrepreneurs with funding, visibility, and strategic partnerships.
Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) Investor Catalyst Hub: https://investorcatalysthub.org/about-us/
The Investor Catalyst Hub connects researchers, entrepreneurs, and investors within a nationwide innovation network focused on medical technology and health innovations. The hub supports the commercialization of new healthcare solutions, particularly those that disrupt traditional care models and improve health delivery. Members of the network include organizations from government, industry, finance, healthcare, and academia, with a focus on addressing urgent health needs and bringing innovations to market.
Internships:
Vanderbilt Tech Transfer Office: https://legacy.cttc.co/internship-program
Technology transfer is the practice of transferring inventions from the research lab to the marketplace to benefit the public and is an interesting blend of science, business, and law. The internship begins with an instructional phase that provides the framework of technology transfer including its history, basics of invention evaluation, intellectual property protection, and commercialization/licensing strategies. Once completed, each intern is paired with licensing professionals in our office to apply those skills to help evaluate, protect and commercialize real-world Vanderbilt inventions. Due to the nature of technology transfer, this program exposes the interns to a unique blend of disciplines and a variety of projects that a technology transfer officer might face each day.
Scipreneur Challenge: https://www.biotnscipreneur.com/
The Scipreneur Challenge is a 10-week commercialization catalyst program organized by BioTN’s Academic Alliance. This competitive program is held bi-annually in collaboration with the state’s leading academic and research institutions. Through Scipreneur, university undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, clinical fellows, research staff, and entrepreneurs are placed in teams and assigned a technology from one of the state’s premier research institutions. The teams then work collaboratively over the program to learn how to create a business plan around the technology by researching the market, developing a plan for commercialization, and, finally, making a pitch for mock investment (aka REAL prize money).
MidSouth REACH Product Development grant program: www.midsouthreach.org
Mid-South REACH (Research Evaluation and Commercialization Hub) is a program funded by the NIH, covering Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Virginia. It aims to accelerate the impact of biomedical and health innovations by providing education, mentorship, and financial support.
Various Incubators and Accelerators, many of which are remote for participants:
Zeroto510 – Memphis based
Black Innovation Lab – Memphis based
Sanofi iDEA-TECH Awards North America
National Institute on Aging Startup Challenge
Equalize Program for Women-led STEM startups
Postdoctoral funding opportunities for entrepreneurship:
- https://chicagobiomedicalconsortium.org/awards/entrepreneurial-fellows/
- https://crtc.wustl.edu/programs/postdoctoral/tl1postdoc/
- https://www.memphis.edu/p2p/
- https://tech.cornell.edu/programs/phd/startup-postdocs/
- https://www.tmc.edu/blog/cultivating-innovation-inside-tmcs-biodesign-program/
- https://bme.duke.edu/grad/students/entrepreneurial-postdoc
- https://comotion.uw.edu/funding-and-competitions/programs/postdoctoral-entrepreneurship-program/
- https://www.moffitt.org/research-science/academic-and-industry-partnerships/office-of-innovation/innovation-fellowship
- https://www.i-perf.org/#/home
- https://www.flagshippioneering.com/join/fellows
- https://tech.cornell.edu/programs/phd/startup-postdocs/
- https://www.tmc.edu/innovation/biodesign/
- https://seed.nih.gov/small-business-funding/open-funding-opportunities/small-business-transition-grant
If you are seeking more of an accelerator program to move your own tech forward, there are places like these listed below, but they are not multiyear funded postdoc positions.