ENTREPRENEURSHIP at ASU

 

Overview

ASU is uniquely positioned to effect massive change.

Arizona State University embraces an entrepreneurial mindset. ASU believes that we need to

increase student access to higher education and student success within that education. We need to link knowledge to action. And universities need to differentiate as institutions and empower individuals in order to create more solutions to the challenges before us. By doing these things, we can define the future we know is possible. With 67,000 students in 23 colleges at its Tempe, downtown Phoenix, West and Polytechnic campuses, ASU is the largest public research university in the U.S. under a single administration. Our size and breadth of disciplines allows massive collaboration for local and global change. ASU students from every major have access to entrepreneurship courses and experiences.

 

ASU has an entrepreneurial culture and emphasizes experiential learning.

ASU defines entrepreneurship as the spirit of creative risk-taking. Entrepreneurship is the integral disposition and operational standard within our vision to be a New American University. Entrepreneurship at ASU isn’t one center. It’s part of the culture. This means we have a number of power centers in networks of innovation across the university. ASU networks of innovation provide an array of opportunities in entrepreneurship training, activity and venture development support services in any discipline or major. Among the hallmark entrepreneurial accomplishments at ASU are the dynamic concentrations and cross-disciplinary team collaborations which bring a high level of experiential learning to students, while engaging with the broader community to respond to current economic and social challenges.

 

Entrepreneurship at ASU is collaborative and multidisciplinary.

Concentrations within cross-disciplinary entrepreneurship programs include healthcare,

journalism, digital media, engineering, technological innovation, product development, law,

technology transfer and intellectual property, arts, social entrepreneurship and global

sustainability. Product and service developments and venture creation are connected to the latest ASU research and designed for important local and global economic advancement.

 

Structure

ASU has built a broad infrastructure of support around its comprehensive entrepreneurial activity.This is an organic, highly active system of strategic networks, cross-disciplinary collaborations and resources. Academic and administrative unit-based centers and programs ensure university-wide ownership of entrepreneurship and a stronger overall ntrepreneurial culture. ASU also actively reaches beyond the classroom to support students, faculty, community and global partners with

starting new ventures.

 

ASU networks of innovation bring knowledge to action.

Entrepreneurship power centers at ASU include traditional disciplines such as business and

engineering, but they also reside in non-traditional disciplines such as journalism and nursing.

Design and law bring together many of these players. And SkySong, ASU’s new Scottsdale

Innovation Center acts as the physical headquarters for entrepreneurship at ASU.

 

• Advanced Technology Innovation Center (ATIC) is based in the ASU College of

Technology & Innovation.

• Arts, Media and Engineering (AME) is based in the ASU Herberger College of the Arts

and the ASU Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering.

• Knight Center for Digital Media Entrepreneurship is based in the ASU Walter Cronkite

School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

• Entrepreneurial Program Office is based in the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering.

• Center for Healthcare Innovation & Clinical Trials is based in the ASU College of

Nursing & Healthcare Innovation.

• Performing Arts Venture Experience (p.a.v.e.) is based in the ASU Herberger College

of the Arts.

• Spirit of Enterprise Center is based in the ASU W.P. Carey School of Business.

• Technology Venture Services Group is based in the ASU Sandra Day O’Connor College

of Law.

 

Cross-campus entrepreneurship empowers ASU students from all majors.

ASU has entrepreneurial opportunities and dedicated resources in support of venture creation

across every field of study, offering coursework, certificate and degree programs, start-up venture

funding and support services to students, faculty and staff.

 

• Entrepreneurship Advantage Project offers students up to $2,000 to test their business

idea. Average annual participation and award: 80 applications lead to 25 grants for a total

award of $60,000.

 

• Edson Student Entrepreneur Initiative is one of the most significant student

entrepreneur programs in the U.S. Students apply for grants of up to $20,000 and receive

mentoring, office space and a network that helps them to turn their idea into an

enterprise. Since 2005, Edson ventures have received $100 million in external funding and

in-kind services. ASU offers the largest annual university fund to sponsor student

companies. An average of 15 new student ventures is launched each year.

 

• Sun Devil Entrepreneurship Network provides ASU students with internships and full

time placement at hundreds of ventures in the Phoenix metropolitan area.

• Performing Arts Venture Experience (p.a.v.e.) promotes creative projects in

conjunction with the community and offers organizational and financial support for

ventures in the arts.

• InnovationSpace is a multidisciplinary year-long course to teach students how to develop

products that create market value while servicing real societal needs. ASU students from

industrial design, visual and communication design, engineering and business work in

teams, and often with industry partners like Herman Miller, Intel, and Procter & Gamble.

 

• Phoenix Innovation Study is crossing boundaries and bringing together researchers from

several disciplines to discover ways to remove the obstacles that restrict the innovative

potential of small- and medium-sized business in the Phoenix metro area. Their research

will help create an environment that facilitates entrepreneurship in the region.

 

• Arizona Technology Enterprises (AzTE) commercializes intellectual property. AzTE is a

catalyst for transferring technologies invented at ASU to the private sector.

 

• Technology Ventures Services Group provides real world experience and business

strategy for students involved in the technology venturing process. Students from law,

business, engineering and the sciences participate in patent investigation, business

modeling, deal structuring, market assessment and research.

 

Community Venture Support and Investor Partnerships

 

• ASU Technopolis

Educates, coaches and connects innovators and entrepreneurs. Creativity and success come

from bringing together service providers, venture capitalists, investors, attorneys and

accountants with entrepreneurs across ASU and across the globe.

• Invest Southwest Capital Conference

Provides an opportunity for accredited investors to review quality companies. The

companies seeking capital are rigorously screened by a panel of investors and venture

capitalists from across the southwest.

• Arizona Angels Venture Group, Inc.

In partnership with ASU Technopolis and Invest Southwest, this is a group of accredited

investors who invest primarily in Arizona-based early-stage and developing-growth

companies.

• Arizona Technology Investor Forum

Facilitates access to capital, talent, technology and resources needed to build successful

ventures. The objective of this engineering-based group is to focus resources toward

providing a constant deal flow stream of early-stage technology ventures.

• Advanced Technology Innovation Center

Provides engineering, design and product development services to entrepreneurs and small

to medium-sized enterprises who have a solid, innovative product idea.