Emory University’s Goizueta Business School announced the opening of the Roberto C. Goizueta Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation. The center will foster both entrepreneurship and innovation for the Goizueta community. Born of critical inquiry, the center was developed to serve fundamental societal needs, executed according to sound business principles, and conceptualized in ways that open possibilities and spark imagination.

 Here’s a short video about the new Center: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOMfTmftR8k&feature=youtu.be.

“We are very appreciative of the generosity of the Goizueta Foundation for its investment in the expanded scope and elevated commitment to innovation as a central theme that all organizations must embrace,” shared Robert Kazanjian, Asa Griggs Candler Professor and Academic Director for the Roberto C. Goizueta Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

The idea behind the center is to provide student entrepreneurs with a multi-disciplinary approach to cultivate their ideas. Providing support to experiment and challenge themselves, students are offered co-curricular experiences, incubation, scenario testing, funding opportunities, and connections. 

“The goal of the Roberto C. Goizueta Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation is to support current and future business leaders through education and experiences to become tomorrow’s entrepreneurs, investors, and innovators,” says Amelia Schaffner, Director of Entrepreneurship at the Center.  

For students with interests related to the center, they have access to more than twenty courses focused on innovation and entrepreneurship. The center also has a wide variety of entrepreneurial programs with more than ten entrepreneurs-in-residence supporting the programs. The entrepreneur-in-residence team includes Atlanta area business leaders, investors, and venture capitalists who provide inspiration and mentoring for the aspiring business leaders. 

The multi-disciplinary approach includes programs that allow students direct feedback from their professors and other business leaders. These include:

• Pitch the Professors- Students are invited to pitch their startup concept to professors who provide feedback and recommendations. The top eight concept pitches of each semester advance to work at the Atlanta Tech Village incubator for six months (rent free) to start their business. The top eight also receive free consulting services, workshops and a meeting with an attorney.

• Emory Startup Launch Accelerator- Early stage entrepreneurs are able to test their ideas with customers with the goal of building a business model to advance the startup to the next step, over a three month period. 

• The Annual Entrepreneurship Summit - A two-day event designed to celebrate and connect Goizueta student and alumni entrepreneurs. Students can also sign up for the “Pitch the Summit” competition.

• Advancing Healthcare Innovation in Africa - Supports scientists with short-term and medium-term innovations to help reduce morbidity and mortality in Africa through affordable and accessible healthcare. 
• RAISE Forum - Creates funding for in-revenue companies across the Southeast needing an investment round between $500K and $5M. The forum has a life sciences interest because of its affiliations with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA) and the Atlanta VA Medical Center, but is generally industry-agnostic. 

• Apprenticeships and Other Ad-hoc Experiences - The Center has a dozen partnerships and collaboration with the ecosystem, ranging from incubators to angel networks, which open up opportunities related to entrepreneurship, investing, and innovation for students.