Programs

What the Foundry runs.

The Entrepreneurship Cup, mentors, a pre-launch cohort, workshops, events, and a place to work. That is the list.

Entrepreneurship Cup

The flagship student venture competition.

Concept is open to any idea, in any field. Launch is for ventures with a working product and customer evidence. Every UVA and UVA Wise student can enter.

Concept this fall · Launch in the spring

Mentor program

A person who has done the thing you are trying to do.

Founders are matched with a mentor for the stage they are actually at. You ask for the conversation; nobody is assigned to you at random.

Ask when you want one

Pre-Launch cohort

For teams moving an idea into something they can test.

Weekly speakers, guests, and a roundtable — getting ready for Launch and summer 2027 incubators. Pre-Launch applications are automatic; cohort admission is not guaranteed.

Winter 2027 · 8 weeks

Ongoing workshops

Working sessions, on a regular cadence.

Short sessions on the next hard part — a first customer, the story, a rough version of the thing. You do not have to be in a cohort to come.

Open to students

Events

Where the community actually meets.

Showcases, speaker nights, and the public calendar. Register for a spot; the list of what is coming lives on the events page.

All year

Coworking at the Clubhouse

A place to work, right off the Corner.

Co-working at 9 Elliewood Ave, with meeting rooms and quiet space. Free for UVA founders.

Mon–Fri · 10am–10pm