Lehigh Venture Studio

Ways to Get Involved

• Faculty: Our goal is to enable the commercialization of your breakthrough research when leaving your academic post to operate a new venture is not your desire. We provide the venture-building expertise and infrastructure, allowing you to remain focused on research and teaching. 
• Students: For serious startup minded undergraduate, masters, & doctoral students we have various opportunities available to join dedicated teams for hands-on, work-to-learn experiences in startup building. Credit bearing and paid opportunities exist for qualified students. 
• Alumni & Community: 
  • Founders: We are developing licenseable "startup packages" based on Lehigh’s research and are soliciting qualified founding teams to license and grow these new ventures. 
  • Investors: We are building a pipeline of spin out ventures who will need capital. We’d like to give these companies a head start with investors who want a first look at Lehigh University tech spin outs.
  • Venture Architects: We engage seasoned entrepreneurs to help develop startup packages while also offering the chance to transition from initial package development to leading a newly launched spin-off if desired. 
  • Startup Experts: We engage experts in the startup ecosystem to support learning, provide market feedback, offer professional services (lawyers, accountants, etc.) or other ideas you have to bring your talent to support these efforts! 

How is the Venture Studio different?  

Lehigh Venture Studio is a joint initiative of the Office of Entrepreneurship and the Office of Research. It's built directly into Lehigh's entrepreneurship ecosystem, filling strategic gaps rather than duplicating what other programs already do.

Here's how the Ventures studio fits in with, and differs from, some of Lehigh's other entrepreneurship programs:

• Office of Technology Transfer (OTT): The Venture Studio sources intellectual property from OTT once they've assessed the technology and recommended a startup path. We also direct undisclosed faculty inventions to OTT first, so the technology is properly protected before moving forward.
• Research Translation AcceLUrator (RTA): The Venture Studio is one component of RTA's Venture Creation Pathway. We support the translation of research into a startup company when the faculty inventor doesn't plan to leave their academic post to run it.
• Lehigh Ventures Lab (LVL): The Venture Studio translates ideas into companies, while Lehigh Ventures Lab supports those companies once they exist. A successful outcome for the Venture Studio is a new company that applies to, and is accepted into, Lehigh Ventures Lab for continued growth.

Made Possible By

The Entrepreneurship "Kitchen Cabinet," a group of highly successful entrepreneurs who generously volunteer their time, has supported Lehigh Venture Studio from its inception, focusing first on helping the Studio get off the ground. 

Building on that foundation, the McLeod family's generous lead gift will help students and faculty move promising ideas beyond the lab and into the real world, while gaining the confidence that comes from learning through experience.