Collegiate Venture Program Guidelines

Eligibility

To be eligible to enter the University of Massachusetts and Valley Venture Mentors (VVM) Collegiate Summer Venture Program each team must meet basic qualifying criteria:

  1. Companies at various stages are welcome, from an awesome "idea on a napkin" up to companies with $0 to $250k of revenue over the last 12 months (at time of application).

  2. Every participating team member must commit to attend all of the minimum live programming dates. The program runs from June 1, 2022 through July 29, 2022.

  3. All participating team members are committed to working 20+ hours a week on this venture in addition to 20 hours a week of live programming.

  4. All participating team members are 18 years of age or older as of June 1, 2022.

  5. Connected to American International College, Amherst College, Bay Path University, Elms College, Greenfield Community College, Hampshire College, Holyoke Community College, Mount Holyoke College, Smith College, Springfield College, Springfield Technical Community College, University of Massachusetts, Western New England University, and/or Westfield State University in at least one of these ways:

    1. Entering Freshman/First Year student.

    2. Currently enrolled undergraduate, graduate, or PhD student.

    3. Were an undergraduate, graduate, or PhD student within the last decade

Entry

To enter the UMass Amherst and VVM Collegiate Venture Program, a team must submit an online application. Applications are open until March 31, 2022 at 5:00 PM EST.  Applications submitted after the March 31st deadline will not be considered.  

Admitted Startups & Opportunities

The UMass Amherst and VVM Collegiate Summer Venture Program seeks to admit high-impact new ventures.  All teams admitted into the 2022 Cohort:

  • Receive free resources including mentorship, strategic advice, and networking opportunities to further their businesses.

  • Will have access to marketing exposure for their venture for participation in the program.

  • Will practice pitching their startup, hone their business model and complete 100 customer discovery interviews by the end of the program.

  • Acknowledge that no-showing to live programming and/or not completing required customer discovery interviews or assignments will result in their venture being removed from the CSVP. UMass & VVM reserve the right to remove any team or individual from the Collegiate Summer Venture Program at our sole discretion and without the right to appeal.

Need-Based Stipends

  • Each individual accepted into the program can apply for a needs based stipend. Stipends are available per team, not per participating team member. All of the requirements for the program must be met to continue to receive the stipend throughout the program. Requests for funding will be considered on a case by case basis.

  • Stipends are paid in installments based on each startup team member's successful program participation (aka: show up, be awesome, work on your great idea). The last stipend check is paid after successful completion of the program, exit survey and exit interview.

  • In order to receive a stipend the startup must be present at each day of programming, on time. Any more than one unannounced absence or late arrival will result in a skipped 'paycheck', and/or may lead to removal from the program. If you are going to be late or absent, be sure to inform a member of the Collegiate Summer Venture Program Committee as soon as possible, by text, slack, or email.

Program & Process

March: Applications open.  

March 31, 2022: Deadline for entry submission.

April-May: Application judging completed - cohort of startups selected.

June - August: Collegiate Venture Program. Each team is assigned to a curated peer sub-cohort, given access and introduction to the UMass and VVM network of advisors, including mentors, Entrepreneurs-in-Residence and workshop leaders. Training is delivered via hands-on, expert-led lectures, peer collaboration, advisory office hours, and practice pitching rounds.

Legal Action

UMass Amherst and VVM shall be held harmless in the event of any legal action.

Other Agreements

UMass Amherst and VVM take no responsibility for agreements between Collegiate Venture Program participants and third parties.

Intellectual Property

UMass Amherst and VVM take no part in, and have no liability for, the domestic or international intellectual property rights of competition participants.

Participants are responsible for their own intellectual property.

Participants must keep confidential information confidential.

Submissions

Entry materials become the property of UMass Amherst and VVM, however the submission of the application does not transfer any rights, material or interest in any intellectual property contained in or referenced in the submitted materials, other than the copyright to the submitted materials as submitted.

Immorality

Participants who engage in immoral activities, including lying and cheating, or any activity that may adversely affect the image of UMass Amherst, VVM or other participants, become ineligible for the participation in the Collegiate Venture Program. Please also review the UMass Code of Student Conduct.

Originality

All work and submissions of Entrants must be original to the Entrant/team, or currently owned by the Entrant/team.

Compliance, Disqualification

All participants must comply with the Rules. Any violation of the Rules will disqualify an entrant’s team from the Collegiate Venture Program, and result in forfeiture of any awards or scholarships awarded to the team.

Immigration/Taxes

UMass Amherst and VVM take no responsibility for immigration status of participants. Recipients of any scholarships are responsible for all taxes relating to the receipt of such award. UMass Amherst and VVM are not responsible for any tax obligations imposed on any Participant as a result of their participation in the Collegiate Venture Program.

Anti-terrorism

Each participant warrants that he or she does not participate in any terrorist activities. UMass Amherst and VVM shall not be held responsible for any harm resulting breach of this warranty.

Updates

The Collegiate Summer Venture Program Committee may update the Collegiate Venture Program and Program Rules throughout the Program.  All updates will be posted on the website. These Rules include by incorporation any material posted on the website; in the case of conflict, the "Collegiate Venture Program and Program Rules" supersede any other claims.