CREATE

The Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation's Accelerator Program

Powered by the Shaddock Seed Fund

CREATE is a cross-campus, accelerator program that provides mentorship and small amounts of capital to help TCU students get their businesses off the ground. It’s open to all TCU students. Any idea at any stage is welcome.

Our accelerator program includes aspiring entrepreneurs with teams from every college on the TCU campus with ideas that range from advanced technologies to service-based solutions. No idea is too small or too big for our program at the Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

CREATE starts off in the fall semester when students from each college join the program. You will attend information sessions and workshops together, which culminate in an internal pitch event at each college where a winner is selected to represent their college and compete against other winners from every other college for $50,000 in funding.

Through CREATE, you can take advantage of workshops, mentors, advice, grants, legal assistance and networking opportunities.

You must be a TCU student to join the cohort and to compete for seed funding. All other programs are open to the TCU CREATE Network of faculty, staff, CREATE alumni and local community members.

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How it works

Fall

Attend an information session within the first two weeks of the semester. At the session, you will learn about the program and you can decide if you'd like to participate.
If you want to participate, submit an application here.
Upon application approval, you will be added to the CREATE D2L course, gaining access to all upcoming dates and important materials you will need.
Attend mandatory workshops throughout the fall semester, preparing you for your college's internal pitch competition.
Participate in the Shaddock Marketplace. It's an opportunity to sell your product or services to other students, faculty, parents and community members on campus.

Spring

All teams will participate in workshops, one-on-one mentorship meetings, legal and accounting sessions, and more.
The institute will work with each team to prepare them for the final pitch day, which will occur at the end of the spring semester.
Teams will compete for access to $50,000 in capital to support their business.

Workshops

Workshops are mandatory. Experienced professors and professionals share their entrepreneurial knowledge to help you get your idea off the ground. Workshops include: