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 students from every college on the TCU campus with ideas ranging 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 kicks off in the fall semester. Students from each college 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 each TCU college for $50,000 in funding.

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

You must be a TCU student to apply.

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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'll 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.
Compete in a pitch competition on your college's designated date where you will compete against other students in your college to determine a winner.

Spring

Each college winner will then be accepted in our inaugural spring accelerator class, along with other winners from each TCU college.
There will be a total of 10 teams, one from each college.
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: