CREATE-X

University Startup Acceleratorcreate-x.gatech.edu

CREATE-X is Georgia Institute of Technology's university-wide entrepreneurship initiative, operating LEARN, MAKE, and LAUNCH programs to help Georgia Tech students, faculty, researchers, and alumni develop and launch startups. Since 2014 it has created 770+ student startups with $4.5B+ combined valuation.

Company typePrivate
Founded2014
HeadquartersAtlanta, United States
Headcount11–50
GTM typeB2C
OfferingServices

What CREATE-X does

CREATE-X is an entrepreneurship initiative operated by the Georgia Institute of Technology, launched in 2014, that provides a structured pathway for Georgia Tech students, faculty, researchers, and alumni to develop and launch startups. The program is organized into three pillars: LEARN (Startup Lab coursework teaching evidence-based entrepreneurship), MAKE (Idea to Prototype and Capstone Design classes providing prototyping grants, mentorship, and curricular credit), and LAUNCH (Startup Launch, a 12-week summer accelerator offering $5,000 in seed funding and $30,000 in in-kind services including legal, accounting, coaching, space, mentorship, and IP protection). It is not a technology company and does not develop proprietary software products; its offering is educational programming, mentorship, and acceleration services. The program is directed by Rahul Saxena (with Raghupathy Sivakumar identified as founder and director in source materials), operating from Georgia Tech's Atlanta campus with 11–50 program staff.

The program is free to eligible participants and is funded through Georgia Tech's institutional budget and corporate sponsors, including The Marcus Foundation (which provided a $2.1M grant in 2019), Sony, and Procter & Gamble. Since inception, CREATE-X reports it has created 770+ student startups with a combined $4.5B+ valuation, involved 34,000+ students across 38 majors, and produced a portfolio that includes Stord, Reframe, Wattch, Gimme Vending, Grubbly Farms, FIXD, LZRD Tech, and SlateSafety. Annual Demo Day events serve as the program's flagship visibility platform, with the 2024 event drawing 1,300+ attendees and the 2025 cohort (Cohort 12) spanning eight verticals including Healthcare, HR Tech, Industrial and Manufacturing, Robotics & Cybersecurity, SaaS, and Deep Tech.

CREATE-X's go-to-market is community-led and event-driven, relying on Georgia Tech's institutional channels (the create-x.gatech.edu website, Engage platform, Eventbrite, Airtable applications) and flagship Demo Day events for outreach. Its primary differentiation is integrated programming within a single university ecosystem — combining curriculum, prototyping resources, seed funding, and an alumni network — reinforced by partnerships with VentureLab for faculty coaching and Gatherly (a CREATE-X alumni company) for virtual event infrastructure. The Director's stated goal is to establish Georgia Tech as the nation's number-one startup campus.

CREATE-X firmographics

Firmographics

Name: CREATE-X
Legal name: Georgia Institute of Technology
Website: https://create-x.gatech.edu
Company type: Private
Founded year: 2014
Operating status: Operating
Headcount range: 11–50 employees
Short description: CREATE-X is Georgia Institute of Technology's university-wide entrepreneurship initiative, operating LEARN, MAKE, and LAUNCH programs to help Georgia Tech students, faculty, researchers, and alumni develop and launch startups. Since 2014 it has created 770+ student startups with $4.5B+ combined valuation.
Ownership category
akta.pro rank

CREATE-X industry classification

Industry

Product category: University Startup Accelerator
NAICS: Educational Support Services (61171), Professional and Management Development Training (611430)
SIC: Services-Educational Services (8200)
akta.pro primary industry: Youth Business Incubators & Accelerators (EDAMAHAC)
akta.pro secondary industries: Entrepreneurship, Startup Incubation & Pitch Programs (EDAMAKAK), Entrepreneurship Foundations & Startup Basics (EDAMAHAA), Business Planning, Pitching & Competitions (Pitch Decks, Demo Days) (EDAMAHAB)

Keywords

University startup accelerator
Entrepreneurship education program
Student venture incubation
Prototype development grants
Startup mentorship program

Where CREATE-X is headquartered

Location

Headquarters

HQ city: Atlanta
HQ country: United States
HQ region: North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

CREATE-X business model

Business model

GTM type: B2C
Offering type: Services
Cost components: Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

University Funding & Donor Support: CREATE-X is funded by Georgia Tech and supported by corporate sponsors including The Marcus Foundation, Sony, and Procter & Gamble. The program provides seed funding and in-kind services to student startups.

Pricing tiers

Model	Billing	Price
Other	Multi-year contract	Free access to LEARN, MAKE, and LAUNCH programs for Georgia Tech community members

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels7 records

CREATE-X product offering

Product offering

Core offering

CREATE-X is Georgia Tech's institutional entrepreneurship initiative that delivers three integrated program pillars: LEARN (Startup Lab coursework exposing students to evidence-based entrepreneurship), MAKE (Idea to Prototype and Capstone Design classes providing prototyping grants, mentorship, and curricular credit), and LAUNCH (a 12-week Startup Launch summer accelerator providing $5,000 in seed funding plus $30,000 in in-kind services including legal, accounting, coaching, space, mentorship, and IP protection). The program culminates in an annual Demo Day where cohort startups pitch to investors, and serves Georgia Tech students, faculty, researchers, and alumni at no cost.

Product overview

CREATE-X is Georgia Tech's institutional entrepreneurship initiative, organized into three program pillars — LEARN (Startup Lab coursework), MAKE (Idea to Prototype and Capstone Design), and LAUNCH (Startup Launch accelerator) — serving Georgia Tech students, faculty, researchers, and alumni. The program culminates in Demo Day events where cohort startups pitch to investors. CREATE-X is not a software product company; it is an educational and acceleration program that has spawned 770+ student startups with $4.5B+ combined valuation.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

LEARN: CREATE-X LEARN element consists of a class that exposes students to startup concepts and teaches evidence-based entrepreneurship methodology through Startup Lab.
MAKE
LAUNCH
Startup Launch
Startup Lab
Idea to Prototype
CREATE-X Capstone
Demo Day
Founder's Pledge
Deep Startups

Products and services

CREATE-X LEARN (Startup Lab) A class-based program pillar of CREATE-X that exposes Georgia Tech students to startup concepts and teaches evidence-based entrepreneurship methodology. Startup Lab gives students a zero-risk opportunity to examine their startup ideas within formal education and identify business failures in the lab rather than the market.
CREATE-X MAKE (Idea to Prototype and Capstone Design) A set of research and prototyping classes within CREATE-X that enable students to overcome technology barriers in launching a venture. Idea to Prototype and CREATE-X Capstone provide students with prototyping grants, mentorship, and curricular credit as they create intellectual property and build prototypes toward their venture idea.
CREATE-X LAUNCH (Startup Launch) A 12-week summer accelerator program within CREATE-X for Georgia Tech students and alumni who want to launch their projects from idea stage into fully functioning and viable startups. Provides $5,000 in seed funding and $30,000 worth of in-kind services including legal, accounting, coaching, space, mentorship, visibility, and IP protection.
Demo Day The signature annual event of CREATE-X's Startup Launch program where cohort founders pitch their startups to investors, business leaders, and the public. The 2024 Demo Day attracted 1,300+ attendees and the 2022 Demo Day showcased 75+ startups from 100 teams at the Fabulous Fox Theatre.

Quantifiable outcome

770+ student startups created with $4.5B+ combined valuation
+2 more outcomes

Companies that use CREATE-X

Customer profile

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

CREATE-X technology and API

Technology

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API: No
API docs
API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

CREATE-X partnerships and signals

Strategic signal

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

VentureLabcoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerVentureLab provides coaching support specifically for faculty teams participating in the CREATE-X Startup Launch program. 16 faculty teams were coached by VentureLab in the 2022 cohort.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

CREATE-X competitors and assessment

Company assessment

Broad incumbents

Techstars: Global accelerator network with mentorship-driven cohorts and Demo Day showcases. Comparable as a structured accelerator offering seed funding and investor exposure, but operates at scale across geographies and is not university-based.
Y Combinator: The world's largest startup accelerator. Comparable in core function (cohort-based startup acceleration with seed funding and Demo Day) but operates at vastly greater scale, serves non-student founders primarily, and is investor-operated rather than university-affiliated.

Direct peers

MIT delta v: MIT's summer accelerator for student-led startups. Comparable to CREATE-X as a university-affiliated accelerator providing seed funding, mentorship, and Demo Day showcases to engineering and science students launching ventures.
Cornell eLab: Cornell's student-led startup accelerator. Directly comparable as a university-based accelerator providing mentorship, funding, and Demo Day opportunities to Cornell student founders launching ventures.
Stanford StartX: Stanford University's student and faculty accelerator. Directly comparable as a university-based startup accelerator serving elite technical students with seed funding, mentorship, and Demo Day exposure, operating within a top engineering institution.
Berkeley SkyDeck: UC Berkeley's startup accelerator combining academic founders with investor networks. Directly comparable as a university-based accelerator providing cohort-based programming, funding, and Demo Day pitches to student and faculty founders.
Dorm Room Fund: First Round Capital's student-run venture fund backing student founders. Comparable as a student-targeted early-stage investment vehicle providing seed checks to university entrepreneurs, with a similar mission of democratizing access to capital for student founders.
Harvard Innovation Labs (i-lab): Harvard's entrepreneurship and innovation hub serving students across schools. Comparable as a university-wide program with structured entrepreneurship education, prototyping support, and startup launch assistance.
University of Chicago Polsky Center: University of Chicago's entrepreneurship and innovation hub. Comparable as a university-affiliated program providing entrepreneurship education, prototyping support, accelerator programming, and Demo Day events to student and faculty founders.
Princeton Keller Center: Princeton's entrepreneurship and innovation center. Comparable as a university-based program offering entrepreneurship education, prototyping support, and startup launch assistance to Princeton students and faculty.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

CREATE-X financial estimates

Financial estimate

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

CREATE-X leadership team

Management profile

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

CREATE-X funding detail

Funding detail

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

CREATE-X M&A and investment

M&A and investment

M&A

Investments41 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about CREATE-X

What does CREATE-X do?

Is CREATE-X a public or private company?

CREATE-X is a private company. It is classified as state government owned and is currently operating.

When was CREATE-X founded?

CREATE-X was founded in 2014. It employs 11 to 50 people.

Where is CREATE-X based?

CREATE-X is headquartered in Atlanta, United States, in the North America region.

How does CREATE-X make money?

One revenue line is on record: university Funding & Donor Support.

Who are CREATE-X's main competitors?

Broad incumbents on record are Techstars and Y Combinator. Direct peers are MIT delta v, Cornell eLab, Stanford StartX, Berkeley SkyDeck, Dorm Room Fund, Harvard Innovation Labs (i-lab), University of Chicago Polsky Center and Princeton Keller Center.

Does CREATE-X have an API?

No public API is recorded for CREATE-X.

What industry is CREATE-X in?

CREATE-X's product category is University Startup Accelerator. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDAMAHAC, Youth Business Incubators & Accelerators, with a secondary code of EDAMAKAK, Entrepreneurship, Startup Incubation & Pitch Programs. Its NAICS code is 61171 and its SIC code is 8200.