Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship

What Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship does

The Randall Lewis Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (RLCIE) is an academic center within Claremont McKenna College, established in 2012 and located at 530 N. Mills Avenue, Claremont, California. It is a nonprofit academic unit — not a separately incorporated commercial entity — and is governed by an Advisory Board alongside student, faculty, and staff leadership. The Center serves student entrepreneurs across the five-institution Claremont Colleges consortium (Claremont McKenna, Pomona, Scripps, Harvey Mudd, and Pitzer) through a portfolio of five co-curricular programs: the RLCIE Fellows Program, Claremont Accelerator, Venture Capital Program, Graphite Group, and Product Space. These programs deliver workshops, networking events, speaker series, mentoring, internship placements, and seed funding stipends to support student-led ventures from ideation through launch.

The Center does not sell products or services commercially; it has no proprietary technology platform, no commercial pricing model, and no software/API offering. Its "revenue" is institutional funding drawn from the college's budget and potentially external grants, while its outbound financial commitments are modest seed stipends to student founders. Distribution is direct: on-campus at CMC, across the consortium, and virtually where applicable. Customer engagement is driven by an email newsletter, an Instagram account (@rlcie_cmc), a 12,537+-member LinkedIn group, a dedicated events page, and the college website. The value proposition is the integration of curricular and co-curricular programming with alumni, faculty (including the McCoy College of Business), and community mentorship — a full-stack entrepreneurship support ecosystem embedded in the student experience.

Name

Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Legal name

Randall Lewis Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Website

https://cie.cmc.edu

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Short description

The Randall Lewis Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (RLCIE) is a Claremont McKenna College academic center that supports student entrepreneurs across The Claremont Colleges through programs, mentorship, workshops, and seed funding.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Entrepreneurship Education and Student Venture Support

NAICS

Educational Support Services (61171), Educational Support Services (6117)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Entrepreneurship, Startup Incubation & Pitch Programs (EDAMAKAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Youth Business Incubators & Accelerators (EDAMAHAC), Entrepreneurship Foundations & Startup Basics (EDAMAHAA)

Keywords

• Student entrepreneurship programs
• Startup accelerator programs
• Venture capital education
• Innovation mentorship
• Entrepreneurship curriculum

Headquarters

HQ city

Claremont

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Institutional Funding: The Center operates as part of Claremont McKenna College, funded through institutional budgets and potentially external grants to support student entrepreneurship programs.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Randall Lewis Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (RLCIE) is an academic center within Claremont McKenna College that fosters and supports student-led entrepreneurial initiatives across The Claremont Colleges consortium. It delivers co-curricular programming—fellowships, accelerator cohorts, venture capital training, peer groups, and product development spaces—combined with workshops, speaker series, networking events, mentoring, internship referrals, and seed funding stipends to student entrepreneurs.

Product overview

The Randall Lewis Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (RLCIE) at Claremont McKenna College is an academic center that fosters and supports entrepreneurial initiatives across the Claremont Colleges. Rather than offering a commercial product platform, RLCIE provides a portfolio of co-curricular programs including the RLCIE Fellows Program, Claremont Accelerator, Venture Capital Program, Graphite Group, and Product Space. These programs collectively provide student entrepreneurs with mentorship, seed funding, workshops, networking events, speaker series, and access to alumni entrepreneur networks. The center also supports faculty and student research on innovation and entrepreneurship topics.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• RLCIE Fellows Program: Fellows program for entrepreneurship students
• Claremont Accelerator
• Venture Capital Program
• Graphite Group
• Product Space

Products and services

• RLCIE Fellows Program An intensive fellowship program for student entrepreneurs offering mentorship, resources, and support for developing innovative ventures; intended for students at The Claremont Colleges.
• Claremont Accelerator A startup accelerator program providing structured support, mentorship, and resources for student startups to accelerate their growth and development; serves students at The Claremont Colleges.
• Venture Capital Program An educational program providing students with knowledge and skills in venture capital investing, deal sourcing, and portfolio management; serves students at The Claremont Colleges.
• Graphite Group A student-led initiative connecting entrepreneurs with resources, mentorship, and peer support within the innovation ecosystem; serves students at The Claremont Colleges.
• Product Space A program providing access to tools, resources, and physical/digital spaces for students to develop and launch technology products; serves students at The Claremont Colleges.

Quantifiable outcome

• Six student startup teams accepted per cohort with potential seed funding stipends up to $2,000 each
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• The Claremont CollegescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe RLCIE serves students across The Claremont Colleges consortium, which includes Pomona College, Scripps College, Harvey Mudd College, Pitzer College, and Claremont McKenna College. The Center fosters and supports entrepreneurial initiatives of students across all these institutions.
• McCoy College of BusinesscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe McCoy College of Business at Texas State University provides mentorship and support for the Student Founders Launch Fund, contributing faculty expertise and business school resources to student entrepreneurs.
• Small Business Development CentercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Small Business Development Center provides mentorship and small business development resources to student entrepreneurs participating in the Student Founders Launch Fund at Texas State University.
• Alumni Entrepreneur NetworksminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerStudent entrepreneurs in the Pirates LaunchPad Summer Accelerator program receive mentorship and access to alumni entrepreneur networks upon successful completion of the program.
• Advisory BoardcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe RLCIE leadership team includes students, faculty, staff, and an Advisory Board that provides governance and strategic direction for the Center's programs and initiatives.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Penn Wharton Entrepreneurship: Wharton's centralized entrepreneurship initiative offering venture labs, competitions, and a student-managed fund — comparable to RLCIE's portfolio model and especially its Venture Capital Program sub-brand.
• Rice University Liu Idea Lab for Innovation and Entrepreneurship: Rice's university-wide entrepreneurship center running the Liu Idea Lab program with venture support, mentoring, and competitions — comparable as a named-endowed center serving student founders across a private university.
• Stanford StartX: University-affiliated startup accelerator at Stanford that supports student and alumni founders with mentorship, programming, and (via partner funds) seed capital — directly comparable as a university-based entrepreneurship center with accelerator programming and seed funding.
• UC Berkeley Haas Skydeck: Berkeley's flagship accelerator combining curriculum, mentorship, and seed investment for student and faculty founders — comparable as a California university entrepreneurship center running cohort-based accelerator programming with capital deployment.
• Harvard Innovation Labs (i-lab): Harvard's university-wide entrepreneurship center serving students across schools with venture programs, mentorship, and workspace — directly analogous to RLCIE's cross-college consortium model at The Claremont Colleges.
• Cornell Entrepreneurship: Cornell's cross-campus entrepreneurship initiative combining programs, mentorship, and a student-managed venture fund — comparable to RLCIE's multi-college model and its Venture Capital Program sub-brand.
• MIT Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship: MIT's central entrepreneurship hub offering programs, mentorship, competitions, and funding for student founders across the Institute — a structural twin to RLCIE in mission, program portfolio, and university-center positioning.
• University of Michigan Center for Entrepreneurship: University of Michigan's CFE runs student venture programs, competitions, and seed funding — comparable as a peer large-university entrepreneurship center with cohort-based programming and capital deployment.
• USC Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurship: USC Marshall's entrepreneurship center providing programs, competitions, and mentorship for student founders — a Southern California peer in the same geographic market with a comparable university-based entrepreneurship center structure.

Broad incumbents

• Babson Lewis Institute for Social Innovation: Babson College's institute advancing entrepreneurship education and research — comparable as a broader, more established player in the university entrepreneurship space and an indirect incumbent for student-facing programming.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/claremont-mckenna-college
• Instagraminstagram.com/rlcie_cmc
• Xx.com/cmcnews
• Facebookfacebook.com/CIE.info

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship