What Columbia Entrepreneurship does

Columbia Entrepreneurship, legally The William V. Campbell Center for Entrepreneurship at Columbia University, is a nonprofit academic center within Columbia University founded in 2013 by Bill Campbell '62CC, '64TC and Richard Witten '75CC. The center serves as the university's central entrepreneurship hub for currently enrolled students across all Columbia and Barnard schools, recent alumni within five years of graduation, and faculty developing interdisciplinary curricula. It does not sell to external customers and operates as a platform of interconnected programs rather than a unified product.

The center's core offerings are the Columbia Startup Lab (CSL) — split between CSL Uptown on the Morningside campus for students and CSL SoHo, a 5,100 sq. ft. co-working space hosting 70+ alumni entrepreneurs annually — and the Startup Columbia Competition, which distributes over $200K in non-dilutive cash prizes each year across Open, Technology, Global Policy, Media, and Helen Gurley Brown Foundation tracks. Supporting programs include the Collaboratory (co-founded with the Data Science Institute, producing 46 interdisciplinary courses across 11+ schools since 2016), the Collaboratory Fellows Fund, the Data Science Clinic, the CTO in Residence program, and the CSL Talks content series. Notable technical infrastructure is limited to standard educational and community platforms; no proprietary software, API, or AI/ML product is disclosed.

Revenue is not market-based: all programming, workspace, mentorship, and competition participation are free to users. Funding flows from Columbia University's central budget allocations and charitable contributions, including Columbia Giving Day campaigns. The center reported $5.8B raised by Columbia founder companies in the prior 12 months (per Crunchbase) and 3,000+ startups created over the past decade as ecosystem outcomes rather than center revenue. The center has been ranked #5 in Inc.'s Ignition Schools 2024 and #6 for schools producing funded female founders. Leadership is a 7-person core team led by Founder and Senior Managing Director Richard Witten and Managing Directors Dave Lerner and Yvette Miller.

Name

Columbia Entrepreneurship

Legal name

The William V. Campbell Center for Entrepreneurship at Columbia University

Website

https://entrepreneurship.columbia.edu

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Columbia Entrepreneurship (the William V. Campbell Center for Entrepreneurship) is Columbia University's nonprofit academic hub providing free co-working space, mentorship, venture competitions awarding $200K+ annually, and interdisciplinary curriculum support to current students, recent alumni, and faculty across 11+ schools.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Entrepreneurship Education Services

NAICS

Business Schools and Computer and Management Training (6114), Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (611310), Professional and Management Development Training (611430)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Entrepreneurship, Innovation & Venture Creation Centers (EDAHAHAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Entrepreneurship, Startup Incubation & Pitch Programs (EDAMAKAK), Technical Universities with Entrepreneurship & Incubation Focus (EDAHAEAH)

Keywords

• Entrepreneurship education
• Startup incubation
• Venture competition
• Coworking spaces
• Mentor network

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. University Funding: As a center of Columbia University, funding comes primarily from university budget allocations and donations from alumni and friends. The Campbell Center receives charitable contributions through Columbia Giving Day.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Columbia Entrepreneurship (the William V. Campbell Center for Entrepreneurship at Columbia University) operates as the central hub for entrepreneurship within Columbia University, delivering co-working spaces, mentorship, venture competitions, and interdisciplinary curriculum support to current students, recent alumni, and faculty. Core programs include the Columbia Startup Lab (Uptown for students, SoHo for alumni), the Startup Columbia competition awarding $200K+ annually in non-dilutive prizes across multiple tracks, and The Collaboratory for data-science-integrated education across 11+ Columbia schools.

Product overview

The William V. Campbell Center for Entrepreneurship at Columbia University is the successor to Columbia Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Design, dedicated to supporting and stimulating innovation and entrepreneurship across the entire university. It operates as a platform of interconnected programs rather than a single unified product. The core offerings include the Columbia Startup Lab (offered in both Uptown for students and SoHo for alumni), the annual Startup Columbia Competition with multiple tracks (Open Track, Technology Challenge, Global Policy Challenge, Media Track, and Helen Gurley Brown Prize), and The Collaboratory for interdisciplinary data science education. Supporting sub-products include the Collaboratory Fellows Fund, the Data Science Clinic, the CTO in Residence program, and CSL Talks video content. The center facilitates startup development through workspace, mentorship, programming, and venture competitions distributing over $200K in non-dilutive prizes annually.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• The Collaboratory: A university-wide program co-founded by the Campbell Center and the Data Science Institute that supports interdisciplinary curricula integrating data science into traditional academic domains.
• Columbia Startup Lab (CSL)
• Startup Columbia

Named customers3 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

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Data Science InstitutecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJointly founded the Collaboratory at Columbia to support development of innovative, interdisciplinary curricula that embeds data or computational science into more traditional domains. The Collaboratory has created 46 new courses across 11+ Columbia schools since 2016.
• Columbia EngineeringcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner for the Millard Chan '99 Technology Challenge track in the Startup Columbia competition, focused on applied technological innovation including data analytics, biomedical solutions, software, and hardware.
• SIPA (School of International and Public Affairs)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner for the Global Policy Challenge track focused on themes including geopolitical stability, democratic resilience, climate and sustainable development, and inclusive prosperity.
• Brown Institute for Media InnovationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSponsor of the Media Track in the Columbia Venture Challenge, supporting new technologies for journalism and media production at Columbia Journalism School.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Harvard Innovation Labs (i-lab): Harvard's university-wide innovation hub providing workspace, mentorship, programming, and venture support to Harvard students and alumni. Closely aligned with Columbia Entrepreneurship in audience, programming, and operating model.
• MIT Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship: MIT's central entrepreneurship center offering programs, mentorship, and the delta v summer accelerator for MIT student founders. Directly comparable in mission, structure, and programming to the Campbell Center.
• Berkeley Haas Lester Center for Entrepreneurship: UC Berkeley's entrepreneurship center within the Haas School offering curriculum, mentorship, competitions (e.g., LAUNCH accelerator), and programming for Berkeley student founders. Comparable university-embedded entrepreneurship hub.
• NYU Leslie eLab: NYU's innovation hub offering programming, mentorship, and co-working space to NYU entrepreneurs. Strong peer given shared New York City footprint and overlapping student-founder audience.
• Stanford StartX: Stanford-affiliated startup accelerator providing co-working space, mentorship, and non-dilutive/founder-friendly capital to Stanford students, alumni, and faculty. Directly comparable to Columbia Entrepreneurship as a university-embedded entrepreneurship hub with similar co-working and competition infrastructure.
• Cornell Entrepreneurship (eLab): Cornell's student-run accelerator and university entrepreneurship hub providing workspace, mentorship, and funding for Cornell-affiliated founders. Directly comparable as a peer Ivy-league entrepreneurship center.
• Yale Tsai Center for Innovative Thinking (CITY): Yale's university-wide innovation center providing programs, mentorship, and startup support to Yale students and alumni. Directly comparable as a peer Ivy League entrepreneurship center.
• Wharton Entrepreneurship (Penn): University of Pennsylvania's entrepreneurship center providing competitions (e.g., Wharton Startup Challenge), mentorship, and student programming. Highly comparable to Columbia Entrepreneurship in serving undergraduate and graduate student founders.
• Princeton Keller Center for Innovation: Princeton's hub for entrepreneurship and innovation offering programs, funding, and mentorship to Princeton students. Comparable peer as another Ivy League entrepreneurship center with similar program structure.

Broad incumbents

• Techstars: Global accelerator network offering mentorship-driven programs and seed investment to early-stage founders. Comparable to Columbia Entrepreneurship's Startup Columbia competition and CSL in serving early-stage founders, though Techstars operates at much greater scale and takes equity.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/columbiaeship
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/columbiaeship
• Instagraminstagram.com/columbiaeship
• Xx.com/columbiaeship
• Facebookfacebook.com/ColumbiaEship

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments1 record

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

Frequently asked questions about Columbia Entrepreneurship