Wharton Entrepreneurship

What Wharton Entrepreneurship does

Wharton Entrepreneurship, operating as Venture Lab, is a university-supported entrepreneurship center at the University of Pennsylvania jointly funded and operated by The Wharton School, Penn Engineering, and The Stuart Weitzman School of Design. It serves all currently enrolled Penn students across undergraduate, MBA, graduate, and doctoral programs in any school (Wharton, Engineering, Arts & Sciences, Penn Carey Law, GSE, SP2) as well as Penn alumni. The organization runs a portfolio of programs including the annual Startup Challenge (offering over $200,000 in cash and in-kind prizes, headlined by the Perlman Grand Prize of $75,000), the Penn Wharton Innovation Fund, the Startup Internship Award, the Summer Venture Award, the Venture Initiation Program, Visiting Experts, Wharton Scale School, the Coursera Specialization in Wharton Entrepreneurship, signature programs such as Bet on Entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition (ETA), Snider Consulting, Social Entrepreneurship, and the Penn ELITE Fellowship, plus four physical innovation spaces (Digital Design Studio, Engineering Studios, Food Innovation Lab, Retail Lab). It has no proprietary technology; the platform is an in-person and event-driven educational/community hub rather than a software product. Its infrastructure anchor is Tangen Hall, a 68,000 square foot, seven-story student entrepreneurship hub on Penn's campus, self-described as the largest student entrepreneurship hub in the world.

Business model is non-commercial: all programs and services are free to Penn students and alumni, with operating funding provided by the three partner Penn schools and supplemented by alumni donations through the "Give To Venture Lab" fund. Go-to-market is community-led and event-driven, relying on Penn's institutional channels, the Startup Challenge, mentorship events, speaker series, and alumni networks (Wharton Alumni Angel Network, Wharton Alumnae Founders & Funders Association, VIP-X San Francisco). The program traces to the 1998 Wharton Business Plan Competition and was reorganized as Venture Lab in 2016 under Vice Dean of Entrepreneurship Lori Rosenkopf.

Name

Wharton Entrepreneurship

Legal name

University of Pennsylvania - The Wharton School

Website

https://entrepreneurship.wharton.upenn.edu

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Wharton Entrepreneurship (Venture Lab) is a University of Pennsylvania entrepreneurship center serving all Penn students and alumni through funding competitions, mentorship, and co-working at Tangen Hall, jointly supported by Wharton, Penn Engineering, and Stuart Weitzman School of Design.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Entrepreneurship Education & Startup Incubation

NAICS

Professional and Management Development Training (61143), Educational Services (611)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Business Planning, Pitching & Competitions (Pitch Decks, Demo Days) (EDAMAHAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Youth Business Incubators & Accelerators (EDAMAHAC), Entrepreneurship Foundations & Startup Basics (EDAMAHAA), Entrepreneurship & Small Business Workforce Programs (EDAAAOAM)

Keywords

• Entrepreneurship education
• Startup incubation
• Pitch competitions
• Venture mentorship
• Alumni angel networks

Headquarters

HQ city

Philadelphia

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. University Funding: Venture Lab is funded by The Wharton School, Penn Engineering, and The Stuart Weitzman School of Design as a partnership to serve Penn students and alumni. The organization also accepts donations through 'Give To Venture Lab' fund.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Wharton Entrepreneurship operates as Venture Lab, a university-wide entrepreneurship program at the University of Pennsylvania formed as a partnership between the Wharton School, Penn Engineering, and the Stuart Weitzman School of Design. It delivers free entrepreneurship programming — including flagship pitch competitions (Startup Challenge with $200,000+ in annual prizes), venture funding programs, signature educational programs, and physical innovation studios — to Penn students and alumni from Tangen Hall, a 68,000 square foot student entrepreneurship hub.

Product overview

Wharton Entrepreneurship (operating as Venture Lab) is a partnership by The Wharton School, Penn Engineering, and The Stuart Weitzman School of Design that provides a comprehensive entrepreneurship ecosystem for all students and alumni across the University of Pennsylvania. The organization offers a platform of programs and services including flagship competitions (Startup Challenge with $200,000+ in prizes), funding programs (Penn Wharton Innovation Fund, Startup Internship Award, Summer Venture Award), educational programs (Venture Initiation Program, Visiting Experts, Wharton Scale School, Coursera Specialization), signature programs (Bet on Entrepreneurship, ETA, Snider Consulting, Social Entrepreneurship), physical innovation spaces (Digital Design Studio, Engineering Studios, Food Innovation Lab, Retail Lab at Tangen Hall), academic degree programs (Wharton MBA Major, Undergraduate Concentration), and alumni networks (WAFFA, Wharton Alumni Angel Network, VIP-X San Francisco). Tangen Hall serves as the 68,000 square foot physical hub, described as the largest student entrepreneurship hub in the world.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Startup Challenge
• Penn Wharton Innovation Fund
• Startup Internship Award
• Venture Initiation Program
• Visiting Experts
• Wharton Scale School
• Bet on Entrepreneurship
• Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition (ETA)
• Snider Consulting
• Social Entrepreneurship
• Penn ELITE Fellowship
• Venture Lab Practicum (VIP)
• Digital Design Studio
• Engineering Studios
• Food Innovation Lab
• Retail Lab
• Coursera Specialization in Wharton Entrepreneurship
• Wharton MBA Major in Entrepreneurship & Innovation
• Wharton Undergraduate Concentration in Entrepreneurship & Innovation
• Summer Venture Award (SVA)
• VIP-X San Francisco
• Wharton Alumnae Founders & Funders Association (WAFFA)
• Wharton Alumni Angel Network

Quantifiable outcome

• Cloak (2026) wins $75,000 Perlman Grand Prize
• +3 more outcomes

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• The Wharton SchoolcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLead institutional partner in Venture Lab. Provides funding, leadership (Vice Dean of Entrepreneurship), and primary academic integration for entrepreneurship programs at Penn.
• Penn EngineeringcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEngineering-focused partner providing technical resources, Engineering Studios, and access to engineering student entrepreneurs for Venture Lab programs.
• The Stuart Weitzman School of DesigncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDesign-focused partner contributing design expertise, Digital Design Studio resources, and design student entrepreneurs to the Venture Lab ecosystem.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Cornell Entrepreneurship: Cornell's university-wide entrepreneurship initiative coordinating programming, competitions, and founder support across multiple colleges. Comparable as a cross-school university entrepreneurship hub model.
• Harvard Innovation Labs (i-lab): Harvard's central entrepreneurship and innovation hub serving all Harvard students with co-working space, mentorship, and programming. Closely mirrors Venture Lab's hub-and-program model with multi-school access and signature events.
• Berkeley SkyDeck: UC Berkeley's flagship startup accelerator combining cohort-based acceleration with venture investment. Comparable as a university-anchored entrepreneurship platform but with a stronger equity-backed accelerator layer than Venture Lab.
• Columbia Startup Lab: Columbia University's physical entrepreneurship hub and programming arm for students and alumni. Comparable as a top-tier Ivy League peer operating a similar physical-space-plus-program model.
• Stanford StartX: Stanford-affiliated startup accelerator that supports Stanford student and alumni founders through cohorts, mentorship, and investor access. Directly comparable to Wharton Entrepreneurship as a top-tier university entrepreneurship ecosystem with similar flagship competition and incubation functions.
• MIT Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship: MIT's central entrepreneurship hub offering programs, competitions, funding, and mentorship to MIT students across schools. Directly comparable in mission, structure, and cross-school reach to Venture Lab's partnership-driven model.
• University of Chicago Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation: UChicago's central entrepreneurship center offering competitions, accelerator cohorts, and venture support to students across schools. Comparable as a leading university-anchored entrepreneurship center with a similar multi-program structure.
• Princeton Keller Center for Innovation in Engineering Education: Princeton's innovation and entrepreneurship hub supporting student ventures through programs, funding, and mentorship. Comparable as an Ivy League peer with cross-disciplinary entrepreneurship programming and signature competitions.

Broad incumbents

• Y Combinator: The world's largest startup accelerator running twice-yearly equity-backed cohorts for founders globally. Relevant as the broader incumbent benchmark that university programs like Venture Lab feed into, though YC operates as an independent firm outside any single university.
• Techstars: Global accelerator network running industry-focused cohorts with mentor-driven programming and venture investment. Comparable as a broader incumbent in the startup accelerator space that complements university-level programs like Venture Lab.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/vntrlab
• Instagraminstagram.com/weareventurelab
• Xx.com/whartonentrep

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 Wharton Entrepreneurship