Student-Run Business Association

What Student-Run Business Association does

The Student-Run Business Association (SRBA) is a private nonprofit membership organization founded in 2018 and based in Ithaca, New York. It supports student founders, student leaders, student-run business organizations (SRBOs), and the universities that support them. Its principal service is a membership community providing operational resources, mentorship access, digital content, peer exchange, and badge-based skill recognition and academic credit.

SRBA operates the SURGE community brand, which encompasses media content, regional activities, leadership programming, and the annual SURGE Expo featuring competitions, workshops, keynotes, and networking. It also offers the SRBO Foundations and SO Foundations workshop series, covering topics from organizational formation and legal structuring to operations, financial growth, and sustainability. Members connect through the website, Slack, monthly virtual meetings, chapters, and university-hosted programs, while the AI-powered Stan chatbot provides member support; no API or broader technology stack is disclosed.

The organization's stated revenue streams are annual membership dues and event registration fees. Distribution is primarily self-serve through the website and university relationships, supplemented by Slack, media, word-of-mouth, and events. SRBA reports representing 5,000+ student founders and leaders across 20+ universities and operates with 1-10 employees, while specific pricing, revenue, funding, and institutional-investor information are not publicly disclosed.

Name

Student-Run Business Association

Legal name

Student-Run Business Association

Website

https://srbassociation.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Student-Run Business Association is a nonprofit membership network that helps student founders, leaders, and university-supported student-run organizations access resources, mentorship, credentials, media, and events through its SURGE community, badge programs, Slack, and annual expo.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Ithaca , New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: Annual membership fees for student-run business organizations and individual student members to join SRBA's network and access resources, badge programs, and community benefits.
2. Event Registration Fees: Revenue generated from SURGE Expo and regional event attendance, including full access tickets with premium perks like keynote speaker access and reserved seating.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

SRBA is a global membership network and community organization that supports 5,000+ student founders and leaders across 20+ universities through membership dues, badge credentialing programs, an annual SURGE Expo conference, workshops, and curated digital resources. Its core offering is structured support for student-run business organizations (SRBOs) and student startup support organizations, providing tools, mentorship, and a peer network for students who learn by launching and leading real-world organizations.

Product overview

SRBA operates as a unified membership platform connecting student-run business organizations. The core offering is the SRBA Membership Community, supplemented by SURGE Activities (media content and community engagement), Badge Programs for skill recognition, SURGE Expo annual events, and two educational workshop series: SRBO Foundations (for student-run business organizations) and SO Foundations (for student-startup support organizations like incubators and accelerators). Member Resources provide tools and templates. The products work together to support students learning by launching and leading real-world organizations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• SURGE: SRBA's community brand for student entrepreneurs, featuring SURGE Media content, SURGE Expo annual events, and SURGE Leadership programming
• SURGE Expo
• SURGE Media
• SURGE Leadership Summit
• SURGEx Regionals

Products and services

• SRBA Membership Community A global membership community connecting 5,000+ student founders and leaders with resources, networking, mentorship, and support for launching and leading real-world student-run organizations. Membership is offered through annual dues via the SRBA website.
• SURGE Expo Annual expo event featuring competitions, workshops, networking, and keynote speakers (including Mark Cuban, Seth Godin, and Techstars leadership). Hosted by rotating member universities, with SURGE Expo24 at Stanford and SURGE Expo25 at UPenn. Tiered ticketing with Full Access passes offering premium perks.
• Badge Programs Exclusive badging programs that enable student members to perform real-world tasks, learn skills in the process, and earn recognized skill badges and academic credit. Includes programs such as Founders Badge and Builders Badge that serve as product-led growth levers for credentialing and professional development.
• SRBO Foundations Workshop Series A 3-part educational workshop series (101, 201, 301) that equips students with knowledge and tools to launch, scale, and sustain Student-Run Business Organizations (SRBOs). Covers vision development, legal structuring, operations, financial growth, and long-term management.
• SO Foundations Workshop Series A 3-part workshop series for Student-Startup Support Organizations such as campus incubators, accelerators, and centers for innovation. Covers vision and business development, legal structuring, operational management, financial growth, and sustainability strategies.
• SURGE Media A media platform available on YouTube and Instagram that features interviews, workshops, and roundtables with student founders and business leaders, providing continuous content-based engagement for the SURGE community.

Quantifiable outcome

• Community of 5,000+ student founders and leaders supported
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Stanford Student EnterprisescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 14 November 2024Hosted the SURGE Expo24 at Stanford University from November 14-17, 2024. Stanford Student Enterprises is a founding member organization that led the planning and execution of SRBA's flagship annual conference, demonstrating a deep strategic partnership.
• TechstarscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 14 November 2024Techstars served as a featured partner for SURGE Expo24, with Managing Director Neal Sales-Griffin delivering the keynote and Techstars staff leading workshops and accelerator-focused sessions. Represents a co-development relationship for startup education content.
• Google.org Data CommonsminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 14 November 2024Sponsored the Impact Datathon at SURGE Expo24, where students used Data Commons datasets for hands-on data analysis competitions. Represents a collaborative educational initiative.
• Mark CubanminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 14 November 2024Virtual keynote speaker at SURGE Expo24. As founder of Cost Plus Drugs, owner of Dallas Mavericks, and Shark Tank investor, provides high-profile credibility and attraction for the event.
• Seth GodinminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 14 November 2024Virtual keynote speaker at SURGE Expo24. Best-selling author and entrepreneur (21 books) who has previously founded Tufts Student Ventures. Provides thought leadership and brand elevation for the SRBA community.
• Storage ScholarscoreGTM or Marketing PartnerCorporate member and SRBA Certified Employer. A student-founded success story featured on Shark Tank. Actively participates in SRBA events (tabling at SURGE Expo24) and represents the type of success SRBA members can achieve.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• DECA: DECA is an international student organization preparing emerging leaders in marketing, finance, hospitality, and management. It is a direct peer to SRBA because it operates the same model — a membership association of student-led business chapters with competitive events, leadership curricula, and credentialing for high school and post-secondary students.
• Enactus: Enactus is an international nonprofit that mobilizes university students to lead social-entrepreneurship projects through student teams, an annual global competition, and corporate partner support. It is a direct peer because it operates student-led project organizations on university campuses with an annual expo and a corporate-sponsored competition, mirroring SRBA's SURGE Expo model.
• Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE): NFTE is a nonprofit that activates the entrepreneurial mindset in young people, particularly those from underserved communities, through classroom and competition-based programming. It is comparable to SRBA as a youth entrepreneurship education nonprofit that builds curriculum, credentials, and competitions for student founders.
• Junior Achievement USA: Junior Achievement is a nonprofit that delivers K-12 entrepreneurship, work-readiness, and financial literacy programs through in-school and after-school experiences. It is a direct peer to SRBA because both organizations run youth-focused entrepreneurship education programs with chapters, structured curricula, and corporate partnerships.
• Future Business Leaders of America-Phi Beta Lambda (FBLA-PBL): FBLA-PBL is the largest student business organization in the world, with chapters at the middle, high school, and college levels focused on business leadership, competitions, and career development. It is a direct peer because it serves the same student-business-leader persona with a membership, events, and credentialing framework structurally identical to SRBA.

Broad incumbents

• MassChallenge: MassChallenge is a global nonprofit startup accelerator running equity-free programs for early-stage founders across multiple geographies. It is a broad incumbent peer because it competes for the same founder-community mindshare through accelerator cohorts, events, and partnerships, although it targets post-college founders rather than student-led SRBOs.
• Y Combinator: Y Combinator is the world's most prominent startup accelerator, running twice-yearly cohorts, providing funding, mentorship, and the SAFE note standard. It is a broad incumbent peer because it serves a similar founder persona and offers community, events, and credentialing, but at a much later stage and as a venture-backed program rather than a student-focused membership nonprofit.
• 4-H Youth Development: 4-H is the largest youth development organization in the US, delivering hands-on learning in STEM, agriculture, civic engagement, and entrepreneurship through school and club chapters. It is a broad incumbent peer because it operates a much larger, more established youth-membership-and-chapter model with credentialing that SRBA is attempting to build within a narrower entrepreneurship niche.

Emerging players

• Ashoka U: Ashoka U works with universities to embed social innovation and entrepreneurship into higher education through the Ashoka Changemaker Campus network. It is an emerging peer because it is a smaller, more specialized network of universities focused on student social entrepreneurship, with comparable institutional partnership and changemaker credentialing.

Regional players

• Collegiate Entrepreneurs' Organization (CEO): CEO is a national student entrepreneurship organization historically hosted at St. Louis University that runs conferences, a magazine, and pitch competitions for collegiate entrepreneurs. It is a regional/peer-adjacent peer because it targets the same student founder persona with chapters, events, and competitions, although its scale and footprint are smaller than SRBA's.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/srbassociation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Student-Run Business Association