Applications are open for eLab 2021-22
Secure your spot with some of the brightest and most driven students in the nation
2021-2022 eLab Applications are Closed
Applications for the 2021-22 cohort of Cornell eLab closed on September 8, 2021. The new cohort will be announced soon.
eLab is a credit-bearing student startup accelerator at Cornell University that launches 8-12 real businesses each year. You and your team will spend one year evolving your business plan, speaking with potential customers, pitching to investors, developing a minimum viable products, and preparing for launch.
Structure
- Interviews will take place during the first weeks of the fall semester and consist of a 5-minute presentation and 10-minutes of Q & A with the instructor team.
- All teams will be paired with an advisory board consisting of investors, eLab alumni, and instructors.
- Fall Semester, teams enroll in NBA 6230 – Actualizing your Startup I, a 1.5-credit course consisting of bootcamps, customer discovery report outs, mentor meetings, and a pitch event in NYC.
- Spring Semester, teams enroll in NBA 6330 – Actualizing your Startup II, a 3-credit course consisting of weekly lectures, bootcamps, instructor office hours, mentor meetings, and pitch at Demo Day.
Prerequisites
Competitive applicants will have completed one of the following prerequisites or positioned to complete the requirement concurrently during the fall semester:
- NBA 3000 – Designing New Ventures (undergraduate)
- NBA 5640 – Designing New Ventures (graduate)
- NBA 5070 – Entrepreneurship for Scientists and Engineers
- AEM 3249 – Entrepreneurial Marketing and Strategy
- NSF I-Corps Regional Course
What should I do after I apply?
Take an entrepreneurship class
If you are interested in founding a startup but have not yet taken an entrepreneurship class, take one of the many entrepreneurship courses offered on campus as soon as possible to prepare for applying to eLab.
Read our Preparing for eLab page
On the Preparing for eLab page, you will find a few resources to help you refine your concepts, strengthen your team, and improve your own entrepreneurial skill set.