Iowa City, Iowa – The University of Iowa’s John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center would like to announce that the application for our fall Venture School cohort has officially opened! We will be accepting applications from entrepreneurs across the state until Friday, September 16, 2016. Venture School is a program open to Iowans and runs statewide with physical locations in Des Moines and Iowa City, as well as an online option this fall! The program lasts eight weeks and helps startups validate their business model and diminishes the risk of the startup process.
Since 2013, Venture School has helped guide over 200 teams, and has awarded over $120,000 in cash prizes. Many of the participating teams have used these funds to continue their business ventures across the state of Iowa.
If you have an idea and want to turn it into a successful business, Venture School is the program for you! When Kyra Seay, from Ellison Eyewear, was asked what she liked about the Venture School program she said, “Venture School is a fun and challenging way to force the busiest of people, whether that be mothers, faculty members, students, or those who are working other jobs, to devote the time necessary to truly vetting your business idea and workshop it with some great and experienced entrepreneurial minds into a more viable business model. A startup should join this program because you develop a way of thinking that puts your mind in your target market and gives you opportunities you would have never had without the program, instructors, and mentors provided.”
“Venture School was an amazing opportunity. I gained a profound amount of knowledge pertaining to startup businesses in such a short amount of time. It significantly enhanced my presentation skills,” said Jeanine Abrons of Integrative Health Innovations. Abron’s team was impressed by the immediate impact of the Venture School Program. “The faculty and mentors are a tremendous resource and continue to be available for advice and support. I can’t recommend this program enough.”
Venture School also runs the University of Iowa’s Faculty Innovators Program, a shortened version of Venture School designed to provide University faculty members with the opportunity to develop marketable ideas and accelerate the startup process. University of Iowa students are eligible to participate in Venture School’s Student Accelerator Program, which lasts nine weeks and takes place during the summer.
Visit www.venture-school.com for more information.