NC State Innovation and Entrepreneurship has developed an incubator program to support early-stage startups! During the incubator, students will work on furthering their concepts through a variety of fundamental practices like doing customer discovery, exploring business modeling and thinking through commercialization strategy. This friendly, low-stakes and informal cohort is the perfect place to bounce ideas off one another as well as hold one another accountable for tangible next steps for your new venture.

The incubator occurs over a semester, with entrepreneurs joining on a drop-in basis. NC State student entrepreneurs are also eligible for micro funding. Funding can range from roughly $200 to $800 per student (up to $1,000 per team), depending on your venture and it’s needs.

Sessions will alternate between guest speakers and collaborative grind sessions. Guest speakers will be community and alumni founders covering pain points of the startup process, while grind sessions will feature collaborative work as you and your fellow founders take a moment to creatively work through your biggest hurdles. Think of it like a mini hack-a-thon all for your own personal growth!

Throughout the incubator period, participants will also be connected to mentorship and other forms of support. Every other week’s session will kick off with founder updates including what’s working, road blocks, and goals for the week.

For more information about Launchpad and to apply, please visit the Launchpad web page here.

Fall 2026 LaunchPad dates:

• Aug 27 – Intro, expectations and setting goals
• Sept 3 – Speaker
• Sept 10 – Collaborative Grind Session
• Sept 24 – Speaker
• Oct 1 – Collaborative Grind Session
• Oct 8 – Speaker
• Oct 22 – Collaborative Grind Session
• Oct 29 – Speaker
• Nov 6 – Collaborative Grind Session