Students, faculty and alumni will gather in the Statler Hotel on April 13 and 14 for Entrepreneurship at Cornell’s annual celebration, showcasing Cornellians’ achievements in building impactful ventures.
The conference will include entrepreneurship talks with guest speakers, business pitch competitions and networking sessions. Most Thursday sessions will be free and open to the public, with some of the business pitches and speaker events being live streamed online.
Entrepreneurship at Cornell is a University-wide program that provides resources, mentorship and professional opportunities to students and alumni across the University’s colleges. The program annually confers the Student Business of the Year and Entrepreneur of the Year awards, which will be presented during the conference.
This year, Entrepreneur of the Year will be awarded to Barry Beck ’90, the founder of Evenly Technologies, a dental telemedicine platform, and Bluemercury, a beauty brand acquired by Macy’s in 2015. President Martha Pollack will present the award to Beck during the lunch session on April 14. Beck will also deliver the Student Business of the Year award, the winner of which will be announced at the event.
In addition to award announcements, the conference will host business pitches and showcases, including the BenDaniel Venture Challenge, an entrepreneurship pitch competition, and eLab Demo Day, a Cornell student business roadshow.
Hosted by Big Red Venture — Cornell’s venture capital fund operated by MBA and graduate students — BenDaniel Venture Challenge allows five companies to pitch their business ideas, with possibility of applying for at least $25,000 cash prizes. ELab Demo Day is the final showcase for students who have participated in this student entrepreneurship accelerator program. Teams of current Cornell students will present their businesses after developing them throughout their year in the program.
Student and faculty tickets, required for some of Thursday’s and all of Friday’s sessions, are available at respective discounted prices of $10 and $50, with regular tickets priced at $100.