Much partnered with the University of Illinois to host our annual mentorship workshop for 43 student entrepreneurs with iVenture Accelerator. Attorneys from the firm’s Startups & Venture Capital group met with leaders of the 11 startups admitted to iVenture’s 10th cohort, which includes students university-wide.
The day began with a welcome and introduction from Craig Bradley, chair of Much’s Startups & Venture Capital group. Each startup team spent time meeting one-on-one with attorneys Bradley, David Schmidt, and Tom Skelly, gaining insights on starting a business and navigating the world of venture capital from a legal perspective. Following the workshop, the leaders of each startup team presented a formal pitch to the entire group.
iVenture was launched in 2015 to provide opportunities for student-led startups to create economic and social value by supporting them with knowledge, funding, and access to resources and alumni from the University of Illinois. Since its inception, iVenture has incubated 114 ventures led by more than 325 student entrepreneurs who have gone on to raise more than $100 million for their work and created over 550 full-time jobs.