The Accelerator and Project Olympus at Carnegie Mellon University

creative, original
adoptable, replicable
promises impact, influence
inspires, motivates change
paradigm shifting, game changing

Why is it innovative?
The Accelerator and its Project Olympus are taking direct action to avoid brain drain in the Pittsburgh area by supporting top entrepreneurial talent and creating local career opportunities.

More info:

From the Pittsburgh Business Times, Accelerator: Black Locus Readies Project, September 10, 2010:

How does your financing shape up?

“So far, we have received funding from Alpha Lab, the Tepper Accelerator Program, and from business plan competitions that we won. We are currently talking with local programs that support start-up companies, as well as with angel investors.”

You’re also part of Alpha Labs and Project Olympus. What benefits does your company receive through those and what did the Accelerator add?

“The Tepper Accelerator helped us to continue what we started at Alpha Lab without disruption. The summer program that Art Boni put in place makes a lot of sense for the students that want to pursue entrepreneurship — you cannot get more hands-on than that. It surprises me that not more MBA schools are doing the same. Project Olympus, Alpha Lab and the Accelerator program are complimentary to one another.

From the Carnegie Mellon Center for Technology Transfer and Enterprise Creation website:

A pilot program at Carnegie Mellon University aims to spin out companies faster by linking academics to the marketplace.

CMU's Donald H. Jones Center for Entrepreneurship debuted The Accelerator in June with five companies led by students who finished their first year at Tepper Graduate School of Business and expect to graduate in 2011. CMU also has a financial stake in the companies: It is paying the students a small stipend, which will convert to equity.