Student teams from eLab, Cornell’s student startup accelerator, and the Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute Runway Startups program at Cornell Tech will pitch their startup ideas March 28 at San Francisco’s Autodesk Gallery.  

The event will bring together Cornell Silicon Valley, eLab, Runway Startups, Entrepreneurship at Cornell, and the Student Agencies Foundation to spotlight innovation throughout the Cornell community. Cornell Silicon Valley, an alumni networking group based on the West Coast, has a focus on information-age businesses and provides educational and networking opportunities in the Bay Area.  

“Cornell’s entrepreneurial ecosystem thrives through the combination of students’ drive and alumni’s earned wisdom,” said Ken Rother, managing director of eLab and lecturer at the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business. “With alumni’s involvement, we create a network of mentorship, guidance and opportunity that gives Cornell’s newest entrepreneurs a truly unfair advantage.”  

The event will feature a keynote from Carl Bass ’83, the former CEO of Autodesk, highlighting innovation and his unique entrepreneurial journey.  

“I’m looking forward to meeting the student entrepreneurs and seeing all the ideas generated by them,” Bass said. 

Following the pitches, the student entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to network with the attendees, including other startup executives and investors. The teams will also have time in California to meet with Cornell alumni who have successfully launched their own startup companies.  

Tickets for the event are $40, and hors d’oeuvres and beverages will be served during the networking session.  

In addition to the record-breaking 17 eLab teams comprising the spring cohort, six teams from the Runway Startups program are set to pitch in Silicon Valley. This will be the first of two spring events for the eLab student startups, who will pitch at eLab Demo Day on April 11 in Ithaca as part of the Entrepreneurship at Cornell Celebration.  

If you are in the San Francisco Bay area and are interested in attending, learn more and register for the event by March 27 at 9 p.m. Eastern time. 

Katharine Downey is a marketing and communications coordinator for the Center for Regional Economic Advancement.