Beck Entrepreneurship Fellows and Human Spirit Entrepreneurship Fellows
Supports Cornell students who wish to spend their summer pursuing entrepreneurship

If you are a Cornell student, either undergraduate or graduate, and would like to spend the summer working on your own business without the worry of financially supporting yourself in a traditional internship setting, we encourage you to apply to the Marla and Barry Beck Entrepreneurship Fellows Program and the Human Spirit Entrepreneurship Fellows Programs to receive a startup stipend! To access the application. Please note that funding is not available to students who are graduating prior to the start of the summer in which the stipend would be spent.

Successful applicants will show a demonstrated interest and involvement in entrepreneurship activity at Cornell. Along with their entrepreneurial activities, selected Beck and Human Spirit Fellows will exhibit perseverance to move their startup forward and ideally some real business traction. The startups may be for profit or non-profit.

Summer funding up to $5,000 is provided to a student/group of students who present a startup company through the application process ready for intense summer progress. Recipients must plan to spend 90% of their time over the summer working on their startup. Funding can be used to support the startup as the founders deem appropriate (compensation, prototypes, legal expenses, web development, etc.).

Timeline & Requirements

Application Deadline: December 2, 2024

Final Decisions and Notifications Sent to Applicants: December 15, 2024

Funding Amount: $5,000 per person or company team

Funding Requirements:

Recipients must plan to spend 90% of their time over the summer working on their startup
Confirmation of use of proposed use of funds by February 1, 2025
Mid-summer progress reports due: July 2025
End of summer progress report (1-2 pages): September 2025
Tentative Presentation to Donors: Mid-October 2025 (TBD based on donor availability)
NOT available to students who are graduating prior to the start of the summer in which the stipend would be spent