Montclair State University

• Type: Public research university
• Location: Montclair, New Jersey
• Enrollment: ~21,000 students
• Entrepreneurship Hub: Feliciano Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation
• Acting Director: Liz Rich

Montclair State University has a highly active and credible entrepreneurship infrastructure centered on the Feliciano Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation (FCE+I) in the Feliciano School of Business. The center runs the Ignite Entrepreneurs 20-week hybrid program (Cohort 8 launching January 2027), the annual Pitch Day student pitch competition (most recently $25,000 prize pool in 2026, historically up to $80,000), Montclair Starts Up monthly event series, Women Entrepreneurship Week (founded at Montclair in 2014, now 100+ global sites), MIX Lab for 3D printing and innovation design, and Virtual Mentorship with 25+ expert mentors.

Montclair co-hosts the annual New Jersey Small Business Summit (October 2024, 2025 editions) with NJBIA, positioning itself as a statewide entrepreneurship convening hub. On the research side, the university participates in the ResearchwithNJ commercialization portal and a Rutgers-led technology transfer partnership, providing faculty with patenting, licensing, and commercialization support. The university also offers comprehensive entrepreneurship academic programs (Concentration, Minor, Certificate of Entrepreneurship, Certificate in Innovation Design) and a Student CEO leadership program launched in 2024.

Montclair qualifies as a Tier 1 entrepreneurship campus with sustained student-facing venture programming, strong regional convening power, and emerging research commercialization infrastructure.

• montclair-fcei — Feliciano Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation (central hub)
• montclair-pitch-day — Pitch Day / Annual Student Pitch Competition

Ignite Entrepreneurs

20-week hybrid program combining online learning, 1:1 mentorship, mastermind groups, and in-person community meetups. Participants build business plans, pitch decks, and marketing strategies. Annual pitch competition offers up to $10K. Cohort 8 launching January 2027.

Montclair Starts Up

Monthly event series with fireside chats, panel discussions, and keynotes featuring entrepreneurs from Jones Road Beauty, Hello Products, Google, NVIDIA, Focus Posters, Sproxxy, and other brands.

Women Entrepreneurship Week (WEW)

Annual October event celebrating women founders. Founded at Montclair State in 2014. Has grown to 100+ participating universities and nonprofits globally holding WEW events the third week of October.

MIX Lab

Montclair Innovation Lab for 3D printing and digitally mediated making. Offers Certificate in Innovation Design. Co-directed by Jason Frasca and Iain Kerr.

Entrepreneurship Academic Programs

• Concentration in Entrepreneurship
• Minor in Entrepreneurship (open to all majors)
• Certificate of Entrepreneurship
• Certificate in Innovation Design
• Co-op opportunities at startups
• High school partnerships

Student CEO Program

Leadership program launched Fall 2024 in the Feliciano School of Business. Connects students with industry leaders on ownership and leadership topics.

New Jersey Small Business Summit

Annual statewide summit co-hosted by Montclair State and NJBIA. 2024 held at Montclair Conference Center with sessions on AI trends, women entrepreneurs, funding paths, and government contracting. 2025 edition scheduled for October 22 at College of Communication and Media.

Technology Transfer & Commercialization

• ResearchwithNJ portal participation (via NJEDA/CSIT): Montclair research integrated into statewide database of 365K+ research outputs and 7,000+ researcher profiles
• Rutgers Office for Research tech transfer partnership (2023 NJASCU agreement): guidance on patenting, licensing, and commercialization
• Innovation and Commercialization Officer role at Montclair

Virtual Mentorship

Online platform with 25+ expert mentors covering: early-stage strategy, branding, business plans, marketing, finance, accounting, legal, IP law, AI, operations, supply chain, real estate, product design, content creation, and ecommerce.

• — Consolidated research report
• — FCE+I homepage capture
• — Pitch Day / competition details
• — Ignite Entrepreneurs program page
• — Staff, faculty, advisory board

• Current list of 2023-2026 pitch winners by venture name and sector
• Whether community/Female Founders competition tracks remain active post-2020
• Full Ignite Entrepreneurs cohort completion and outcome data
• MIX Lab startup outcomes and commercialization metrics
• Technology transfer deal flow statistics and licensing revenue