The campus field guide
University of Pennsylvania
Run this campus program? Claim school
Inside this ecosystem · 4 linked sources
The University of Pennsylvania is a private research university in Philadelphia. Student entrepreneurship is organized through Venture Lab at the Wharton School, formerly Penn Wharton Entrepreneurship, and is open to degree-seeking students in every Penn school. This page is a research listing from public university pages. It is unclaimed and is not a director-verified profile.
Include. Penn has a cross-school student hub, a long-running venture competition with a six-figure prize pool, a founder incubator, and a recurring student award fund. The pages are current through the 2026 Startup Challenge and the 2026–2027 Innovation Fund cycle.
How we know this: the figures on this page come from the linked sources (last verified 2026-10-08); what those sources do not state is left unknown.
At a glance
Indexed programs
4
All currently active
Top direct funding
$75,000
Venture Lab Startup Challenge
Equity
Equity terms unknown
Program mix
4
Founder Grant · Incubator · Entrepreneurship Center
Programs to explore
Compare funding, equity, and timing before you apply.
4 programs indexed
Pitch Competition
Venture Lab Startup Challenge
Pitch CompetitionAlso: Penn Wharton Startup Challenge, Wharton Business Plan Competition
$75,000
funding range
- Last activity
- 2026-05-05
- Participants
- Undergraduate Students, Graduate Students
- Verification
- Verified
Incubator
—
funding range
- Last activity
- 2026-08-24
- Participants
- Undergraduate Students, Graduate Students +more
- Verification
- Verified
Entrepreneurship Center
Venture Lab
Entrepreneurship CenterAlso: Penn Wharton Venture Lab, Penn Wharton Entrepreneurship
—
funding range
- Last activity
- —
- Participants
- Undergraduate Students, Graduate Students
- Verification
- Verified
From students
Be the first student from University of Pennsylvania to post a startup.
Post a startupFunding and Equity
Published student funding is the Startup Challenge prize table, the $10,000 Summer Venture Award attached to that competition, and Innovation Fund awards of $1,000, $2,000, and $5,000. VIP-X is described as non-dilutive without a dollar amount. None of the captured pages say these awards take equity. No Penn student venture fund with priced equity rounds was documented in this pass.
Recent Activity
On May 5, 2026, Venture Lab named Cloak the winner of the tenth annual Startup Challenge. The 2026–2027 Innovation Fund calendar was live on October 8, 2026, with a Cycle 2 deadline of November 1, 2026. The Startup Challenge page lists the next live pitch on May 6, 2027.
Known startups and winners
Competition winners and notable student ventures from our research.
Cloak
Grand prize
placement
University of Pennsylvania · Venture Lab Startup Challenge
2026 Venture Lab Startup Challenge winner, founded by Penn first-years Rishi Ambavanekar and Tyler Sacharow. The announcement does not restate the dollar amount.
Nirby
$50,000
prize won
University of Pennsylvania · Venture Lab Startup Challenge
2024 Venture Lab Startup Challenge Perlman Grand Prize winner, stated as $50,000. Founder Piotr Lazarek. Real-time soil analytics for large farms.
Sync Labs
$50,000
prize won
University of Pennsylvania · Venture Lab Startup Challenge
2025 Venture Lab Startup Challenge Perlman Grand Prize winner, stated as $50,000. Founder Melanie Herbert.
Historical winners (research notes)
- Cloak — 2026 Startup Challenge winner. Rishi Ambavanekar and Tyler Sacharow. Dollar amount not restated in the announcement.
- Sync Labs — 2025 Perlman Grand Prize, stated as $50,000. Melanie Herbert.
- Nirby — 2024 Perlman Grand Prize, stated as $50,000. Piotr Lazarek.
- ToxiSense — 2022 winner named on the competition page. Amount not stated in that paragraph.
- Aerate — 2019 winner, Wharton and Penn Engineering undergraduates. Amount not stated in that paragraph.
Research gaps & things to verify
Missing Information
- Weiss Tech House does not have a current program description at the Venture Lab URL checked on 2026-10-08, and the live Penn Engineering commercialization page does not describe it. Older Penn Today stories were not used to create a program.
- VIP-X dollar amount and cohort size.
- Whether the 2026 Cloak win paid the $75,000 figure printed elsewhere on the same page.
- Penn Center for Innovation terms for student founders.
- Equity documents for the prize and grant programs.
More about this ecosystem
University of Pennsylvania
News & articles
4 news articles and official sources documenting entrepreneurship programs, winners, and activity at University of Pennsylvania.
4 sources
Official sources(4)
Venture Lab Startup Challenge
University of Pennsylvania Venture Lab
University of Pennsylvania Venture Lab
Venture Lab Startup Challenge
Official Startup Challenge page. Combined awards of more than $200,000. Named prizes include a $75,000 Perlman Grand Prize, a $50,000 runner-up award, and a $10,000 Summer Venture Award. Open to enrolled Penn students. Next live pitch listed for May 6, 2027.
Read on University of Pennsylvania Venture Lab
Venture Initiation Program
University of Pennsylvania Venture Lab
University of Pennsylvania Venture Lab
Venture Initiation Program
Official VIP page plus the founder pathway captured the same day. Tracks include VIP-C, a three-month VIP Incubator, and VIP-X for advanced student and alumni founders. The founder pathway says VIP-X includes non-dilutive funding and does not state an amount.
Read on University of Pennsylvania Venture Lab
University of Pennsylvania Venture Lab
Venture Lab for students
Official student page for Venture Lab, Penn’s hub for full-time degree-seeking students in every school. Executive Director Trang Pham. Pathways are Explorer, Founder, Joiner, and Investor. The page points students to Tangen Hall and nine innovation spaces.
Read on University of Pennsylvania Venture Lab
Penn Wharton Innovation Fund
University of Pennsylvania Venture Lab
University of Pennsylvania Venture Lab
Penn Wharton Innovation Fund
Official Innovation Fund page. Student reviewers award $1,000 Design, $2,000 Build, and $5,000 Boost grants to enrolled Penn founders. Four cycles are listed for 2026–2027, including a November 1, 2026 deadline.
Read on University of Pennsylvania Venture Lab
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