Spears Institute for Entrepreneurial Leadership

The William S. Spears Institute for Entrepreneurial Leadership is the buy side of the Cox Innovation Triad at SMU Cox. Launched spring 2022 through a gift from Dr. William S. Spears, it focuses on startup investment, entrepreneurial leadership, and North Texas ecosystem building.

• Launched: Spring 2022
• Focus: Investment, acceleration, ecosystem events, entrepreneurial leadership
• Funding: Non-dilutive and pre-seed support for student ventures

• Joshua Taylor — Executive Director
• Bhavna Kumar — Head of Accelerator programs
• Kerry Wright — Director of Operations
• Nirav Tolia — Co-Founding Director
• Megha Tolia — Co-Founding Director and Brand Ambassador

• smu-spears-launch — Signature 12-week accelerator
• Spears Innovation Awards — Ecosystem recognition program
• Pitch competitions and startup services
• North Texas outreach and campus-hosted events
• Academic integration with smu-caruth-institute

Receives pitches from smu-hart-institute tech ventures and smu-caruth-institute business ventures. Creates investment leaders and reinvestment pipeline for Cox scholarships.

• smu-dallas-100 — 2025 gala partnership with Caruth
• smu-cox-innovation-triad — Parent ecosystem framework