Funding Opportunities

Seed For Startups

Student showing off the electronics inside his product.

Seed For Startups is a pitch event for UVU students seeking seed funding for their ventures. With resources available from the Ross Seed Fund, the Zinn Starter Fund, and the UVU Entrepreneurship Institute, UVU has the resources and tools to help start and fund your new business! The event is exclusively for current UVU students and provides them an opportunity to present a brief pitch and Q&A session.

Get funds for your website, a logo, prototyping, Kickstarter videos, email marketing, legal assistance, licenses and registration, and more.

The event is typically held once per semester in spring and fall.

Get the Executive summary template

 

ZINNSTARTER PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS

  1. A lead student would gather a team; preferably 3 or more. 
  2. Come up with a product/service idea and present it to a Board Of Directors made up of students plus one advisor.  Criteria: https://uvu.box.com/v/zinnstarterscc 
  3. The BOD, if approved, awards the team some initial funds.
  4. The team must read Ray Zinn's book,  Tough Things First.
  5. The team with help from the advisor, finds a mentor. ​
  6. The team reports to the BOD once or twice a month on their progress.
  7. Team submits a final Use of Funds report.

 ROSS FUND PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS

  1. Student teams should consist of at least one student with a significant ownership position.
  2. Team presents their business idea to a panel of student judges.
  3. The student judges make a funding recommendation, which is then approved or denied by the advisor.
  4. Student teams awarded funding must work with a mentor and pitch their idea at least one competition in the next year. 
  5. Team submits a final Use of Funds report.

 

Apply for seed for startups

Girl with hair in a ponytail painting letters on a wall.Student Services Fund

Need some cash to hire someone to help you with things like:

  • Photography of your products for your e-commerce site
  • Wireframing or developing your app
  • Designing a logo
  • Getting your social media pages off the ground
  • Creating your prototype
  • Doing a voiceover for a crowdfunding campaign or explainer video
  • Conducting market research
  • Something else?

The Utah Valley University Entrepreneurship Institute is proud to present the Student Services Fund, designed to help UVU students with business needs hire other UVU students to perform those services.

 

Are you a student who would like to hire another student? Follow these simple steps:

  1. Identify a student using our Student Business Directory who can perform a service for your business
  2. Receive a quote for the services you need
  3. Fill out this brief application to apply for funds
  4. Submit a Use of Funds report within 90 days of receiving funding

 

Are you a student who would like to be hired by another student? Follow these simple steps:

  1. Create a directory listing for your business on our Student Business Directory
  2. The student applicant will request an itemized quote. Once approved by the Entrepreneurship Institute, funding will be awarded to the student applicant to hire you for your services.


Apply today—funding is limited and will be awarded based on need, merit, and availability.

Apply For Student Services Funding

Funds for the above programs are made available through:

ZinnStarter Logo

ZinnStarter 

ZinnStarter exists to ignite the next generation of entrepreneurs. This includes giving them encouragement and mentoring as well as cash.

ZinnStarter’s mission is to:

  • Inculcate the next generation of entrepreneurs to create enduring businesses
  • Provide seed money for promising business plans
  • Provide students with Ray Zinn’s leadership, management and entrepreneurship knowledge

Funding amounts: $250-$1000

ZinnStarter is one arm of Ray Zinn’s goal of exporting the positive aspects of Silicon Valley culture to the rest of America. By reaching students in university entrepreneurship programs, Zinn intends to impart his experience, encouragement, mentoring and perspective, as well as putting seed money into the pockets of the next Google, Apple, Ford, Walmart or AT&T.

The Ross Seed Fund Logo

 

The Ross Fund

The Ross Fund was established by Brett and Robert Ross and additional funding was provided by Charlie and Lindsey Estes.

Seed-stage financing is available to UVU students starting a business who need funds for early development of a new product or service.

Funding amounts: $500-$1500

 

Student Services Fund Mark

Student Services Fund

The Student Services Fund was generously started by Central Bank of Utah, with the goal of providing more opportunities to under-privileged students. The purpose of the Student Services Fund is two-fold by encouraging student entrepreneurs to seek and provide job opportunities other students to help them with essential business development steps.

Central Bank Logo

 

Thank you to our generous donors!

Interested in supporting a student funding opportunity? Please contact Breanna Hale.