About the I³ Harvard College Innovation Challenge
The I³ Harvard College Innovation Challenge seeks to promote innovative ventures across all different areas of interest. To this end, the competition features awards in four distinct tracks:
All tracks will require the submission of an executive summary and/or detailed plan for the proposed venture through a common application, to be released in early January. Required content for the plans will be specified. Plans will be due in early February, judging will take place in February and March, and there will be an awards ceremony later in the spring.
Top prizes in the For-Profit Startups, Social Entrepreneurship, and Creative Enterprise tracks are expected to be $10,000 grants. For the Campus Service Venture track, winners will receive $2,500 and the opportunity to use the infrastructure and resources of Harvard Student Agencies, Inc. (including
an annual salary and bonus) to run the campus service venture.
Please check back in the coming weeks for more details about the awards and requirements for each track, as well as for announcements of new special awards to be incorporated into the competition.
In preparation for the competition, I³ will offer programmed events and additional resources to assist students in launching their ideas, including:
- Speaker Series
- Skill Set Workshops
- Mentorship Opportunities
- Legal and Technical Support
- Networking Receptions (These receptions will allow non-Harvard entrepreneurs to find Harvard students for their teams.)
To receive updates about new resources and events for I³ participants,
please join our mailing list by filling out the form to the right.
I³ Organizers
Harvard College Entrepreneurship Forum (HCEF)
The Harvard College Entrepreneurship Forum is the lead organizer of the I³ Harvard College Innovation Challenge. HCEF is a student-run organization at Harvard College that works to help students channel their creativity toward launching a successful enterprise. HCEF will continue to host regular events to provide entrepreneurially minded students with resources, including speaker dinners, technology workshops, networking events, etc. to generate the ideal environment for creative success.
Harvard Student Agencies, Inc. (HSA)
HSA is the largest student-run corporation in the world. The organization was founded in 1957 to help defray rising tuition costs while providing practical business experience and supplying valuable, necessary services to the Harvard community. It carries out its mission by presenting myriad diverse opportunities with one objective in common: to provide the highest quality jobs available to Harvard students. HSA is currently composed of nine agencies: Harvard Distribution Services, Harvard Student Resources, HSA Cleaners, HSA Publications, HSA Dorm Store, Let's Go Ad Sales, Let's Go Publications, Cronin Center for Enterprise, and the Harvard Shop.
Technology and Entrepreneurship Center at Harvard (TECH)
TECH's mission is to advance the understanding and practice of innovation and entrepreneurship through project-based experiential education. TECH is both a real and virtual space for students, faculty, alumni, and industry leaders to learn together, collaborate, and innovate. TECH aims to develop this holistic understanding of science and technology translation by serving as a crossroads of innovation education. Operating from within the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences - an interdisciplinary science and technology institution that draws from its close connection to Harvard's undergraduate liberal arts tradition and its graduate schools - TECH sponsors or supports many opportunities for the innovation community to gather and exchange knowledge, including courses, study groups, mentorship relationships, and special events.