The Penn Wharton Innovation Fund, run by Venture Lab at the University of Pennsylvania, gives grants to early-stage startups founded and led by Penn students. A student Investment Team drawn from across Penn makes every funding decision.
Applicants pick one of three stage-based awards (Design, Build or Boost) and spend the money on the venture’s next development step. The 2026–2027 year has four application cycles.
Benefits & funding
- Design Award: $1,000 to turn research on a problem, customer or market into a solution you can test.
- Build Award: $2,000 to develop and test something already tangible.
- Boost Award: $5,000 to carry a past Build winner to its next milestone.
- Funds must go directly to venture development (e.g. prototypes, pilots, hires); personal expenses, travel and resources available free to students are excluded.
Eligibility
- Lead applicant: currently enrolled in a degree-granting bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral program at the University of Pennsylvania.
- The venture is an early-stage startup founded and led by one or more Penn students, with a revenue model; small businesses, service firms, investment funds and nonprofits without a revenue model do not qualify.
- Boost: only ventures previously awarded Build (or Implementation before 2025–2026), applied for by the same lead applicant.
- A Boost winner cannot apply for any further award; a venture that won Build without Design cannot later apply for Design.
- No nationality, residence or age limit is published.
Can you apply?
Here's who can apply
Decoded from the official rules. A free account checks them against your passport, degree and age in seconds.
“Please note that the Innovation Fund is open only to currently enrolled students pursuing a degree-granting program (Bachelors, Masters, or Doctorate) at the University of Pennsylvania.” Eligibility
Education required
Bachelor Enrolled · Master Enrolled · PhD Enrolled
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Application process
- 1Choose the one award level that fits the venture’s stage; one award type per cycle.
- 2Prepare an itemized budget; Boost applicants also explain how the earlier award was spent.
- 3Apply through the Venture Lab online portal by the cycle deadline (11:59 PM ET); if several applications for the same venture, team or person arrive in one cycle, only the latest is reviewed.
- 4Boost with a new lead applicant: both the old and new lead email venturelab@upenn.edu at least one week before the deadline.
Program timeline
Cycle 2 opens
October 9, 2026
Cycle 2 deadline, 11:59 PM ET
November 1, 2026
Cycle 2 applicants notified
December 9, 2026
January 24, 2027
Cycle 3 deadline (opens December 4, 2026)
March 14, 2027
Cycle 4 deadline (opens February 5, 2027)