Venture Lab at the University of Pennsylvania runs this award to help Penn students take unpaid or underpaid summer internships at startups. It does not place students into internships; applicants must accept a qualifying offer before applying.
Recipients work full time at eligible startups and build functional skills such as sales, marketing, operations, finance, product management or product development. The award is intended to reduce the financial sacrifice of lower-paid startup work, and its value varies with the application pool and the compensation provided by the startup.
Benefits & funding
- The award provides financial support, but Venture Lab does not publish a fixed amount; the value depends on the number and quality of applications and the intern’s startup compensation.
- Award funds are expected no earlier than early to mid-August.
- The award does not match compensation and does not provide academic credit.
Eligibility
- Applicants must be enrolled in a University of Pennsylvania degree program and return to Penn for at least one full academic semester after the internship.
- Students on leave, students completing their program in May or August of the current year, alumni, employer-sponsored MBA students, previous Entrepreneurial Intern Fellows or award winners, and startup founding-team members are ineligible.
- Total cash and in-kind compensation from the startup must be below USD 1,250 per week.
- The internship must be full time at 35 or more hours per week for at least eight consecutive weeks during Penn’s summer period, and the applicant must have accepted the offer before applying.
- The startup must have under USD 25 million in revenue and fewer than 200 employees; excluded organizations include consulting, search, financial-services, design, venture-capital and private-equity firms, accelerators, incubators, pay-to-intern programs, and nonprofits without a revenue model beyond donations or grants.
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Education required
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Application process
- 1Accept a qualifying summer internship offer from an eligible startup.
- 2Obtain a signed offer letter or contract stating the dates, weekly hours, duties, location, supervisor contact information, and all cash and in-kind compensation.
- 3Apply online through Venture Lab by June 1, 2026 at 11:59 PM Eastern.
- 4Await the committee’s post-deadline review; applicants can generally expect an email decision three to four weeks after the deadline.
Program timeline
Application deadline
June 1, 2026 at 11:59 PM Eastern
Three to four weeks after the deadline
Email decision generally expected
Award funds expected
Early to mid-August 2026 at the earliest