Note: A venture idea must have won an Innovation Fund Build Award (or an Innovation Fund Implementation Award, prior to the 2025-2026 academic year) to be eligible to apply for a Boost Award.
The Innovation Fund Boost Award supports student entrepreneurs who have begun executing their product development plan and can demonstrate iterative improvements based on feedback. This is a very competitive award and only 1-2 recipients will be selected each application cycle.
If you are not a selected recipient, you can reapply for the award as long as you continue to meet the eligibility criteria; however, if selected, you can only receive the award once for each venture, and you cannot win any additional Innovation Fund awards (Discover, Design, or Build) for the same venture.
Please note
If the Lead Applicant on the application that was selected to win the Build Award (or Implementation Award) has left the venture and/or no longer meets the eligibility requirements to be a Lead Applicant and another team member would like to apply for the Boost Award for the same venture, both the previous Lead Applicant and the team member must submit a written request via email to venturelab@upenn.edu to the Innovation Fund staff at least one (1) week prior to the application due date. The proposed new Lead Applicant must meet all eligibility requirements.
2025-2026 Innovation Fund Boost Award ($5000)
Note: A venture idea must have won an Innovation Fund Build Award (or an Innovation Fund Implementation Award, prior to the 2025-2026 academic year) to be eligible to apply for a Boost Award.
The Innovation Fund Boost Award supports student entrepreneurs who have begun executing their product development plan and can demonstrate iterative improvements based on feedback. This is a very competitive award and only 1-2 recipients will be selected each application cycle.
If you are not a selected recipient, you can reapply for the award as long as you continue to meet the eligibility criteria; however, if selected, you can only receive the award once for each venture, and you cannot win any additional Innovation Fund awards (Discover, Design, or Build) for the same venture.
Please note
If the Lead Applicant on the application that was selected to win the Build Award (or Implementation Award) has left the venture and/or no longer meets the eligibility requirements to be a Lead Applicant and another team member would like to apply for the Boost Award for the same venture, both the previous Lead Applicant and the team member must submit a written request via email to venturelab@upenn.edu to the Innovation Fund staff at least one (1) week prior to the application due date. The proposed new Lead Applicant must meet all eligibility requirements.