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Build up your venture idea.
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Isabella Bank Institute for Entrepreneurship
We are a dedicated institute for student entrepreneurs across campus and beyond. We aim to maximize your success by fostering your entrepreneurial mindset, promote inter-disciplinary collaboration and provide support for the creation and development of your new ventures. Jumpstart your ideas and get involved today!
Tune in for excitement!
Passion. Potential. Pitches. Don't miss any of the 2025 New Venture Challenge excitement.
Tune in Friday, April 11 at 1 p.m. for great ideas and fierce competition. Then, join the judges, mentors, spectators and teams as they see who is going home with thousands of dollars in venture financing. The awards broadcast begins at 6:30 p.m. and one team will walk away as the overall best venture.
Start your entrepreneurial journey
Central Michigan University’s College of Business Administration is the home of the Isabella Bank Institute for Entrepreneurship and the first Department of Entrepreneurship in the state of Michigan. We are a student-centric hub where experiential, curricular, and external entrepreneurial opportunities intersect.
Our mission is to maximize student success by fostering a campus-wide entrepreneurial mindset that promotes inter-disciplinary collaboration and the creation of new ventures.
We aim to create innovative programming, boost cross-campus and ecosystem collaboration and provide a comprehensive mentoring program.
Our institute provides extracurricular opportunities and is open to all undergraduate and graduate CMU students.
Student opportunities
- Meet experienced alumni, faculty, entrepreneurs, investors, and other business and political leaders.
- Learn practical skills, innovative thinking, and connect with mentors and entrepreneurial resources.
- Attend skill-building workshops and compete in pitch competitions and Hackathons.
- Take part in special scholarship programs and travel experiences.
- Pitch your venture at our signature New Venture Challenge event and compete for up to $20,000 in cash awards.
Find your path
Are you interested in becoming an entrepreneur?
Every journey is unique. Explore the opportunities that interest you.
Animators showcased at international multi-sensory art exhibition
by
Teagan Haynes
What do Sixteen Candles, Toast, and Vibrating have in common? They were all art pieces that were recently exhibited by CMU animators at the Museum of Texas Tech University. Steve Leeper, founding professor of animation at CMU, and recent CMU alumna Lindsay Robertson were selected, with 30 other international animators, to present three projects for the “Animation as Art: A Multisensory Experience” exhibit at the Museum of Texas Tech University (TTU).
Vibrating is a three-minute-long piece created by Lindsay Robertson. Robertson uses this piece to convey the “terrible joys of being vulnerable with another human”, which is shown through fabric, bright colors, drawn images and tied all together with her own melancholic cover of Robyn Hitchcock’s song “Vibrating.” Robertson says that the calm audio paired with the chaotic imagery explores the unnatural feeling of removing walls.
Leeper’s piece Toast shares his exploration into laser cut animation, where he imprinted drawings from animation software onto cocktail crackers using a laser cutter. The piece shows people at a potluck where the fluidness of animation is depicted by people passing food and eating a meal together.
Leeper’s final piece, Sixteen Candles, is a nod to the 1984 romance/comedy film with the same name. It is a zoetrope, which is a pre-film/animation toy that has slots that act like a shutter when it spins, connecting images inside it to mimic animation. The piece shows five iconic moments from the film. The original inspiration for Sixteen Candles was to present a challenge and get students involved in the animation project.
Both Leeper and Robertson appreciate having the opportunity to present their pieces at Texas Tech University, and they hope to be able to bring more people into animation with their future projects.
Signature Programs
Isabella Bank Institute for Entrepreneurship
Explore special opportunities to learn new skills and travel the world.
Compete & Win
New Venture Challenge 2025
Present your venture and win BIG at the New Venture Challenge.
Build your skills
Workshops and events
Boost your entrepreneurial skills through our workshops, mentor meetups and pitch competitions.
Develop your ideas
IDEA Den
Learn about the entrepreneurship makerspace on campus in Grawn Hall.
Ready, Set, Pitch!
Make-A-Pitch 2024
Present a 2-minute pitch at the Make-A-Pitch Competition and you could win prizes and bragging rights!
Meet Mentors
Mentorship and support
Connect with mentors and faculty who are here to support the next generation of CMU entrepreneurs.
Support students
Make an impact
Are you a CMU alum looking to support CMU student entrepreneurs? Learn how you can support or donate to the Entrepreneurship Institute.
View our programming newsletter
Alumni give back to students through mentorship, real-world experiences
The Wakeling Gendron Entrepreneurial Scholars program wrapped its first cohort this academic year.
Students compete to win cash prizes at the New Venture Challenge
Pitched 40 ventures at NMV Challenge, Friday, April 19, CMU. Judges awarded $100,000 in cash prizes.
Wakeling Gendron Scholars make a life-changing trip to Texas
Wakeling and Gendron Scholars attended SXSW in Texas, meeting industry leaders and gaining entrepreneurial insights.
Business barriers lead CMU students to a new venture
Justin Ashman and Philip Mundt won Central Michigan University's New Venture Competition with their 3-D printing operation, Form Further.
