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.

2025 NVC Competition Live Stream

2025 NVC Awards Live Stream

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.

A student standing with a faculty member holding big winning checks from the New Venture Challenge 2024.

Start up

Build up your venture idea.

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A student smiling and standing in front of his venture display at the 2024 New Venture Challenge.

Family business

Explore the Alternative Entrepreneurial Pathways category at NVC.

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A close-up of the Prusa i3 MK3 printer in the entrepreneurship makerspace, the IDEA Den in Grawn Hall 166.

Product and prototype design

Create and patent your ideas.

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Innovation

Explore your ideas and build your skills.

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Human touch seals the deal for online student

by Eric Baerren

Omar Mufti chose to complete his bachelor’s degree through CMU Innovation and Online after applying to more than 100 schools because the staff was punctual, thorough, responsive and flexible.

There was one more thing. A more important thing.

“I felt like there was a touch of care,” Mufti, who lives in the country of Jordan, said. CMU Online staff made him feel like he was a person to them and not just a financial transaction.

All of that, plus they offered him credits for previous work experience.

Mufti attended college in Canada and started working. He liked the job, he said, but it just didn’t quite satisfy his passion.

“A few years later, I felt like something was missing,” he said.

Mufti started pursuing an online degree in entrepreneurship to help him grow a fantasy sports app focused on professional soccer in Saudi Arabia. The app allows people to build teams and compete for prizes.

He expects to earn his bachelor’s degree next year, but his CMU experience is already helping him grow the app.

Coursework in management and leadership helped him when he needed to build out his staff. Entrepreneur courses helped him with his business model.

He already had experience with key business concepts, but the course helped him place those in a broader business context, he said. He redefined his business model and developed tactics to solve problems.

He launched his app recently and is currently in the process of attracting users. A marketing course is helping him figure out how to do that.

Studying at CMU opened other opportunities.

During a intensive writing course, Mufti – who recently became a father – wrote a children’s book. Based on feedback from his instructor, he said he plans to launch a career as an author in the future.

He’s also looking forward to visiting CMU’s main campus in Mount Pleasant when he graduates to see the school that welcomed him by opening up multiple career paths.