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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The future of higher education

by Sanjay Gupta

Author David Staley and CMU President Bob Davies discuss innovation in higher education and the future of the university.

What will the universities of the future look like, and how will they serve their students?

Those are the questions Central Michigan University President Bob Davies will discuss with David Staley , author of "Alternative Universities: Speculative Design for Innovation in Higher Education," Monday, Nov. 18, in the Park Library's Sarah and Daniel Opperman Auditorium.

Staley believes American higher education suffers from a lack of creativity and imagination. He warns that universities must move quickly to embrace new models of teaching and serving students. These themes align with the message Davies shared in his recent State of the University address.

"In my first year with CMU, I asked you to embrace transformational change. We operate differently today than we did at this time last year, and we're not done changing. Not even close," Davies said.

Explore the future of higher education. Attend the Critical Engagements discussion, "The Alternative University" at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 18, in Park Library's Sarah and Daniel Opperman Auditorium.

Davies described the kind of university CMU could be in 2030 and outlined five strategic pathways the university must follow to remain relevant in the increasingly competitive higher education landscape.

"The institutions that will survive and thrive will be those that plan ahead, anticipate coming changes and respond quickly," he said.

Davies and Staley will reflect on current trends and discuss opportunities for innovation and transformation beginning at 5:30 p.m. The event is co-sponsored by the President's and Provost's Fund for Program Innovation and Excellence and the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences' Critical Engagements initiative.