Entrepreneurship & Innovation News and Updates

Last Saturday, the TIA Incubator held its kickoff session, with a large assemblage of entrepreneurs and mentors ready to begin the program’s 16th year. Mentors echoed two thoughts after the weekend: well engaged teams and palpable excitement.

For the predecessors and successors of Cha’Gate—the only bubble tea option at Colgate—the onboarding process during the transition has required patience, passion, and extended communication.

What began as a typical student journey in TIA quickly evolved into a multi-year talent pipeline to Ozeki Technologies. “For the students, Ozeki [provides] … exposure they would not get in a larger company,” said Ozeki CEO Ken Carter ’92.

From virtual reality art to a deep dive into social entrepreneurship, the Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation is kicking off the fall 2025 semester with a dynamic and diverse lineup of events.

Ankita Suri’s ’25 senior thesis draft was due in one month. After facing setbacks, media doom scrolling led to an unlikely breakthrough: “I was so focused on telling everyone else’s stories that I realized that I had no choice but to tell my own.”

For Vitalize’s Talia Broder ’28, the biggest insight from the field work portion of the Accelerator was the importance of reaching out to specialists. “For me, this was especially valuable in understanding sea freight and fulfillment processes.”

Jahanvi Chamria ’28 and Diya Badola ’25 developed a prototype to fully automate vanilla farming.

Five Colgate student and alumni ventures — from AI to agriculture to the arts — took big steps forward in this year’s TIA Summer Accelerator, proving that with the right mentorship and structure, bold ideas can grow fast.

The importance of mental health isn’t widely known or recognized in India. But Projects for Peace recipient Harshitha Talasila ’26 is currently working with a Young Indians Chapter in Amaravati, India to change that.

For Hunter Macy ’22, having a vision and product wasn't enough; the TIA Summer Accelerator helped him realize that even though he knew there was a problem in the market, he didn’t understand the business well enough to solve it.