Entrepreneurship & Innovation News and Updates

Colgate’s Innovation Fellows is a community of student consultants who research common issues on campus and collaborate to solve them. This program is not simply a class or a club; it pioneers meaningful change on a small scale.

Ghana has an abundance of waste, and a dearth of resources. A new course on social entrepreneurship has inspired Bob Aboh ’28 to develop and pursue a couple of ideas aimed at helping Ghana stem the tide of plastic waste.

The Hami-Down team has reflected on what has truly been one of Hami-Down’s most successful semester’s yet. The momentum across three events reaffirmed something the team already believed: sustainable student fashion is thriving.

The TIA Incubator Weekend featured two innovative student venture pitches and an inspiring talk from Nick Freud ’15.

Gate Hacks 2025 brought together students from Colgate and beyond for a fast-paced, sleep-optional weekend. Sophia Martin ’27 and Onil Carrion Herrera ’26 offer their perspectives as first-time organizer and participant respectively.

The keynote address at the Nov. 15 TIA Incubator session from Yuni Baker-Saito ’13, co-founder of Chicory, can be best summarized as be resilient, willing to learn, and never be afraid to take bold first steps.

Experienced venture capital partner Gus Coldebella ’91 shared about venture capital: “the fuel that drives innovation in the United States” and is one of the distinguishing features of the U.S.’s “entrepreneurial culture.”

E&I co-sponsored a talk by Chicago-based artist Shannon Downey, a lifelong activist who uses her passion for crafting to bridge advocacy and creativity. “A bullet came through my bedroom window while I was sleeping,” she said, “so, I stitched a gun.”

Colgate’s six-week program “Ideation to Implementation” serves as a bridge to the TIA Incubator, helping students turn their ideas into real startups through hands-on lessons, such as business modeling and customer discovery.

The October session of the TIA Incubator brought a burst of entrepreneurial energy, featuring keynote speaker Mike Ellenbogen ’86, P’26, and two exciting pitches by alumni-led Rendezvu and student-led The Sunrise Classic.