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For the last month, CEI’s team has focused on shifting to virtual operations and working directly with our business clients to help them persevere in the wake of COVID-19. In that time, Phoenix’s entrepreneurial community has done an incredible job making sure local startups and small business owners have the support they need to weather these unprecedented times.
Serving Phoenix entrepreneurs and Arizona’s startup ecosystem is always CEI’s priority, but we jump on any opportunity to expand our network and support international founders who dream of entering the U.S. market. Doing so helps us stay aware of how entrepreneurs with diverse backgrounds are thinking about problems and how their home countries are using their resources to encourage innovation.
2019 has turned out to be a big year for CEI. But for us, the real heroes of this story will always be our clients. Over the last 12 months, we’ve had lots of amazing new entrepreneurs walk through our doors and many of our long-term residents have hit major milestones!
Keep reading to meet our new clients and find out about all the exciting things that are happening in the hallways of CEI.
On April 16, 2019, the Center for Entrepreneurial Innovation (CEI) was recognized as the Technology & Science Incubator of the Year by the International Business Innovation Association (InBIA) during the 33rd annual International Conference on Business Incubation in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
After a challenging week of business education, 11 Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD) students from across the Valley competed to win The Big Pitch, CEI’s student startup challenge. On Wednesday, March 20, each student pitched business ideas before an audience and judging panel that consisted of Dr. Karla Fisher, Provost of MCCCD; James Goulka, Managing Director of AZ Tech Investors; Geoffrey Ossias, a partner at Perkins Coie; and Tom Zender, local CEO Mentor & Business Coach.
It’s been an exciting year for CEI. With a host of new programs and plenty of incoming clients to keep our staff busy, it can be hard to stay on top of all the new faces that come through our doors. However, the guest we’ve had over the last two months left a lasting impression.
Starting in October, we had the pleasure of hosting FOUR international groups, with individuals whose occupations ranged from entrepreneur to investor. With so much activity week after week, we wanted to give you a glimpse at how these events went. Keep reading for photos and recaps about the time spent with our new friends!
In just four short months, many of our clients have made enormous progress, and their dedication hasn’t gone unnoticed! It seems like someone’s ringing the CEI Victory Bell almost every week, and we couldn’t be more excited to be a part of their celebration.
Keep reading to see what’s happened in CEI’s halls this season!
Keeping your investors, advisors, and partners in the loop is an important part of your job as a startup founder.When you have stakeholders scattered all across the U.S. (or the world), one of the easiest ways to do that is through regular email campaigns. But before you add this task to the bottom of your to-do list, we’ve compiled some easy tips and suggestions on design, content, and format to quickly get your latest news out to the people who are invested in the success of your company!
If there is one characteristic that’s consistent amongst all of our clients, it’s their relentless drive to build successful businesses. In fact, they’re making headlines, hitting milestones, and winning competitions so frequently that it’s even hard for us to keep up!
To make sure that their wins don’t go unrecognized, we’re launching a new, quarterly initiative to highlight their achievements. Keep reading to find a list of new clients and partners, graduating clients, and a list of everyone’s 2018 successes!
In the fall of 2017, CEI set out on an unprecedented mission: to launch one business led by students from Maricopa Community College. While we’ve had our fair share of success with incubating Arizona biomedical, technology, sustainability, and life science startups, we have always focused on supporting businesses from outside the community college district. But over the years, it’s become increasingly clear that many of the college students who are here furthering their education are doing so because they dream of eventually launching their own business.
