NC State Innovation and Entrepreneurship has developed an incubator program to support early-stage startups. Students will work throughout the semester to further their concepts through fundamental practices, such as doing customer discovery, exploring business modeling and thinking through commercialization strategy. The program is the perfect place to bounce ideas off one another and hold one another accountable for tangible next steps for your new venture.

NC State student entrepreneurs are eligible for microfunding ranging from roughly $200 to $800 per student (up to $1,000 per team), depending on your venture and its needs.

Sessions will alternate between guest speakers and collaborative grind sessions. The speakers will cover pain points of the startup process, while the grind sessions will provide you and your fellow founders opportunities to creatively work through your biggest hurdles. Think of it like a mini hackathon all for your own personal growth.

Participants will also receive mentorship and other forms of support. Every other week’s session will kick off with founder updates, including what’s working, roadblocks and goals for the week.

For more information about Launchpad and to apply, visit the Launchpad webpage.

Here is the 2026 LaunchPad schedule:

• Aug. 27: Intro, expectations and setting goals
• Sept. 3 and 24 and Oct. 8 and 29: Speaker sessions
• Sept. 10, Oct. 1 and 22 and Nov. 6: Collaborative grind sessions