Grants and Competitions
Learn more about the opportunities available through the Halloran Lab.
Venture Support at Colby College
We believe early resources are critical to the success of any venture and offer a three step grant program for funding opportunities to Colby students. Both for-profit and nonprofit ventures are invited to apply.
Up to $500
The Ideate and Explore grant is for early stage teams. It is intended to help with a preliminary exploration to find and validate an unmet need.
Up to $5,000
The Compagna-Sennett Iterate and Expand Grant, made possible through the generosity of Robert Compagna ’76 and Joan Sennett ’76 through their Compagna-Sennett Entrepreneurial Seed Fund, is intended for teams that have already identified an unmet need, qualified for the Ideate and Explore Grant and are ready to test the value proposition of their product or service.
Up to $25,000
Halloran Lab 40K venture showcase will bring together student enterprises from across campus to compete in a pitch competition. All teams have qualified for the Compagna-Sennett Iterate and Expand Grant.
What about other competitions?
Colby students have advanced their entrepreneurial journeys through participating in other competitions in Maine.
Ewemiz Insigne, Desmond Frimpong, and Peggy Jones, and their venture ScholarSheets, secured first place of a $3,000 prize, in the Maine Venture Fund’s Maine Startup Challenge business plan competition for the college tier. Read more here about the ScholarsSheets team. Watch their video submission here. The application opens in September, see this website page for more information.
Where do you begin?
Do you have an idea that might be a game changer? We invite all Colby students to join StartupTree, connect with our Halloran Lab staff members to share their concepts, get feedback from experienced entrepreneurs, and advance their entrepreneurial journeys through competitions.