Today, top universities are moving past lectures and pitch nights to play a more direct role in company creation. That can mean anything from providing lab space and the light-touch mentorship of an incubator all the way to running full accelerator programs that offer funding in exchange for equity. In contrast to traditional accelerators such as Y Combinator and Techstars, which sit outside the campus ecosystem, university accelerators can tap cutting-edge research, student talent, and alumni to be engines of commercialization within centers of learning.
At the University of Michigan, that effort takes the form of the Innovation Partnerships program, which functions like an incubator with industrial-grade infrastructure. The program “handles all the IP that comes out of research at UM. We protect it, we form licenses, [and] then we support and invest in startups that grow out of it,” says Dave Repp, director of ventures for the University of Michigan and managing director of the Accelerate Blue Fund; the university’s early-stage VC arm invests exclusively in startups based on University of Michigan intellectual property. The program targets students and faculty who want to commercialize their innovations and entrepreneurs who want to make use of UM intellectual property. In the university’s 2025 fiscal year, its innovators registered 673 inventions and launched 31 startups, a new record that made its commercialization success among the best in the nation.
A key differentiator of the University of Michigan’s approach, Repp notes, is its openness to international entrepreneurs. “We wanted to cast a broad net,” he says. Founders don’t need ties to Michigan itself to be chosen, and faculty or researchers don’t need to be experienced entrepreneurs. What matters is their ability to take university-born innovations and turn them into something market-ready. To facilitate that, the program pairs inventors with mentors who are experienced entrepreneurs but who, crucially, aren’t seeking equity. “They aren’t trying to get a piece of the startup for themselves, which provides a level of trust,” Repp says.
The university’s incubator-accelerator model is paying off: Intero Biosystems, founded in 2024 by two graduate students, is already lining up customers. Earlier spinouts like HistoSonics, a 2009 startup that received FDA clearance to use ultrasound technology to liquify liver tumors, have achieved multibillion-dollar exits. “We help translate research discoveries into real-world solutions,” Repp says. Founders gain companies, investors get returns, and the university shares in the upside.
Stanford’s StartX flips the model by focusing on the team, not the intellectual property. To join, at least one team member must be a Stanford student, professor, or alum, but the underlying tech can come from anywhere, and the program doesn’t limit itself by stage or industry. “We have Series B founders and first-timers,” says StartX CEO Shannon McClenaghan. “What brings everyone together is this idea of community.”
That ethos has grown into a formidable network. More than 2,700 entrepreneurs have come through StartX since its founding 16 years ago, building 1,300 companies in fields such as AI, fintech, and medicine. Alumni include the founders of three decacorns, more than 20 unicorns, and 144 other companies valued at nine figures. StartX runs three 10-week programs per year that include up to 150 classes and events. And program alumni stay connected through an active email network, regional chapters, and access to co-working and lab space in Stanford Research Park.
StartX’s student track lets founders experiment part-time while staying on course to graduate. “We want to ensure that these students have the experience of being an entrepreneur while also allowing them to continue their education,” McClenaghan explains. A nonprofit funded by partners and donations, StartX takes no equity, charges no fees, and has no financial stake in the companies it helps. That independence reinforces the organization’s mission of founders helping founders without the pressure of a return on their time and talent investments.
Dozens of school programs fall between Michigan’s IP-first model and Stanford’s founder-first community. MIT has its Martin Trust Center for Entrepreneurship, which blends coursework with advisory programs. Emory runs the Hatchery, supporting student entrepreneurs with mentorship, instruction, and makerspace access. Notre Dame’s IDEA Center offers coaching and resources for student entrepreneurs. And the University of Texas at Austin’s Technology Incubator has helped raise over $1.7 billion and notch 10 IPOs since launching in 1989. During a time when the value of degrees is attracting more skepticism than ever, each program demonstrates how universities are moving past instilling entrepreneurial spirit to becoming full-fledged players in the startup ecosystem, redefining the college experience.