Concept by Velocity was launched on Sept. 10, 2019 with the idea of addressing student entrepreneurship on campus.
Designed as a “pre-incubator” program to support UW students in an entrepreneurial and competitive world, their main focus is to turn students into innovators and prepare them for entry to top-ranked incubators.
“Concept is specific to the needs of students who are working on the project on the side as they’re working towards finishing their degree, so any early-stage ideas, any exploratory entrepreneurial related activities that students want to engage with, we’re happy to provide that for them,” Camelia Nunez, the Director of Concept, said.
Velocity being the incubator, Concept’s mandate is focused on startups, taking into account the needs of students on campus.
Students who have an idea can meet an established network of coaches on campus who can have private sessions to discuss ideas with them and guide them through the commercial process.
“I think universities don’t really teach entrepreneurship and it’s really important in the real world to develop these skills and get inspired by other people” Rida Siddiqui, a master’s student at the university, said.
Especially for students who are in very early stages and are looking for ideas, Concept offers a variety of different events on campus for them to meet other like-minded students to talk about their ideas and share experiences.
Concept also has a partnership with the Faculty of Science to help students with science-based ideas.
“We support them through business coaching, and the Faculty of Science supports them with technical support,” Nunez said.
“I’m really excited to have launched this new concept on campus and I think it’ll be a much better and more engaging way to work with students and help them for the entrepreneurial world out there.”
Concept is located on the second floor of the South Campus Hall at UW.
