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Isabella Bank Institute for Entrepreneurship
We empower entrepreneurial thinkers—whether you’re launching a venture, building a family business, creating social impact, or driving innovation inside an organization. Turn ideas into action.
Start your entrepreneurial journey
At Central Michigan University, the Isabella Bank Institute for Entrepreneurship is more than a program—it’s where students from every major turn ideas into real impact. As Michigan’s first Department of Entrepreneurship, we’re a hub for hands-on learning, innovation, and mentorship.
Here, you’ll:
- Build an entrepreneurial mindset that sets you apart in any career path—launching ventures, shaping social missions, advancing family businesses, or driving innovation inside established companies.
- Collaborate across disciplines to create projects that matter.
- Learn from alumni, faculty, and industry leaders who’ve built their own paths.
- Gain real-world experience through workshops, hackathons, and pitch competitions.
- Compete in the New Venture Challenge, where students win up to $10,000 in cash and grants to grow their ideas.
Whether you want to start something new or transform what already exists, the Institute is your launchpad.
Take the next step!
When you’re ready to get started, stop by Grawn 164 to join the team or visit the Idea Den in Grawn 166—your space to brainstorm, build, and take the next step.
Questions?
A first-ever online version of Central Michigan University's annual New Venture business pitch competition provided students the opportunity to continue to develop their business ideas and compete for startup funding during the pandemic.
For the online competition, 25 student teams from CMU and Michigan Technological University chose to compete in categories of two-minute pitch videos or 10-minute pitch videos with slides. Students also prepared an executive summary and financial summary for their business.
Watch the ventures pitch or review the executive summaries and financial summaries. You also can watch the awards ceremony.
Many of the student teams that competed have participated in New Venture programs including workshops over the past eight months and spent countless hours formulating and refining their ideas, value propositions and ventures.
Competitors also will be invited back to compete in the 2021 New Venture Competition even if they have graduated. In fact, a couple of the sponsors have committed to funding additional awards next year specifically for the New Venture Online Competition participants.
Here are the winning student ventures:
Two-minute pitch
- Micro Outdoors, 1st place, $5,000
- OffGrid, 2nd place, $2,500
- SoundCup, 3rd place, $1,000
- Traveling Tailgate and NLP Licensor, honorable mentions, $750
10-minute presentation
- F.O.C.U.S., 1st place, $7,500
- FreightMate, 2nd place, $3,000
- Nottawa Docks LLC and Small Business Brain, 3rd place (tie), $1,750
- SwimSmart, honorable mention, $1,000