Innovate@BU supports students of all backgrounds and majors in making a lasting impact. If you’re passionate about innovating for a better tomorrow, these opportunities are for you. From seed grants to social programs, you’re bound to find a way to make positive change that suits you.
Looking to incorporate social entrepreneurship into your class schedule? Students enrolled in the I&E minor learn the skills necessary to bring social impact ideas to life while studying alongside likeminded entrepreneurs!
The First-Year Innovation Fellowship (FYIF) is a semester-long program designed specifically for first-year students at Boston University. Whether you have a fully formed venture idea or just a problem you care about, FYIF provides the coaching, community, and resources to help you turn passion into impact. This year, participating in FYIF gives you a Creativity, […]
Zanyah Williams, a BU School of Public Health PhD student in environmental health, has been named a 2026 Innovate@BU Enlight Fellow. The $10,000 fellowship will support a summer internship at Roca, a Chelsea, Mass. nonprofit, as Williams develops her own social venture focused on addressing environmental health hazards in jails and prisons. Read the […]
Engineering major says BU taught him the skills and provided the community he needed to launch a start-up inspired by his late mother’s illness
More than 25 million pounds of tennis strings end up in landfills and incinerators every year. A Boston University venture called LET is betting it can turn that waste stream into something the apparel industry actually wants — and the judges at one of the world's largest student startup competitions are paying attention. Last week, […]
Innovate@BU awarded $86,000 across the New Venture Competition and community awards on April 15 at George Sherman Union.
Campus spaces, programs, and contests across Boston University help students turn their big ideas into reality
The Enlight Fellowship is a 10-week summer program generously funded by the Enlight Foundation and run by Innovate@BU. Fellows split their time between a placement at a social impact organization and venture development programming, and each receives a $10,000 stipend. This year’s cohort spans graduate and undergraduate programs, with professional experience reaching from Boston to […]
The 2026 New Venture Competition has its finalists! After rounds of applications and semi-final pitches, ten ventures will compete for more than $80,000 in total prizes — with $20,000 going to the first-place winner in each of the NVC's two tracks, General and Social Impact. Second place in each track takes home $10,000, third earns […]