Our Story

Program Overview

Fairfield StartUp is a yearly program of events designed to foster young entrepreneurial talent at Fairfield University through engagement with mentors and investors drawn from alumni and local business communities. Starting with the Kickoff in September, students are guided through a sequence of educational, networking, and mentoring events designed to help them ideate and articulate their business models, recruit teams and mentors, and attract partners and other resources needed to start their businesses.

The program culminates each year at the StartUp Showcase, where students pitch to investors for seed money for their businesses. Funding decisions are based on each startup’s ability to demonstrate the value proposition, viability, and investment potential of their prospective businesses. In addition to seed funds, investors also provide guidance in the form of pledges of assistance: If the team does X, it can redeem Y. These pledges are intended to state continued interest on the part of the panelists rather than direct investment.

The program also includes direct engagement with alumni and local investors:

  • The Silicon Valley Immersion Experience, where students meet alumni groups around the country. When possible, the course includes a spring break field trip to San Francisco with a packed itinerary. Planning for the 2023 cohort is in progress. For students seeking course credit, the trip will be embedded into the Technology Ventures course. Details will be coming out before registration in November.

  • Participation in private investor meetings with Angel Investor Forum (CT), Executive Forum Angels (NYC), and River Valley Investors (MA). These meetings are a great way to connect with potential investors, partners, and accelerator programs. Contact Dr. Huntley to get an invitation.

Mission and Scope

Fairfield StartUp is a talent incubator for Fairfield University students:

  • Identifies and promotes entrepreneurial talent

  • Develops critical skills needed for success

  • Connects students with mentors and others who can help them

  • Provides a stage for them to engage a wider audience

What it's not: a business incubator, accelerator, or fund.


The program is guided by two primary objectives:

  • Showcase entrepreneurial talent and programs in and around the Fairfield University community

  • Engage alumni, local businesses, and investors to develop and promote student entrepreneurial talent


In the pursuit of its mission the program also …

  • Complements and promotes Fairfield Dolan's Entrepreneurship courses

  • Provides channels for Fairfield University to get, keep, and grow relationships (lifetime value) with exceptional alumni and parents

  • Raises funds for clubs, speaker events, field trips, and other relevant activities for students and faculty


The program is an explicitly extracurricular educational program open to any and all Fairfield University students, regardless of major or class year. It does not reside in any academic department, though oversight has always been from the dean's office at Fairfield Dolan. This provides it a measure of autonomy that is attractive to entrepreneurially-minded students and alumni. Though sometimes it can appear it be in competition with degree programs offered by Fairfield Dolan, the reality is that each program complements the other.

Business Model

Fairfield StartUp operates as a talent incubator and showcase for budding student entrepreneurs, providing them with one-on-one coaching, mentoring and advising. The benefits are two sided:

  • Students gain access to coaching and seed funds for product/customer development, legal matters, investor relations, personal professional development, etc.

  • Partners (alumni, investor groups, etc.) gain early access to talent right here on campus, in one place and with plenty of places to join in the fun.

The program remains sustainable with generous financial support of donors/sponsors and the efforts of numerous alumni, staff, and local business people. It has never sustained a loss, providing a source of funds for entrepreneurial activities on and off campus.