By Jay Hodgkins 

Newswise — The i.Lab Incubator, housed at the W.L. Lyons Brown III i.Lab and operated by the University of Virginia Darden School of BusinessBatten Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, recently wrapped up its intensive, 10-week 2017 program.

More than 20 ventures, founded by students from schools across UVA as well as members of the local community, completed the program. Aside from receiving grant funding, legal support, access to mentors and UVA’s entrepreneurial network, work space and host of other resources, the founders also participated in countless workshops based on Darden’s entrepreneurship curriculum, pitch practice sessions and even field trips to visit the operations of local entrepreneurs.

Meg Greenhalgh (Class of 2018, founder of Brandefy and a participant in the 2017 incubator, described the experience in a new behind-the-scenes look at the summer program.

“The i.Lab program was invaluable to me and Brandefy because it helped us test consumer motivation. That’s one of the first things you need to test in building a business,” said Greenhalgh. “It also made me question a lot of my assumptions and, ultimately, led to a much stronger position for Brandefy.”

Read more about the progress the 22 ventures made in the incubator on the i.Lab at UVA blog.

 

About the University of Virginia Darden School of Business

The University of Virginia Darden School of Business delivers the world’s best business education experience to prepare entrepreneurial, global and responsible leaders through its MBA, Ph.D. and Executive Education programs. Darden’s top-ranked faculty is renowned for teaching excellence and advances practical business knowledge through research. Darden was established in 1955 at the University of Virginia, a top public university founded by Thomas Jefferson in 1819 in Charlottesville, Virginia.