Project X-ITE Fuels Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Empowering Students with the Skills for Exciting Careers in Business
With the flourishing startup culture of Denver as its backdrop, Project X-ITE provided students with critical, hands-on experiences that enhanced their firsthand knowledge of the skills and concepts needed to launch a successful enterprise. We challenged students to develop their entrepreneurial passions, offering a range of programs designed to support student innovation and providing opportunities to take their ideas to fruition.
About Our Research
We leverage cross-institutional collaboration to address some of today’s most pressing challenges, producing interdisciplinary solutions that influence policymakers to effectively serve the public good. From Stanford to UChicago to NYU, we’ve refined our collaborative process through years of mutually beneficial relationships with institutions nationwide to understand and address challenges like climate change, HIV and youth homelessness.
DU’s current research efforts have been featured in news outlets like The New York Times. They include…
- exploring the effects of felony disenfranchisement.
- employing lasers as the medium for quantum science.
- using theatre to heal and rehabilitate inmates.
Project X-ITE Program Highlights
Incubator X presented students with the opportunity to not only advance their firsthand knowledge of the steps required to launch a successful venture, but also with the support to help them launch their ideas while they learn. The program, open to both undergrad and graduate students, took students through the process of launching a new business, from ideation to completing startup documents, securing funding, pitching to investors, and implementing a business plan. In past years, students created molds for 3D-printed wind turbine blades, developed new retail enterprises and built mobile apps that made it easy for users to make micro-donations to their favorite charitable causes.
The Ascent Bootcamp helped students navigate the transition from founder to manager as their enterprises took shape and the needs of the business evolved and expanded. Offering training in essential real-world business and management skills, the program provided funding for teams to hire student employees as they learned other strategies for building a successful enterprise and leading it with empathy and integrity.
Project X-ITE was a joint effort operated by the Daniels College of Business, the Sturm College of Law, the Ritchie School of Engineering and Computer Science, and the Graduate School of Social Work.
We invite other institutions to contact us to learn more about collaborating with Project X-ITE.