EIA Ventures · after the summer course
Most student startups die between the pitch and the first invoice.
EIA Ventures sets a date for your first paying customer. Ten Saturdays with a venture investor, then EIA invests.
The selling system
Every Saturday starts the same way. Two minutes per team: what you promised, what you shipped, your revenue. Everyone sees everyone's row.
Session. Commit to three outcomes, out loud.
Tap a day · Ten hours per founder a week. One and a half in the session.
Monthly revenue in dollars, sessions 1 to 10. Checked against bank records at sessions 4, 7 and 9.
| Session | Headline | Target | Floor |
|---|---|---|---|
| S1 | baseline | baseline | baseline |
| S2 | offer and payment link live | offer live | offer drafted |
| S3 | $250 | first paying customer | offer live |
| S4 · verification check | $750 | $250 | first customer or pilot in negotiation |
| S5 | $1,500 | $500 | $250 |
| S6 | $3,000 | $1,000 | $500 |
| S7 · verification check | $4,500 | $1,500 | $750 |
| S8 | $6,500 | $2,500 | $1,000 |
| S9 · verification check | $10,000 | $3,250 | $1,250 |
| S10 | $12,000 | $4,000 | $1,500 |
Each team picks its level in week two. A number nobody can evidence counts as zero.
Pick your business model. The bars show what a month needs.
Price: about $500 a month per site
AI does the lists, research, drafts and follow-ups. A founder takes every call.
advised for every team
Feeds: Research, offer and message drafts, objection role-play, funnel analysis, deck and memo drafts, prototypes
People give students fifteen minutes they'd never give a vendor. Write from your university address, say what you're building and ask for advice.
I am a [degree] student at [university] and part of the European Innovation Academy's venture program. We are building [product] to [good cause]. Could I ask you for 15 minutes of advice on [specific question]?
The first message, from Session 1.
Prof Maher HakimSession leadPartner at 212 VCLeads all ten sessions, the hot seats and the checkpoint scoring.
Dr Alar KolkProgram directorEIA PresidentChairs the Final Review and decides investments on fixed, published criteria.
Diogo ForteGeneral Partner, EIA VenturesEIA CEOLeads EIA's programs and partnerships, and EIA Ventures as its general partner.Money and terms
EIA invests $10,000 to $20,000 in up to six teams per cohort. Nothing is paid until you've earned it.
EIA VENTURES · INVESTMENT TERMS
Identical for every team. Never negotiated case by case.
Slide EIA's investment. An outside investor matches it 1:1 at the same $500,000 cap.
You raise $30,000 and keep 94%.
Post-money SAFE at a $500,000 cap, before any later rounds.
The rule
EIA invests in a student startup only if an outside investor has decided to invest in it as well.
Where the money goes if it ever comes back
All of it goes to scholarships for students from the founders' own universities. EIA keeps none.
| Criterion | Y Combinator | Antler | EIA Ventures |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who | Early companies, any background | Individuals from day zero | Students who stay in university |
| Money | $500,000 on acceptance | Pre-seed for equity | $10,000 to $20,000 with a 1:1 outside co-investor |
| Purpose | Venture returns | Venture returns | Education outcomes. 100% of returns fund students |
| Format | 3 months, in person | Intensive residency | 10 Saturdays, online, part-time |
Meet teams from week five of every cohort.
A short note to the program director.
Why apply
No fee. No equity for the program. Your IP stays yours, and you stay in university.
The four things Demo Day judges look for. Be honest.
Start with the summer course. You'll find a team and a customer there.
Cohorts and scoreboard
Teams get in one way: an investment award at an EIA Demo Day. Every cohort reports on one shared scoreboard.
19 September to 21 November 20267 venturesFinal Review 21 Novembercondition deadline 15 DecemberIn progress
Scoreboard · Fall 2026
First check 10 October
Verified monthly revenue, cohort total
First check 10 October
Paying customers
not yet reported
Customer conversations
not yet reported
Investor meetings
Cohort targets: every team at $1,500 or more by 21 November, at least half at $4,000, at least two at $10,000. $30,000 combined. At least three co-investments closed by 15 December. Results are published here after 15 December, including misses.
Atlas
A stargazing web app and stargazing tours
SEIVA
Wildfire detection hardware and software
Solvo
AI maths practice and auto-marking for elementary teachers
VIZION
An app that turns sign language into speech and speech into text
Animetryx
Camera-based horse and stable health monitoring
Lusa
Sustainable surf fins from recycled carbon fibre
Names, universities and revenue appear once founders agree.
6 March to 8 May 2027second intakeUpcoming
Starts Saturday 6 March 2027
Same ten Saturdays, same terms, same conditions. Leave your email for the start date and the Final Review invite.
Pick a theme to see who pays first.
AI tools for one profession
Remove a weekly chore for teachers, clinic staff, accountants, tradespeople or small law offices.
Who pays first: $50 to $500 a month per seat or office.
Fall 2026 Final Review: online, Saturday 21 November 2026. Seven pitches, verified revenue on every final slide.
Attend the Final ReviewYour way in
The door is Demo Day of the EIA summer course. Top teams win a conditional investment award there.
I'm a student founder
Fifteen days in Lisbon, Rome or London. You build a team, sell to real customers and pitch at Demo Day.
In a course that could bring a cohort? Send this page to your professor.
I teach or run a program
Bring a cohort to the summer course. Your best teams continue in EIA Ventures while they finish their degrees.
Named ventures
Listed here with verified revenue, once founders agree.
A yearly outcomes report
Verified numbers for every cohort, failures included.
Scholarships for your students
Any return from your students' ventures funds the next ones.
| Role | What it involves | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Mentor | Office hours with one or two teams | About 1 hour per team every two weeks |
| Reviewer | Score checkpoints and sit on the Final Review panel | About 6 hours per cohort |
| Guest | Show one tool in a Saturday session | Ten minutes |
| Co-investor | Invest personally, disclosed under EIA policy | Your call |
Co-organised with UC Berkeley · 13 years · 350 faculty experts
No. Entry is only through an investment award at the Demo Day of an EIA course. A team that wants the program but not the investment can join on a program-only basis, with the same sessions and the same graduation.
No. The program is designed for 10 hours a week around full-time study. Exam weeks are mapped in the first session. EIA's position is that founders stay in university.
You can join and sell alone. Raising is harder alone, and the program treats team formation as content: a CEO founder is named in week one, equity and roles are agreed by week three, and the ten weeks work as a trial. Half of student founders start alone.
Nothing. There is no fee and no equity for the program. Equity changes hands only if EIA invests, on the published SAFE terms.
You and your company. EIA takes no IP. You check university, employer and grant claims before incorporation, with coaching.
The offer lapses with no penalty and no debt. Everything built in the program stays with you.
One written definition for every team, exports checked three times, unevidenced revenue counts as zero, and misreporting ends participation.
Later than you think, and where your first investor and contract customers can work with you. EIA coaches the decision in sessions 1, 3, 6 and 9 and in office hours. EIA does not choose for you and does not pay formation costs.
Yes, with your agreement and the founders' consent. Partner universities are named in the yearly outcomes report. EIA is working toward recognition agreements with ten universities by 2030.
Your door into the next cohort opens at Summer 2027.
Lisbon · Rome · London · Summer 2027 · Co-organised with UC Berkeley
