#6
Most innovative university in the world
(Reuters)
105
Active UNC social ventures
(As of July 2024)
#9
In entrepreneurship education
(U.S. News & World Report)
Problems of tomorrow. Solved by the innovators of today.
The Carolina approach to innovation starts with our passion for solving hard problems. Problems like devastating diseases, environmental hazards, Economic hardship, Hunger and poverty, technological quandaries, and human inequity and injustice.
Our problem-solving tools and approach of teaching and learning the principles of innovation and entrepreneurship brings change to the world. Top-ranked entrepreneurship curricula translates into firsthand experiences working with startups and inventive organizations. Faculty research moves through the commercialization pipeline into industries.
Innovation infused
I&E programs are core parts of academic departments across campus
How do we turn academic expertise into something that's not purely academic? What does innovation in pharmaceutical sciences, public health, business, computer science, law or social work look like? And how might we bring an entrepreneurial lens to social impact or modernized medicine? Faculty and staff within many schools and departments lead innovation programs and teams focused on solving problems, creating ventures and moving ideas from the lab to real life. In Chapel Hill, innovation doesn’t just happen in one place. It’s embedded in our everyday work, in every corner of campus.
Learn entrepreneurship. While you live it.
Search by the letter “E” in the UNC-Chapel Hill course catalogue, and you’ll find many of the departments you’d expect: English, economics and education, to name a few. What you won’t find is a departmental listing for “entrepreneurship.” This isn’t an oversight or omission. It’s a strategic effort to infuse entrepreneurship into departments across campus – computer science, public health, music, education, biology, chemistry, and journalism, for example – rather than focusing on one siloed major.
And some of the most important entrepreneurial lessons for students don't happen in the classroom at all. They occur when students take advantage of the many real-world entrepreneurial experiences available through Carolina: competitions, mentors, fellowships and internships at startup companies.
We solve better by innovating together
Today's economic, social and scientific problems are too big and complex for anyone to tackle by themselves. We find better, quicker solutions when we innovate together. That means building entrepreneurial communities and connections – and converging our expertise and energy around problems that matter. At Carolina, innovative collaboration happens by building student communities that explore entrepreneurial endeavors together. Connecting startup companies with talented students who can work together to develop skills and new business opportunities. Building teams that explore the systematic factors of social and environmental issues. And by bringing faculty researchers from different academic and scientific backgrounds together to merge their shared expertise into breakthrough solutions.
1789 Student Venture Hub
How has 1789 student membership grown?
80%
of 1789 members join as individual students interested in entrepreneurship
(20% join as ventures)
1,081
Student startups and teams supported by the 1789 innovation community
(Since 2014)
$58.7M
in annual revenue earned by 1789-supported student startups and teams
(FY 2024)
$144M
In total funding raised by 1789-supported student startups and teams
(Since 2014)
Ideate. Design. Build.
Innovation means more than dreaming big. It happens when we transform our imaginations into something more tangible: physical and digital prototypes, devices and products that we can can hold, touch, see and use.
Faculty, students and industry partners work with one another to bring their ideas into physical form. Walk into our makerspaces and innovation labs, and you'll find tools and technologies in the hands of innovators who are busy building, iterating and testing.
Making their mark
The University's four makerspaces — located in Murray Hall, Carmichael Hall, the Hanes Art Center and the Kenan Science Library — are designed for the Carolina community to design and create physical objects. Newsweek and Make magazine named Carolina one of higher education’s top maker schools in the world.
61K
Visits to BeAM makerspaces since Fall 2017
75+
Courses in over 30 academic departments that integrate design and making
10K+
Unique individuals used BeAM makerspaces since Fall 2017
Hubs of social and economic impact. Where campus and community meet.
Just steps from campus in Chapel Hill, we see a downtown that is transforming into a vibrant innovation district. At its center will be an innovation hub where promising startups, innovation-oriented companies and impact-driven non-profits come to grow and converge with talented students and faculty. Beyond Chapel Hill, we're creating community-driven hubs of innovation by working with startups, small businesses, corporate remotes and entrepreneurial up-and-comers who drive local economies.
Bridge the funding gap. Build the businesses of tomorrow.
For many young companies, there's no shortage of novel thinking, energy or commitments to their causes. But too often, they run into a funding gap. Small, early funding awards only go so far, and startups lack modest capital investments necessary to perform next-level product and business development.
Carolina's investor programs inject early-stage funding and mentorship into nascent, promising UNC-affiliated companies. Guidance, expertise and financial capital helps these companies grow, drive revenue, become profitable, create jobs and boost economic prosperity in North Carolina and beyond.
Carolina investor programs kindle startups
Carolina-connected startups turn to the Carolina Angel Network (CAN) and Carolina Research Ventures (CRV) for critical early-stage funding support. CAN connects companies with a national network of 200 accredited member investors, while CRV invests in life sciences and IT-based ventures based on UNC research.
$20M+
Invested by Carolina Angel Network members in over 20 startup companies
(Since 2016)
$550M+
In funding raised by companies receiving an investment from Carolina Research Ventures
(Since 2016)
$108M
In revenue generated for startups receiving a Carolina Angel Network investment
(As of December 2021)
Innovate Carolina Impact Dashboard Data Sources: Innovate Carolina Startups Database, UNC Office of Technology Commercialization, Association of University Technology Managers; UNC startups employment data (most recent analysis, July 2022) © 2022 Innovate Carolina All Rights Reserved