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With help from a generous donor, UNC-Chapel Hill alumnus and successful entrepreneur Jonathan Robertson, Innovate Carolina provides funding awards to Carolina students who secure unpaid or low-paid summer internships with established local startups and social ventures. Carolina Startup Connect funding provides critical support to both students and startups:
- Provides students with valuable funded experiential and entrepreneurial learning experiences during the summer.
- Helps startup companies recruit and maintain successful intern teams as the ventures grow.
- Bridges the talent funding gap between early-stage and investor-ready startups.
How It Works: Carolina Startup Connect Internship Funding
Applications for Summer 2024 are now open. Decisions will be made by April 30.
Students are encouraged to attend the Startup Connect Meet and Greet events to explore opportunities, but startup internships can also be found in other ways. Check out the 1789 Hub internship board. If you are a student who is selected by a startup company for an unpaid or low-paid position, complete the Startup Connect Funding application with your supervisor to apply for supplemental funding. After students complete their application form, their supervisors will receive an email with a link prompting them to complete their portion of the application. Funding is available for summer internships only.
Student Requirements and Expectations
Funding is limited, and the program is competitive. Students are encouraged to apply for multiple sources to supplement their summer experiences, if necessary. Check out the Innovate Carolina funding page.
- Undergraduate and graduate students are welcome to apply.
- Students graduating in May cannot apply for the student award.
- All students who receive funding are expected to participate virtual group sessions hosted by Innovate Carolina, plus at least one post-summer event with the program donor.
Student Application Process
Students are responsible for identifying and applying for their own summer internships with startup companies. They are encouraged to attend the Startup Connect Meet and Greet events to explore opportunities, but startup internships can also be found in other ways. Check out the 1789 Hub internship board.
- Once hired, student interns complete the student application form for Carolina Startup Connect funding.
- Students then ask their supervising managers to complete the supervisor form for Carolina Startup funding.
- Innovate Carolina reviews student and company applications and makes funding decisions by the end of March.
Innovate Carolina disperses internship funding awards directly to selected students. Award amounts vary by student and are based on the total hours worked. Typical startup internships that are 15 hours per week for 12 weeks are awarded around $2,800 (awards can be scaled up based on increased hours). Startup companies must define workloads that match estimated hours in the application.
During past summers as part of the program, student interns have participated in several sessions that enrich the internship experience. These include an introductory kickoff session with the Innovate Carolina team, check-in sessions where interns can discuss obstacles they’re experiencing and get tips experts from entrepreneurial coaches, and career development workshops that help students reflect on their areas of professional passion and excellence.
Startup Requirements and Expectations
Innovate Carolina helps startups promote internship opportunities to students. Funding is limited, and not all startups who apply will have interns who receive funding support. Check out the 1789 hub internship/job board.
Eligible startups may include early-stage commercial companies, social ventures and nonprofits who have not generated revenue or venture capital funding in excess of $100,000. This includes funding from both institutional and non-institutional sources (contests, grants, friends and family, bank loans, etc.).
The startup must:
- Vet and hire their summer student interns. Typical startup internships that are 15 hours per week for 12 weeks are awarded around $2,800 (awards can be scaled up based on increased hours).
- Define workloads that match estimated hours in the application. Companies are encouraged to provide some pay to student interns when possible.
- Provide interns roles that offer structured and focused intern learning experiences.
All companies whose interns receive funding are expected to participate in virtual sessions hosted by Innovate Carolina.
Startup Application Process
- Student interns will send their supervisors part two of the Startup Connect funding application.
- Supervisors provide detailed information such as the internship learning objectives and a compelling need for financial support.
- Preference may be given to startups located in the local Research Triangle region and those which have participated in previous Carolina Startup Connect events.
Special Financial Note
Your financial support is a training grant award and paid through your student account. If you are a financial aid recipient and enrolled in courses when you receive the award, this counts as a resource toward your financial need and is factored into your aid package. All awards will show on your Student Center account in Connect Carolina. If your Connect Carolina account shows a balance when the award is processed (because you owe money for tuition or fees), the award will be applied to that deficit and in most cases, reduce your loan deficit. If/when financial aid is processed or you make a payment and your account shows no balance or an excess of funds, that excess will be sent to you. If your aid has already been awarded, the Office of Scholarships and Student Aid will send a revised award letter. We recommend you consult with the Office of Financial Aid and a tax advisor before accepting to understand any potential implications of receiving these funds.
Internship Impact
In summer 2022, Innovate Carolina’s Carolina Startup Connect Program provided 10 student interns with stipends totaling $31,400, allowing them to complete 2,000 hours of work at five companies in Chapel Hill and Raleigh. In summer 2021, the program granted internship awards totaling $12,000, supporting nine students who worked at three Launch Chapel Hill startup companies. One of the student interns from 2021 is now chief technology officer of the company.
Startup summer
A group of enterprising UNC students took on entrepreneurial summer adventures with Innovate Carolina. While some worked as interns at UNC-based startups supported by 1789’s Dreamers-Who-Do program, others built companies of their own at the Launch Chapel Hill summer accelerator. What common threads did they find on their new professional pathways to venture creation and growth?
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