2nd Place at 2023 University of Chicago Alumni New Venture Challenge
Chicago, IL (May 12, 2023) – Four startups received investment at the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation’s 2023 Alumni New Venture Challenge (ANVC). The ANVC, which launched in 2019, is the alumni track of the New Venture Challenge, a top-ranked university accelerator that has been helping seed businesses for 25 years.
This year’s winners were chosen from a pool of eight finalists across four participating regions: Asia-Pacific, North America–East Coast, North America–West Coast, and North America–Midwest.
“We started this process back in January when we received 47 applications to this year’s ANVC,” said Gorana Kolar, Senior Associate Director at the Polsky Center. With the help of the alumni co-chairs, 24 teams were selected for the program. These teams then participated in regional semifinal pitches at which time the judges selected eight teams to compete in the Finals.
“It has been a pleasure to get to work with all the teams and witness their tremendous progress over the last four months. They are each building real businesses that will have great impact in their respective industries,” Kolar added. “From the Finalists, I can truly say that all eight teams had excellent pitches. They worked very hard, took feedback from the co-chairs, mentors, and judges, and turned challenges into opportunities. It was a very competitive and talented cohort and I look forward to following their successes.”
Archer Career improves career confidence and outcomes, reducing early career underemployment. Archer’s platform delivers structure, momentum, and accountability, using behavioral science and step-by-step micro-learning paths to educate and empower individuals to launch a career. “As founders and alumni of the University of Chicago, Jeremy Morse and I are incredibly excited to be one of the 4 start-ups to receive top honors. It is a testament to the community and the importance of career education for students today. We applied in the first cohort in 2019 but did not get selected. It is important as a start-up to be tenacious and keep making progress, small steps and big,” says Dr. Pam Schilling, CEO and Co-Founder of Archer Career.