Venture Catalyst partners on contest to identify grad student entrepreneurs

Venture Catalyst at ASU and Foundation Capital, a leading Silicon Valley venture capital firm, are partnering on an international competition that could give entrepreneurial graduate students at Arizona State University an opportunity to gain world-class work experience and build networks with Silicon Valley venture capitalists and industrialists.

The Young Entrepreneurs program seeks to identify graduate students with technical degrees or significant experience in entrepreneurship who will work part-time for Foundation Capital. In this role, the winning applicants will be tasked with analyzing local startups and disruptive technologies that originate on campus or in the surrounding community.

To apply for the program, students should visit Foundation Capital’s Facebook page and submit their completed applications by Monday, Nov. 1, 2010. Candidates will describe the industrial and entrepreneurial experiences that qualify them to be a Young Entrepreneur along with their connections to innovative programs and departments on campus and their ability to connect their work with Foundation Capital to the surrounding community.

Foundation Capital will select 10 outstanding students from campuses around the world to become Young Entrepreneurs. ASU is one of 20 universities globally with which Foundation Capital is looking to form a deep relationship going forward.

“We’re pleased to unveil this innovative program that aims to nurture and promote aspiring entrepreneurs,” said Paul Holland, general partner, Foundation Capital. “We’ve built Foundation Capital upon the pillars of entrepreneurship and discovering disruptive technologies, and we’re excited to find and work with talented students who are certain to be the future innovators and leaders in Silicon Valley.”

“This partnership with Foundation Capital is yet another way Venture Catalyst is facilitating an entrepreneurial culture at ASU,” said Charlie Lewis, the director of Venture Catalyst. “These kinds of corporate engagements give students unmatched opportunities to develop real-world entrepreneurial skills.”

In addition to firsthand experience working with a leading venture capital firm, Young Entrepreneurs will also have the opportunity to visit Foundation Capital’s offices for learning and networking, form a strong personal relationship with a Foundation Capital partner, and give their university campus community visibility to Foundation Capital. The firm has successfully converted university-sourced ideas into leading companies in the past, including EnerNOC from Dartmouth and Atheros from Stanford graduates.

Launched this month with the help of a $1 million grant from Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer's office, Venture Catalyst offers investor connections, intellectual property consulting, educational workshops, and one-on-one mentoring opportunities with established entrepreneurs and seasoned business executives. Venture Catalyst is jointly run by ASU’s Office of Knowledge Enterprise Development and Arizona Technology Enterprises (AzTE), ASU’s technology venturing arm.