TVL Students

Launch a Startup

Current UT Austin graduate students can apply for our Investment Competition. You’re eligible to win cash for your startup idea plus receive invaluable feedback from a panel of experts and investors! See more information below in the Investment Competition section. 

Not ready to compete? Try out New Venture Creation, a class where you work on your business plan and investor pitch.

Join a Startup

If you want to gain real-world experience working for startups, apply for the TVL Practicum class. In that environment, you get course credit for working for Austin-area startups.

Missed the deadline to apply this semester? Contact us to receive advance notice for next semester or attend Venture Expo to meet the startups from this semester.

Investment Competition

The Texas Venture Labs Investment Competition (TVLIC) is designed to mimic the real-world process of raising venture capital. Graduate students from the University of Texas at Austin present their ideas for new businesses and receive invaluable feedback from entrepreneurs and investors. Many TVLIC competitors go on to launch their businesses. Successful competitors have included uShip, Ordoro and Qcue among others.

TVLIC gives away more than $58,000 a year in prizes during its fall and spring competitions. The competition is open to any UT Austin graduate student. For questions, please see the  Rules and FAQs or contact us at infoTVL@mccombs.utexas.edu. 

The 2019 Spring TVLIC was held on Friday, May 10 in Rowling Hall on the University of Texas at Austin campus. Semifinals and Nemec Elevator Challenge will run from 9 AM until 12 PM. Top teams from Semifinals will compete in the Finals from 2 PM until 5 PM. Awards Ceremony will follow.  Click here for the Semifinals schedule with venture descriptions.

The 2019 Fall TVLIC will be held in December 2019.

TVL Practicum Course

The Texas Venture Labs connects local startup companies with talented and entrepreneurial graduate students at the University of Texas. 

The TVL Practicum offers students the chance to participate in semester-long consulting projects solving important problems alongside the company’s founders. If admitted to the program, students will work closely with two startup companies on: market validation, competitive analysis, financial analysis, and business model assessment. Practicum students also receive extensive funding guidance from professors and entrepreneurs.

Applications for the Texas Venture Labs Practicum Fall 2019 are closed.  UT Austin graduate students with a taste for entrepreneurship can apply for Spring 2020. Questions?  Contact us at infoTVL@mccombs.utexas.edu.