FEATURE

Money, Mentors, Milestones:

SpartUp Opens Doors to Innovation

By Anwyn Hurxthal

San José State University is known for its experiential learning emphasis, and the university’s first startup incubator, SpartUp, wholly embodies this ethos. “We provide the essential building blocks that entrepreneurs need to succeed,” explains Michael Ashley, launch director of the SpartUp Incubator and professor of business at San José State. “SpartUp helps founders build up the money, mentors and milestones necessary to get to launch and beyond.”

Only a year since inception, SpartUp has become a leading provider of soup-to-nuts entrepreneurial experience and hands-on opportunities for startup founders at SJSU. It has involved over 600+ students, faculty members and alumni members, mentored over 30 viable startups, won local and statewide awards (including two Top Award Winners in the California State University Sunstone Startup Competition), and offered 30 workshops, panels, experiences and events to the SJSU community. It’s fast becoming the hub of entrepreneurship at SJSU, weaving a web of new startup resources and opportunities across campus and connecting aspiring and expert entrepreneurs.

SpartUp ties into other entrepreneurial efforts at SJSU including the Silicon Valley Innovation Challenge (SVIC) and the Lucas College and Graduate School of Business, the Innovation, Design, Engineering, Art, and Science (IDEAS) club, San José Public Library Works, the SJSU King Library Maker Space and the Zinn Starter program.

“We serve as an interdisciplinary hub bridging the gap between SJSU startups, faculty researchers and the myriad resources they need to start and build enduring ventures and inventions,” says Abby Queale, director of Innovation and SpartUp lead. “SpartUp allows SJSU entrepreneurs (Spartaneurs) to explore real-world entrepreneurial experiences, positioning them to succeed as founders, principals, partners, researchers, and employees by accessing a full suite of tools, including workshops, pitch events, networking, intensive training and mentorship, as well as technical support.

“We ensure that all Spartaneurs have a safe space to share their ideas and products with collaborators, refine prototypes, and seek out funding. SJSU students often represent a diverse demographic where access to support, networks, systems and opportunities for entrepreneurship are limited.”

“SpartUp encourages entrepreneurship across disciplines at the university, not just in business and engineering,” explains SpartUp donor and Professor Emeritus John Baird. “The experience provides students with leadership and team building skills that will be applicable in all aspects of life.”

“We ensure that all Spartaneurs have a safe space to share their ideas and products with collaborators, refine prototypes, and seek out funding.”

— Abby Queale

Xavier Verdu, '23 MBA, discusses his experience with SpartUp. Video: Javier Duarte and Jonathan Meyer.

Unique programming promotes unique perspectives

Leveraging its experiential learning ethos, SpartUp set out to do something unique during the summer of 2023: pair emerging startups founders with underrepresented venture capitalists in an immersive, deep-dive training. This inaugural SpartUp Summer Intensive, carried out over three weeks in July, was designed to offer a holistic perspective on the symbiotic relationship between venture capitalists and startups.

The program equipped 14 SJSU founders from six different startups with the resources and support needed to take their businesses to the next level. Venture capital trainees (fellows) participated alongside the founders through Venture Partners, an educational organization whose mission is to diversify the decision makers in venture capital and entrepreneurship. Venture Partners provides hands-on, practical education and experience to Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC), women and individuals from rural communities, creating a pipeline of diverse fund managers, just as SpartUp is creating a more diverse generation of entrepreneurs.

“Our work to support and encourage diversity in founders is important, but if we don't also address the funding side of the table, the lack of diversity in venture capital, the ecosystem will remain lopsided,” Ashley says. “Our collaboration with Venture Partners in the SpartUp Summer Intensive Program is our unique way of changing the systems and structures to support more equitable prosperity in entrepreneurship.”

“Starting a company is not the problem,” says Jonathan Becher, SpartUp supporter and president of Sharks Sports and Entertainment. “The problem today is scaling. What I like about SpartUp is that it teaches people what the next step is — how do you generate funding? How do you actually get to the second, the 50th, the 100th customer? How do you get acquired? How do you look at a business model that's relatively unique? We have lots of people that can help you get a business started, but not many people that help you get a business scaled, and SpartUp is focused on that.”

“Starting a company is not the problem. The problem today is scaling. What I like about SpartUp is that it teaches people what the next step is.”

— Jonathan Becher

Students involved

Viable startups mentored

Workshops, panels and events offered

SpartUp innovation: full spectrum resources for entrepreneurs and inventors

Beyond the Incubator, the SpartUp program offers a suite of additional services for inventors, researchers and entrepreneurs.

Industry research alliances connect faculty, students and staff with industry partners to collaborate on applied research projects.
Technology transfer helps SJSU employees commercialize their research discoveries by providing intellectual property protection and licensing services. Six patent filings were carried out last year alone.
Additional resources and opportunities come from the Silicon Valley Small Business Development Center (SBDC), hosted by SJSU, which provides free assistance to entrepreneurs and small business owners from across the entire County of Santa Clara. Since opening in 2022, the SBDC has provided over $93 million in economic impact, 3,284 hours of free advising, helped retain 1,049 jobs, and created 44 new jobs.

Want to learn more?

Learn how you can support Spartaneurs by visiting the SpartUp webpage.

Top photo: Irene Adeline Milanez, ’25 Journalism