Open for New Business

The Dartmouth Innovation Center and New Venture Incubator is scheduled to open at 4 Currier Place sometime during spring term. The center joins an existing portfolio of entrepreneurial infrastructure to provide physical space and creative programming for students interested in exploring innovation at its early stages.

“We want to engage students who may just want to dip their toes in the water of entrepreneurship,” says trip davis ’90, executive director of the entrepreneurship and technology transfer office. “Whether you’re a graphic artist looking to support an existing venture or a passionate activist looking to form a new one, the innovation center is a flexible space where you can explore possibilities and find resources.”

The center boasts approximately 3,000 square feet of open, multifunctional space with an innovative, industrial feel. Drawing inspiration from student roundtable discussions and peer institution equivalents such as Harvard i-Lab and Stanford StartX, its layout features flexible configurations to accommo- date quick transformations between individual work spaces for six teams of five and slightly larger spaces for 30-to-40-person workshops, as well as a seminar room for up to 150 people. “We are trying to make this decidedly Dartmouth in how it feels, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t push the envelope and be creative,” says Jamie Coughlin, director of new ventures and incubator programs.

The center has raised more than $3 million of its $3.5 mil- lion goal, which will be used for construction, programming and seed capital. The portion reserved for its venture accelerator program will provide more than $250,000 per year to student-led initiatives. Remaining money will fund related programs, such as the new December entrepreneurship immersion program for Dartmouth students in Silicon Valley.