The Fall 2020 cohort of the University of Iowa’s Venture School program will be held on Thursday evenings, October 1^st through November 19^th at the NIACC Pappajohn Center.

U of I Venture School is a premier statewide program for entrepreneurs and is built from a streamlined curriculum developed by the National Science Foundation I-Corps at Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley. Venture School emphasizes real-world entrepreneurship and innovation based on leading edge curriculum. This program works for startups, small businesses, non-profits, and corporate innovation teams. Your team will accelerate the startup process by testing your business model hypotheses immediately. You will get out of the building to talk to customers, partners, and competitors, rather than relying on statistics and secondhand market research.

Each team is assigned a local entrepreneur as their mentor. Participating teams will be eligible to compete for cash awards both locally and at the state level during the Venture School launch day at EntreFEST 2021. Last year’s graduates were awarded $13,000 in prize money during the 2020 EntreFEST pitch competition.

The cost for the course is $299 (for 2 team members). Contact Candi Karsjens at candi.karsjens@niacc.edu with questions or if you are a local entrepreneur interested in becoming a Venture School mentor.

To apply for the Fall 2020 cohort, visit www.venture-school.com and select the Mason City cohort in the drop down menu.