Home // Varsity Venture Studio

Check out our Fall 2021 kickoff event recording to:

Learn what has changed with Varsity Venture Studio since last year
Hear from those previously selected on what working with the Varsity team is like
Get examples of tools you'll use to test your idea with the team

Varsity Venture Studio Timeline

Aug. - Oct. 2021

Idea submissions
Priority deadline: Oct. 11

Oct. - Nov. 2021

Explore and refine ideas
10-20 total ideas selected

Dec. - Jan. 2022

Prepare for Sprint Week
Top 2-3 ideas advance

Varsity Venture Studio, a UW-Madison-wide venture studio, turns ideas into funded software businesses.

(you don’t have to be a software developer, or even know one!)

Whether you have a solution to a customer problem, research challenge, or industry inefficiency, Varsity Venture Studio can help transform big ideas into real companies.

Submitting an idea to Varsity provides a view into how venture capitalists evaluate ideas and how business models are built and tested. Varsity will assess, downselect, and refine ideas through a structured venture building process, ultimately leading to the launch of at least one funded company.

A look back at last year

We've been busy transforming ideas into viable solutions for real software businesses. Here is an overview of what happened over last fall and winter.

150+ ideas generated

Idea generation: first phase
complete

20+ ideas evaluated

Explore and select ideas:
second phase complete

4 ideas selected

Preparing for one funded company launch: in progress

There is no cost to participate, and we welcome ideas from anyone in the University of Wisconsin - Madison community.

Be on the lookout for one of several upcoming virtual idea-sharing sessions we will be hosting with different campus-based organizations, departments, and teams.

Submit Your Idea

Find out more

Have any questions? We may be able to answer them for you.

Visit FAQs

Featured News

November 9, 2020

Varsity Venture Studio announces launch

November 10, 2020

Varsity Venture Studio will help launch UW-Madison-based startups

Turning ideas into funded software businesses.

(you don’t have to be a software developer, or even know one!)

Check out our Fall 2021 kickoff event recording to:

Learn what has changed with Varsity Venture Studio since last year

Hear from those previously selected on what working with the Varsity team is like

Get examples of tools you'll use to test your idea with the team

Varsity Venture Studio Timeline

Aug. - Oct. 2021

Oct. - Nov. 2021

Dec. - Jan. 2022

Varsity Venture Studio, a UW-Madison-wide venture studio, turns ideas into funded software businesses.

(you don’t have to be a software developer, or even know one!)

There is no cost to participate, and we welcome ideas from anyone in the University of Wisconsin-Madison community.

Go ahead and submit an idea and our team will quickly assess a potential fit. We will reach out to you if we have questions, or if the idea is selected to advance.

A look back at last year

We've been busy transforming ideas into viable solutions for real software businesses. Here is an overview of what happened over last fall and winter.

150+ ideas generated

20+ ideas evaluated

4 ideas selected

There is no cost to participate, and we welcome ideas from anyone in the University of Wisconsin - Madison community.

Be on the lookout for one of several upcoming virtual idea-sharing sessions we will be hosting with different campus-based organizations, departments, and teams.

Find out more

Have any questions? We may be able to answer them for you.

Featured News

UW-Madison Campus