College New Venture Challenge (CNVC)

The College New Venture Challenge (CNVC) is the dedicated track of the Polsky Center’s nationally-ranked New Venture Challenge program. It supports University of Chicago College students who are interested in launching a startup. All teams accepted into the CNVC Phase II are eligible to enroll in the CNVC class, which is offered in the Winter quarter through Chicago Booth.

This year, the CNVC will be entering its 13^th year of launching incredible undergraduate businesses including Cubii, Sokowatch, MoneyThink, Quevos, and Fronen.

“Participating in the CNVC class gave us the mindset we needed to take our company from a small program working in 5 schools to overseeing 40 employees and working in over 20 schools. The coaching, feedback from peers, and assignments like creating a business plan helped us understand what we needed to do to be successful as a company. The money didn’t hurt either!” – Josh Aaronson, AB ’19, cofounder, Debate It Forward

“Frankly, I don’t know if I could have started podU if I hadn’t joined the CNVC. It is amazing how much we learned in the span of 10 weeks. In addition, the support I’ve received after the competition was extraordinary and exceeded all my expectations. I am proud to have been part of this program”. – Wessam Abozeid, AB ’19, cofounder, podU

“CNVC was the highlight of our college career. It taught us things about business that no classroom environment has. We came together as four friends and left as business partners — we are endlessly grateful for all the support from mentors, advisors, professors, and lifelong friends.” -Phoebe Choi, AB ’22, Helena Kim, AB ’21, Camryn Ross, AB ’21, Mary Woo, Fillow