Who we are
We are a nonprofit community that empowers university students to become successful startup founders through accountability, mentorship, personal development, and rapid iteration of their ideas.
Empowering do-ers to reach their full potential.
Startup Exchange is on a mission to create a universally accessible space for college students to become startup founders.
We envision a reality where students can learn how to build and grow a startup idea, regardless of what college they attend.
College is inherently a linear path. It's scary to break the path of picking a major and applying to internships like your friends.
Here's the thing. You shouldn't need to worry about that at this stage. The biggest ideas and companies started simply as side-projects or inner-child curiosities.
Before you have any conviction that an idea should become a startup, it's important to tinker with an idea, to put it in front of users, and to get feedback. SX is the place for you to do that, and to learn how to do it well.
How we started
We’re looking to redefine college entrepreneurship. While college is an exciting time to work on your craziest ideas, many students feel lost in the process of developing their ideas.
By growing a culture of making things, we’re here to change that.
Startup Exchange arose from the entrepreneurship student club at Georgia Tech, which gathered makers, builders, and creatives in the library every week to discuss their most ambitious startup ideas. Over 10 years, students from this group went on to start companies collectively valued at over $4.5B.
Through the club's extended-reality hackathon in 2023, many of the hundreds of attendees from across the nation expressed a need for a new space that prioritizes rapid iteration and attracts people genuinely passionate about pursuing their ideas.
Inspired by this feedback and similar sentiments from dozens of students across the US, our team founded Startup Exchange in Fall 2023 with the mission to cultivate entrepreneurial communities at campuses in need and support established ones. Since then, over 7,000 students from more than 40 universities nationwide have attended a Startup Exchange event.
We centralize a network of domain experts, startups, mentors, and investors that enable students to go from -1 to 1.
By bringing together organizers from universities across the country, our team understands the unique challenges that every campus faces when building a community of like-minded entrepreneurs.
We work closely with student organizations and institutions to create inclusive, close-knit communities where students can form meaningful relationships and gain the support and accountability that they need to pursue their maker journeys.
In addition to our work with universities, we actively collaborate with leading investors, startups, and corporations to bring new and exciting opportunities to the builders in our community. These partnerships range from community events and sponsorship to marketing and recruitment opportunities, further enhancing the resources and networks available to the SX community.
Our team
Carter Cote
CO-FOUNDER
Prev. HCI at Stanford, JPMorgan + 5 million users on apps
Vik Keerthipati
CO-FOUNDER
Prev. CS at Georgia Tech + Millenium, Amazon, Postera (YC W20), Antler
Cory Levy
ADVISOR
Founder of ZFellows
Rajiv Ayyanger
ADVISOR
CEO of ProductHunt
Previous partners
Trusted by leading investors, startups, corporations, and institutions.
We actively collaborate with new partners to bring new and exciting opportunities to the builders in our community. Partnerships range from community events and sponsorship to marketing and recruitment opportunities.
