Software is the most agile and fastest-growing sector in the economy and has been critical to economic recovery during the COVID pandemic. In 2022, Forbes reported that software is the “the last remaining source of dynamism in a global economy.” The software ecosystem is fast and competitive, characterized by rapid product development to meet limited windows of market opportunity. As such, the Singhal Family Entrepreneurship Awards will help launch student-run software ventures at the Johns Hopkins University, providing teams with the resources to fast-launch and translate innovative concepts into viable products.

We are soliciting applications for two types of awards:

To be eligible, the applicant team must include a full-time student (undergraduate or graduate) enrolled at Johns Hopkins; the full-time student must be an equal-partner co-founder in the venture. Finalists may be invited to an interview to present their idea/project and answer any questions panel members may have.

All awardee teams will be paired with a software mentor to assist in software development best practices, including tooling, testing, integration, cloud computing, and open-source software; this is in addition to the business, marketing, and financial mentorship available through the Pava Marie LaPere Center for Entrepreneurship.

The Singhal Family Entrepreneurship Award

This award will provide up to two established software teams with well-developed product ideas to build their venture via the Pava Center’s upper-level Innovation and Entrepreneurship Challenge. Teams will be expected to work over the coming year to make their venture investor- and market-ready. Teams will have access to mentoring, investor and advisor networks, and peer/cohort ventures.

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The Singhal Family Seed Award

This award will support a student venture each semester in the Pava Center’s Fuel cohort to validate and develop ideas into products. Successful completion will prepare teams to scale up with the expectation that they will use the funds to develop product and business plans, evaluate and develop markets, identify customers, and grow their team.

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Past Awardees