We are blown away. Because of your support to the Spark campaign and the generosity of other Startup UCLA donors, we were able to reach our goal of funding all 9 Summer Accelerator teams this year! We are so grateful for your energy, drive, and commitment to entrepreneurship at UCLA. The ventures that grow and take off during the Summer Accelerator are life-changing for our students and alumni.

Thank you for making this possible. 

Amazing! 

Because of your generosity, we have almost reached our campaign goal of $35,000! With only ONE DAY left to give before the campaign closes, we are in the final stretch to fund all of this year's Summer Accelerator teams.

You can help us get there by continuing to share our campaign link: spark.ucla.edu/startup2020 and adding your story about why entrepreneurship matters to you. 

Thank you for your supporting our talented young entrepreneurs!

Thank for supporting our young entrepreneurs! We are thrilled to have met our challenge goal of 50 donors and unlock the $5,000 match! We have just over a week to make it to our goal of funding all nine of the 2020 Summer Accelerator teams. If you haven't already, spread the word about our teams and by sharing the link spark.ucla.edu/startup2020 on your social media accounts today.

Keep reading to learn more about one of our amazing teams, Offbeat Advising, below!

Second-year students Anu Shivakumar and Emily Noronha are building Offbeat Advising, a service that connects college students to high schoolers looking for advice on the college application and decision processes. 

In March, Anu and Emily found that their high school friends were unable to visit universities or speak to current students to make informed college decisions due to the pandemic. Having recently gone through this process, they realized how important it was to access this information. To them, the pandemic illuminated a greater problem: many students do not have the same access to resources that provide relevant information about college. To fill the accessibility gap regarding information about college, they started Offbeat Advising. Anu and Emily advise aspiring entrepreneurs that they can definitely “just do” something!

Last week, Kwanza Jones, investor and CEO of SUPERCHARGED, shared valuable advice about persistence and service as part of the Startup UCLA summer lecture series. It was a well-timed message for this year's accelerator teams as they perfect their pitches and refine business plans in anticipation of Demo Day.

We are about halfway through our giving campaign, and, thanks to you, over 55% toward our goal of providing seed funding to all nine teams! With only 16 days left to give, don’t hesitate to share our success and the new challenge gift of $5,000 that will be unlocked when we reach 50 participants at http://spark.ucla.edu/startup2020. Every gift, no matter the size, makes a significant impact and will help fund one of this years teams. 

Thank you for energizing this years Summer Accelerator teams with your support. In addition to your generosity, the teams have benefitted from the advice and insights of mentors. This week Kristin Johnston, Senior Vice President of Blackstone, spoke at a Female Founder Session. She provided inspiration and advised the female entrepreneurs to be curious, to keep what works and to not be afraid to leave behind what doesn't. 

You have helped make these unique mentorship opportunities possible with your support. We are just a couple of weeks into our giving campaign and every gift is making a difference toward our goal of providing seed funding to this years nine teams. Thank you for sharing our crowdfunding site with others spark.ucla.edu/startup2020 and letting them know that every gift makes a difference.

Thanks to your generous support, we are already at 50% of our goal to provide seed funding for all nine 2020 Summer Accelerator teams. Let's keep this incredible momentum going! Now is the time to share with your network the giving campaign link spark.ucla.edu/startup2020 and how a gift on or before September 10 will give the next generation of entrepreneurs the tools they need to innovate, create, and change the world.