Academy for Entrepreneurial Leadership | Illinois

Startup Illinois
May 19, 2011
Photo credit: Caitlin Riederer, AEL intern

Startup Illinois is a fundraising event to support entrepreneurship in Illinois. The event showcased 10 startups, and honored keynote speaker, Brad Keywell, for his entrepreneurial leadership in Illinois.

Fast Trac Class: Seizing the Market for Entrepreneurs
April 1, 2011
Photo credit: Caitlin Riederer, AEL intern

Ron Watkins, the Associate Director of Illinois Business Consulting, facilitated "Seizing the Market for entrepreneurs" for students who enrolled in the FastTrac class. 

Illinois Launch Winter Bootcamp
January 10-12, 2011
Photo credit: Caitlin Riederer, AEL intern

Illinois Launch Winter Entrepreneurs Bootcamp (WEB) took student entrepreneurs from Champaign-Urbana to Chicago to network with prominent venture capitalists, serial entrepreneurs and industry leaders.

Illinois Launch Documentary Video
Fall 2010
Produced by Melissa Chua, a student entrepreneur and AEL intern

Check out the Illinois Launch Documentary video!

Illinois Launch Startup Presentations
November 16, 2010
Photo credit: Caitlin Riederer, AEL intern

Dr. Paul Magelli, who taught ENG 360 in Fall semester 2010, invited Illinois Launch startup companies to present their businesses during class.

Lecture on VC Law
November 5, 2010
Photo credit: Caitlin Riederer, AEL intern

Matthew Schweighart, Associate Attorney at the law firm of Erwin, Martinkus, & Cole, Ltd. in Champaign, spoke to Illinois Launch students.

Top Chef Dave Martin Meets Illinois Launch Students
November 3, 2010
Photo credit: Caitlin Riederer, AEL intern

AEL hosted an informal discussion for Illinois Launch students to meet Chef Dave Martin from Bravo's Top Chef Series.

Steve Kaplan University Tour
September 21, 2010
Photo credit: Steve Kaplan.com

Steve Kaplan, a successful entrepreneur, business advisor, and the author of New York Times Bestselling books, visited the University of Illinois and spoke to local businesses and students.

Illinois Launch Demo Day
August 13, 2010

Illinois Launch 2010 Summer Startup Development Program student participants demonstrated the fruits of their labor on Demo Day, when they presented their pitches and received constructive criticism and final words of advice before potentially presenting to investors.

Illinois Launch Final Ceremony
July 30, 2010

Illinois Launch 2010 Summer Startup Development Program student participants received the certificate of completion during the final ceremony, as well as practiced their final pitch before Demo Day.

Guest Speakers and Venture Pitches
June 29, 2010

Illinois Launch student participants had the opportunity to meet and pitch their business ideas to Motorola Ventures and Magellan Consultancy Services.

Summer Startup Development Progam Kick-off
June 1-4, 2010

The Summer Startup Development Program, a new program formed by the Illinois Launch partners to strengthen the pipeline, begins Summer 2010.