The TVL Accelerator provides an opportunity for startups to take their ventures to the next level with the unique benefit of leveraging UT Austin resources and talent. JBTVL also provides a venue for investors to engage with UT research and startups. The TVL Accelerator matches early-stage Texas-based startups with cross-functional student teams from across UT’s graduate schools to help solve business problems.

The TVL Accelerator is a zero-cost, zero-equity program that collaborates with Texas startups who want to work with graduate student consultants for up to 200 hours of high-impact business consulting over a 14-week semester. We accept applications from pre-revenue and post-revenue companies who have a working prototype or product, can clearly define two to three projects for students, and are ready to engage with the student team.

We welcome startups from all industries! In addition to our MBA, MSTC, and McCombs MS students, many of our graduate students come from other disciplines such as computer science, life science, law, and engineering. Since we are embedded in an academic institution and surrounded by brilliant scientific and technical talent, startups who can leverage technical Ph.D. and Masters students in their project work are encouraged to apply.

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Texas Venture Labs Practicum

The Texas Venture Labs Practicum is a hands-on course for master and doctoral students, focusing on developing consulting skills and entrepreneurial expertise. In collaboration with startups from the TVL Accelerator, teams of graduate students engage in customer interviews, business research, and project-based learning. Graduate students in this course gain insights into market validation, competitive intelligence, analytics, pricing models, and go-to-market strategies.

Apply to the TVL Practicum for Fall 2025

Texas Venture Labs Energy Ventures Practicum

The TVL Energy Ventures Practicum is a cross-disciplinary graduate course taught in collaboration with UT’s Energy Institute, the Cockrell School of Engineering, the Jackson School of Geosciences and the LBJ School of Public Policy. The Energy Ventures Practicum is an opportunity for teams of business students, policy students, and technologists to build up skills, capabilities and contacts to create a new venture in energy and sectors that can improve sustainability.

Objectives of the class are to provide a framework for commercializing innovations in these sectors, and the tools that entrepreneurs need to frame and build businesses for this purpose.

Apply to the TVL Energy Ventures Practicum for Spring 2025

The Texas Venture Labs Investment Competition (TVLIC) mimics the real-world process of raising venture capital. Graduate students from the University of Texas System present their ideas for new businesses and receive invaluable feedback from entrepreneurs and investors. Many TVLIC competitors launch successful businesses, including uShip, Ordoro, BeatBox Beverages, Phurnace Software and Qcue.

• The Fall 2023 Texas Champion was Tano Pharmaceuticals which was awarded the top prize of $15,000 for their commercial skincare and medical products based on a revolutionary new ingredient: sap from banana trees. Co-founders Sean Finney and Branson Berger are in the class of 2024 MBA cohort at the McCombs School of Business.
• The Texas Superstar Award and $5,000 prize went to AirMax, an HVAC hardware retrofit technology that increases the efficiency of existing commercial AC units. AirMax also was awarded a $5,000 prize for Energy Innovation.
• The Texas Rising Star Award and $2,500 prize went to OmniSense Surgical, a patient-driven medical device start-up that provides real-time, valuable information to surgeons. OmniSense Surgical also earned the award for Health Innovation and an additional $5,000 prize.
• Terra Technology Innovations was the winner of the Technology Commercialization Award and $10,000 prize as well as the Sustainability Award and $5,000 prize. Terra Technology Innovations’ proprietary and patented Super Moisture-Absorbent Gel (SMAG) is an industry-first innovation that extracts water directly from the air, providing an unlimited water source for plants in arid regions.
• The James D. Pippin Veteran Entrepreneurship Award and a $1,000 prize went to Advanced Breathing Analytics (ABA), which optimizes training and performance for professional athletes in high endurance sports by integrating state-of-the-art wearable technology with scientific insights to provide real-time, lab-quality data analysis in the field.
• The Elevator Challenge Award and $1,000 prize are given to the three best elevator pitches. The three winners were AirMax, OmniSense Surgical and Ralli.

TVL Startup Fellows gain experience in a variety of industries and roles while simultaneously building their expertise and networks. They work on projects that reinforce classroom learning, allowing them to bridge the gap between their career aspirations and their current skill set. In addition to their project work, TVL Startup Fellows enjoy access to a range of resources, including guest speakers, seminars, opportunities to network, and connections to mentors from members of the JBTVL Advisory Board.

TVL Startup Fellow applicants choose between five tracks based on their interests and the type of career path they would like to explore.

1. TVL Venture Capital Fellow: work with leading venture capital firms to gain skills in due diligence, deal sourcing, investment analysis and more.
2. TVL Social Impact Fellow: work with startups focused on solving the world’s hardest problems for the greater good of humanity.
3. TVL Commercialization Fellow: an opportunity to work with a STEM-based company that is taking an intellectual property to market.
4. TVL Founder in Residence Fellow (FIR): TVL will connect you with mentors and resources to help bring your own startup to market.
5. TVL Ecosystem Fellow: an opportunity to work with educational and investment programs that fuel the startup ecosystem.

TVL Startup Fellows are selected based on an application and interview process. The TVL Startup Fellows program offers two cohorts: a school-year cohort that runs from September to May and a summer cohort that runs from June to August.

Interested UT-Austin graduate students and graduate student alumni are encouraged to apply for the TVL Startup Fellows.

The Jon Brumley Texas Venture Labs Accelerator matches Austin-area startups with cross-functional teams of UT Austin graduate students for 10-week startup consulting projects. Our rigorous market validation process and our students’ research accelerate startups towards funding.

The JBTVL Accelerator is a zero-cost, zero-equity program that collaborates with Texas-based startups who want to work with graduate student consultants for up to 300 hours of high-impact business consulting. We accept startup company applications from pre- and post-revenue companies who have a working prototype or product, can clearly define two to three student projects, and are ready to engage with the student team.

We welcome startups from all industries. In addition to our McCombs MBA, MSTC, and MS students, many of our graduate students come from science, engineering, and computer science disciplines. Since we are surrounded by brilliant scientific and technical talent, startups who can leverage the skills of technical Ph.D. and Masters students are encouraged to apply.