Startup Shell: Student-Driven Entrepreneurship on Campus

Startup Shell is a student-led startup incubator and 24/7 co-working space at UMD that provides a collaborative environment for student entrepreneurs to build and scale their startups. Our journey began in 2012 in a modest storage closet when a group of friends came together to establish a space where students could pursue their entrepreneurial ambitions.

Since then, we have evolved into a thriving interdisciplinary community of ambitious students who are transforming the world with their innovative ideas. Our community has been the launchpad for more than 200 successful student-led ventures, with a combined venture value of over $1B. We believe that everyone should have the chance to bring their ideas to life, regardless of their background, experience, or financial resources. That's why we are committed to providing a supportive and inclusive environment where students can receive guidance and mentorship from experienced entrepreneurs, and develop the skills they need to succeed.

While Startup Shell has always followed the tried-and-true startup approach of bootstrapping funding, we've now come to a point where self-financing our expenses is no longer feasible. The tremendous student demand for Startup Shell’s resources has encouraged us to seek funding to sustain our current capacity and facilitate future growth.

Resources to Respond to Student Needs

For ten years, we have been inspiring our community to pursue its ideas fearlessly, one student at a time, and now, we’d like to invite you to get involved. As an incubator completely run by students, we constantly face the challenge of providing the necessary resources and support to our growing community without incurring excessive out-of-pocket expenses. Yet we run Shell anyway because we understand the value of the space and resources we offer to emerging student entrepreneurs. We see it in every face that walks through our doors and in every venture we help successfully get off the ground. We’re growing at an incredible pace, and we want your help to sustain this momentum and empower the next generation of innovative and fearless student entrepreneurs.

Breakdown of Funding

• Grants: Cover essential expenses such as incorporation fees, legal services, prototyping costs, and other expenses associated with launching and running a business.
• Community Programming: Host skill workshops and speaker events, pitch competitions, hackathons, Shell Expo, and networking mixers to provide students with opportunities to showcase their ideas, connect with investors, and build valuable relationships. Run programs to empower underrepresented groups in entrepreneurship and lower their barriers to entry in the startup space.
• Prototyping Equipment and Resources: Purchase equipment and resources to make it easier and more affordable for students to bring their ideas to life.

Gifts in support of the University of Maryland are accepted and managed by the University of Maryland College Park Foundation, Inc., an affiliated 501(c)(3) organization authorized by the Board of Regents.  Contributions to the University of Maryland are tax-deductible as allowed by law. Please see your tax advisor for details.