Entrepreneurship Hatchery & Incubator
What is the BCC CUNY Hatchery and Incubator?
The BCC CUNY Hatchery and Incubator facilitates breeding of technology-based products and services, hatching and rearing of new technology based businesses through the early life stages of businesses.
It makes entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial skills accessible and relevant for our STEM students to help them build thriving companies and careers and to learn by doing, gaining knowledge and critical skills to help them succeed as technology solution providers as well as problem solvers.
Student entrepreneurs are encouraged and mentored to generate innovative and forward-thinking product and service ideas, explore viable opportunities and markets, learn to deliver compelling elevator pitches, and develop viable business plans.
What are the Goals of the BCC CUNY Hatchery & Incubator?
- Mentor student projects, ideas, experiments, and prototypes
- Train and equip students of BCC with technology entrepreneurship competencies that will help them become leaders of tomorrow’s America
- Increase retention, graduation, and transfer rates of STEM students by engaging them in real world applications of the technology concepts
- Enhance experience, and exposure through technology entrepreneurship programming, to create clear career pathways in STEM fields through internships and entrepreneurship opportunities
TechFest
Bronx Community College’s annual showcase for sustainability‑focused STEM innovations
TechFest gives students the opportunity to turn their ideas into real, marketable products or services.
Through the TechFest program, up to 20 student entrepreneurs will be selected to receive $500 in seed funding upon successful completion of the required workshops and participation in the exhibition. TechFest highlights projects that combine creativity with practical application, supporting students who are developing sustainability-based STEM products, business concepts, or prototypes.
Are you interested in seed funding for your new business? Join the program to turn your innovative idea into a real product or service.
Below is the criteria for eligibility.
- You must be a current student of BCC or a BCC student who graduated in the last one year.
- Your idea can be a sustainability focused science, technology (including IT, web applications, and design technology), engineering, or math based student project or experiment.
- Both individual and team projects are eligible.
The following TechFest activities are designed to mentor you through the successful completion of your project.
1. Participate in all the following bootcamps/workshops in:
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- sustainability bootcamp and ideation work
- entrepreneurship bootcamp and workshops
- softskills workshops
- prototyping workshops
2. Attend all mentorship meetings
3. Complete project charts or designs or functional prototypes under the guidance of your mentors
4. Participate in the mock presentation of your project ideas
5. Participate in the tech-fest exhibition that will be open to the whole college and CUNY Community. Angel investors, incubators in NYC, mentors, and Bronx based businesses will be invited to the exhibition.
Sessions may be in person or on zoom.
TechFest is designed to support entrepreneurs just like you.
- $500 seed grant funding
- Certificate of excellence in Sustainability focused STEM application projects
- Internship, part-time job opportunities, and career pathways in STEM and Sustainability fields.
- Incubation and accelerator opportunities in CUNY and NY based incubators
- Potential angel funding and crowd funding opportunities
- Non-participant students learn about new ideas, their applications and opportunities open to them
Below are the key dates outlining participation and milestones in the TechFest program.
- 02/06/2026: Last date to submit your application form.
- 02/13/2026 : Communication of acceptance.
- 02/20/2026 : Inauguration : Sustainability boot camp & Idea development Workshop (10:00am to 1:00 pm)
- 02/27/2026 : Entrepreneurship boot camp & Lab visit – Elevator pitch (10:00am to 1:00 pm)
- 03/13/2026 : Soft skills workshop for elevator pitch and customer discovery interviews
- 03/27/2026 : Product concept workshop – Lab work
- 04/03/2026 : Prototyping workshop – Lab work
- 04/17/2026 : Mock presentation of product and prototype design
- 05/01/2026 : TechFest 2026 – Final exhibition.
Sessions may be in person or on zoom.
Entrepreneurship Club + CUNY Clash
The CUNY Clash competition invites students from across the CUNY network to bring their creative and innovative business ideas to life.
If you’re currently a CUNY student and have an idea that addresses a unique problem or challenge, you could compete for cash prizes, with a Grand Prize of $10,000 up for grabs.
Applying is super easy. Just upload a 60 – 90 second video explaining your idea and fill out a short form. No idea is too big or small, so even small ideas can have a meaningful impact.
Who Should Apply?
You must be a current matriculated CUNY student
Dates & Deadlines
- Application Due Date: Friday, February 28, 2025
- Round 1 winners selected & mentoring begins: March 21, 2025
- Round 2 winners selected & mentoring continues: April 11, 2025
- Pitch Competition: Friday, May 2, 2025 at Amazon
See you on the ultimate creative battlefield!
News & Events
The News & Events content feed is coming soon.
Contact Us
To stay in touch with us and learn about
upcoming programs and activities, please contact:
Harini Mittal
Department of Business & Information Systems
Bronx Community College
harini.mittal@bcc.cuny.edu
Dr. Daniel Lazarus
Department of Business & Information Systems
Bronx Community College
Daniel.lazarus@bcc.cuny.edu
