The Builder
Roadmap
Entrepreneurial journeys start at different points. Our Builder Roadmap provides a structured, evidence-driven pathway across three stages, each with targeted programs, funding, mentorship, and tools. Builders progress when they demonstrate validated insight, tested demand, operational readiness, or traction.
DISCOVER & VALIDATE
Idea Stage
Field-based immersions where students explore companies across key value chains to understand how sectors work, where bottlenecks sit, and where meaningful innovation is needed.
A studio where students submit early ideas to structured scrutiny. Facilitators help map assumptions, sharpen focus, and design validation tests.
Intensive 12-hour sprints where interdisciplinary teams design, prototype, and test early solutions to industry challenges.
Micro-grants that fund lean experiments to measure interest, behaviour, and willingness to pay before committing to a full build.
BUILD & TEST
Project Stage
Targeted funding to translate validated insights into functional MVPs. Supports materials, fabrication, technical assistance, and user testing.
A sector-focused sprint for transitioning from prototype to early venture operations. Tracks in Health, Agrifood & Nutrition, Energy, and Open Innovation.
Interdisciplinary student teams deliver tangible outputs in marketing, finance, and product development to early-stage ventures.
LAUNCH & GROW
Venture Stage
A 12-month incubator for early-stage alumni ventures. AVI provides tailored milestone coaching, product and service improvement support, investor-readiness, peer accountability, and market access.
A 4-week program that prepares growth-stage entrepreneurs to raise capital with confidence. The program strengthens each venture’s financial logic, due diligence readiness, and investor materials, while creating direct pathways to potential funders.
A 16-week program that supports senior executives and experienced professionals to validate new venture opportunities before committing significant resources. Through structured feasibility studies, the Studio assesses market demand, business model viability, operational requirements, and execution risks, culminating in clear go, no-go, or pivot recommendations.
A year-long fellowship that enables faculty to create high-impact knowledge products — case studies, applied research, diagnostic tools, simulation models, and pedagogical frameworks — that strengthen entrepreneurship education and practice.