What's Happening At Derby Entrepreneurship Center - July 2025

Tufts Venture Accelerator Mock Board Meetings and Cross University Mixer!

After weeks of preparation and venture building, the TVA cohort led their first mock board meetings. These sessions provide a low-stakes environment to teach young  entrepreneurs how to engage with a board of advisors, and also provide an opportunity for valuable feedback from experienced mentors.

Following the Mock Board meetings, the 8 TVA teams pitched to the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp Pre-College program, a 2 week immersive experience for high school students. The TVA teams provided a strong example of entrepreneurial pitching, and also made themselves available after the pitching to network and answer questions .

The day wrapped up with a cross university mixer (CUSI) that welcomed entrepreneurs from other Boston area accelerator programs to  network, share ideas, and enjoy food and refreshments. 

Boston University and Babson College Welcome Tufts Venture Accelerator Cohort to Campus! 

This has been exciting month of collaboration with the Boston Entrepreneurial Ecosystem! We are grateful for the opportunities to network and engage with some of our partner universities this summer.

This month the Tufts Venture Accelerator cohort visited BU for a Pizza and Pitch event and joined over zoom for a Fundraising Panel. We look forward to several other opportunities to join BU events over the next few weeks.

Babson graciously invited us to their Boston campus last week for a Pizza and Pitch event and has invited us to join their upcoming Demo Day.

Tufts was thrilled to host BU and Babson students in July at our Cross University Student Mixer event on our Medford Campus. It is always great to mingle with student entrepreneurs from peer universities to compare notes on on new venture creation.

We look forward to continuing these partnerships throughout the upcoming academic year.

DEC Welcomes International Visitors to Campus  

Derby Entrepreneurship Center welcomed a cohort from University of South Africa last week and enjoyed hearing about the diverse ventures the entrepreneurs are working on.

Tufts also welcomed students from University of Saskatchewan 2 weeks ago. They had an engaging conversation with DEC Director, Elaine Chen and enjoyed a tour of campus..

Upcoming Events and opportunities at a Glance

Alumni Events

Tufts Entrepreneurial Network (TEN) Boston Chapter Networking Event - Sept 11

Join the Boston chapter of the Tufts Entrepreneurial Network (TEN) at Remnant Brewing , 2 Bow Market Way, Somerville, on September 11th from 6:30pm – 8:30pm. Meet Boston area alumni as well as members of the Tufts community, such as Kevin Oye, Executive Director of The Gordon Institute, and Elaine Chen, Cummings Family Professor of the Practice in Entrepreneurship & Director, Derby Entrepreneurship Center.

Upcoming Events and opportunities at a Glance

Tufts Career Center Hosts Career Fair - September 26  

We are pleased to be hosting another in-person career fair this fall. We will welcome up to 200 employers across various industries in the Tufts Gantcher Center. Lunch will be provided. Registration is now open for those interested in attending.

The Career Fair is open to all undergraduate and graduate students across The School of Arts & Sciences, The School of Engineering, The School of Museum of Fine Arts (SMFA) at Tufts.

JUMBO ALUMNI: We would love to have your organization represented at the career fair. We’ll also host an alumni hub for networking, re-connecting with fellow alumni, and of course, swag! Reach out to us with any questions!

Alumni Registration for Career Fair

BU Questrom $50K Sustainability Case Competition  

The Questrom $50K Sustainability Case Competition will ask interdisciplinary / cross-program student teams, to grapple with and develop solutions for real-life sustainability challenges. Join info session by Sept 11 and apply by Sept 12

Register for Info Session or Apply Here

Join Venture Lane

Located in the heart of downtown Boston, Venture Lane is a curated community and coworking space for Boston’s best B2B tech startups. No large corporates or agencies here. Just B2B tech. Just startups.
Apply for Coworking space

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Derby Entrepreneurship Center