Partner with Bronco Ventures
Bronco Ventures is Santa Clara University’s hub for entrepreneurship and venture creation. Through a suite of programs supporting founders from idea to investment, we cultivate a vibrant community of entrepreneurs, mentors, investors, and industry leaders. We invite you to engage with our founders and ecosystem in the ways that best align with your interests and expertise.
The suite of programs is listed below. We also offer individual and corporate sponsorship opportunities. For more information about sponsorship, please email Cristina Cismas Florea at ccismasflorea@scu.edu.
Bronco Ventures Accelerator (Flagship Program)
Our flagship startup accelerator runs once per year from July through October and supports primarily alumni founders, with select faculty participants. The accelerator is designed to prepare ventures for professional and institutional funding, offering structured mentorship, expert programming, and investor exposure.
The program culminates in Demo Day, attended by approximately 500 in-person guests, including investors, and 200+ virtual attendees, making it the university’s premier innovation event.
Get involved:
Mentor
Mentors are paired with one startup per cohort and meet with founders weekly, offering guidance across areas such as strategy, product, fundraising, and growth. To become a mentor, please fill out this form.
Guest Speaker
Guest speakers share their expertise with founders during Thursday afternoon sessions throughout our cohorts. Topics range from fundraising and product development to leadership and go-to-market strategy. If you are interested in being a guest speaker, please email ccismasflorea@scu.edu with potential topics you would like to present.
Prep School
Prep School is an early-stage accelerator offered once per year from March through May. Participants include alumni, faculty/staff, and undergraduate and graduate students.
Founders in Prep School are refining their ideas and building traction. The program focuses on customer discovery, growth, and venture readiness, helping teams prepare for our accelerator or other top programs. Several Prep School alumni have gone on to accelerators such as Y Combinator and Alchemist.
Prep School concludes with our Business Pitch Competition.
Get involved:
Mentor
Mentors are paired with one startup per cohort and meet with founders weekly, offering guidance across areas such as strategy, product, fundraising, and growth. To become a mentor, please fill out this form.
Guest Speaker
Guest speakers share their expertise with founders during Thursday afternoon sessions throughout our cohorts. Topics range from fundraising and product development to leadership and go-to-market strategy. If you are interested in being a guest speaker, please email ccismasflorea@scu.edu with potential topics you would like to present.
Idea Lab
Idea Lab supports founders at the very beginning of their entrepreneurial journey. Offered as Saturday workshops once per quarter, Idea Lab primarily serves undergraduate and graduate students.
Through hands-on sessions grounded in design thinking, participants learn how to develop customer-centered business ideas and effectively storytell and pitch their concepts.
Get involved:
Mentor
Idea Lab mentors support founders during a one-day Saturday workshop (10:00 am–3:00 pm; breakfast and lunch provided). Workshops are offered quarterly:
- Fall & Winter: Design Thinking
- Spring: Storytelling & Pitching
No prior design thinking or pitching experience is required - mentors focus on helping founders shape their ideas and presentations.
To participate, please email ccismasflorea@scu.edu.
Business Pitch Competition
The Business Pitch Competition is open to all aspiring founders, not only Prep School participants. Held annually on the second Friday of May, the competition features multiple tracks:
- High School
- SCU Undergraduate
- Jesuit University (inter-university competition)
- Graduate
- Faculty & Staff
- Alumni
Judges include investors and experienced entrepreneurs, and teams compete for cash prizes for first, second, and third place.
Get involved:
Judge
Judges provide live feedback and evaluation at our annual Business Pitch Competition in May. We welcome judges from across the investor and entrepreneurial ecosystem.
To express interest, please email ccismasflorea@scu.edu.
BVA Café
We host monthly networking events called BVA Cafés, bringing together founders, investors, mentors, faculty, staff, and students. These casual, on-campus gatherings feature food, beverages, and meaningful conversations around entrepreneurship.
Get involved:
Join our BVA Cafés and spread the word to your network
Join our monthly BVA Cafés, held on SCU’s campus, to connect with the broader Bronco Ventures community in a relaxed, social setting. If you would like to be on our events communication list, please fill out this form.
The Bronco Ventures Fund AND JECA Fund
Santa Clara Ventures is a third-party venture capital firm that works closely with Santa Clara University. The university’s endowment is a limited partner in the fund, and 20% of carried interest is returned to the university. Our two funds include: The Bronco Ventures Fund and JECA Fund. Both funds invest early stage in exceptional alumni and faculty/staff founded companies. The Bronco Ventures Fund solely invests in Santa Clara University startups, while the JECA fund invests in startups from Jesuit and Catholic universities across the US, including SCU, Notre Dame, Georgetown, Boston College, Fordham, LMU, and others.
Get involved:
Investor
For more information, please contact Morgan Slain at morgan@santaclaraventures.com.