Adelphi Entrepreneur Experience
Turn your next big idea into a market-ready venture with the Adelphi Entrepreneur Experience program.
Are you an entrepreneur at heart? The Adelphi Entrepreneur Experience can help you turn your big idea into a reality. By connecting proven academic training with real-world execution, practitioner mentorship and direct industry networks, you’ll be equipped with everything you need to know to launch, scale and sustain a successful venture.
Designed as a structured, 9-month hybrid experience, this non-credit-bearing program moves founders through 4-week sprints that offer education on essential areas of business development and operations, coupled with externship opportunities and in-person connection with those who have successfully traveled the entrepreneurship path. The Adelphi Entrepreneur Experience will focus on business ideas in high-growth and high-need industries in the Greater New York economy.
Apply to join the first cohort in February 2027.
Eligibility for the Program
The Adelphi Entrepreneur Experience is open to entrepreneurs who meet the following requirements:
- Have a clear, viable startup idea: Applicants must be able to communicate a clear startup idea that aligns with one or both of the program’s high-growth or high-need sectors.
- Be the founder of the startup idea: Applicants must be developing their own startup idea and cannot apply on behalf of or represent the interests of another person’s venture.
- Live, work, or attend school in an eligible location: Applicants must live, work, or attend school in Manhattan, the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island, Nassau County or Suffolk County in New York, or Hudson County or Essex County in New Jersey.
- Meet the age requirement if not enrolled in college: Applicants do not need to be matriculated students or attend Adelphi University. Applicants who are not currently enrolled in a college or university must be 19–30 years old.
- Build a venture in an eligible sector: Startup ideas must align with high-growth or high-need community sectors, including software, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, clean energy, healthcare, behavioral health, social services, education and professional services.
Key Benefits
- Receive an official Certificate of Completion from Adelphi University upon fulfilling program requirements.
- Gain direct access to serial entrepreneurs, corporate partners, investors and economic growth sectors across Long Island, New York City and Northern New Jersey.
- Receive support from faculty, peer founders, and a dedicated success coach to guide you through your journey.
- Understand how to build a business designed for revenue generation, customer acquisition, investor presentations, grant funding and long-term viability.
- Launch your startup by taking your product idea and turning it into a thriving, revenue-generating business.
What the Program Offers
The Panther Playbook
A 10-module entrepreneurship curriculum developed by faculty at the Robert B. Willumstad School of Business. Delivered through synchronous instruction and asynchronous work to apply what you’ve learned, the Playbook covers opportunity recognition, market validation, financial modeling, venture creation, legal risk mitigation, AI adoption and go-to-market strategies.
Faculty Venture Studio Hours
Individualized and small-group coaching with University faculty help you apply Playbook concepts directly to your business model, refining your strategy, operations and execution plans.
Entrepreneurs-in-Residence
Fireside chats, product demonstrations and site visits featuring seasoned founders and investors who will share real-world startup leadership and decision-making insights.
Subject Matter Experts
Deep-dive sessions with functional specialists in areas like UI/UX design, intellectual property, venture funding and commercialization pathways.
Founders Circles Meetings
Facilitated, small-group peer advisory sessions where founders share venture milestones, receive constructive feedback, solve operational bottlenecks and build resilience alongside fellow entrepreneurs.
Hands-On Industry Externships
Powered by Extern, these 8-week, project-based experiences match founders with innovative companies, where you will solve real-world problems in customer discovery, market research, product design or data analytics, building workplace competencies while expanding your professional experience.
Comprehensive Mentorship and Coaching
Dedicated 1-on-1 pairings with a Success Coach to maintain academic and personal balance, and an Industry Mentor for strategic, long-term guidance within the regional business landscape.
FAQs: Adelphi Entrepreneur Experience
Eligible entrepreneurs who live, work, or reside in one of these New York or New Jersey boroughs and counties:
- Manhattan, NY
- The Bronx, NY
- Queens, NY
- Brooklyn, NY
- Staten Island, NY
- Nassau County, NY
- Suffolk County, NY
- Hudson County, NJ
- Essex County, NJ
Entrepreneurs must also be building ventures across statewide high-growth sectors high-growth sectors (such as software, AI, biotech and clean energy) and/or high-need community sectors (including healthcare, behavioral health, social services, education and professional services).
The program is completely free of charge, thanks to grant funding awarded by the Department of Commerce and the Minority Business Development Agency. Enrolled founders receive full access to the curriculum, coaching, mentorship, externships, and expert sessions without any tuition or out-of-pocket costs.
The Adelphi Entrepreneur Experience is a 9-month program organized into six 4-week rapid ideation sprints. Over the course of the grant term, Adelphi will facilitate two cohorts of 20 participants.
Sprints alternate between structured module learning, asynchronous building, peer advisory feedback, expert showcases and coaching sessions.
