Students collaborating around a laptop in a bright lab classroom

Applications open — Cohort 1: July 2026

Six months. One venture.
One story that gets you in.

BuildUp Venture Lab is a competitive online accelerator for Grade 8–12 students. You will identify a real problem, build a product, and take it to market — so that when you apply to university, you are not describing what you did. You are describing what you built.

Selective intake20 students per cohortBuilt for students who want to stand out

The students who get into their dream universities have turned their ideas into action.

BuildUp Venture Lab teaches you to do exactly that — identify a problem you care about, build something real around it, and take it to market. That conviction doesn't just build a venture. It builds an application.

Where BuildUp students have gone
Harvard University

Harvard University

University of Oxford

University of Oxford

NYU

NYU

UCLA

UCLA

UC Berkeley

UC Berkeley

Brown University

Brown University

Duke University

Duke University

UPenn

UPenn

LSE

LSE

NUS

NUS

Carnegie Mellon

Carnegie Mellon

King's College London

King's College London

USC

USC

UCL

UCL

London Business School

London Business School

University of Warwick

University of Warwick

Harvard University

Harvard University

University of Oxford

University of Oxford

NYU

NYU

UCLA

UCLA

UC Berkeley

UC Berkeley

Brown University

Brown University

Duke University

Duke University

UPenn

UPenn

LSE

LSE

NUS

NUS

Carnegie Mellon

Carnegie Mellon

King's College London

King's College London

USC

USC

UCL

UCL

London Business School

London Business School

University of Warwick

University of Warwick

Your Startup journey
begins in high school.

6 MonthsPractitioner Led30 StudentsVirtual

BuildUp Venture Lab is a competitive online accelerator for Grade 8–12 students. You will identify a real problem, build a product, and take it to market, so that when you apply to university, you are not describing what you did. You are describing what you built.

Duration –July to December, 2026
Eligible Grades:Grade 8 – 12
Students working on a project together
What our students have built

Real ventures. Real admits.

The students in our programs don't wait for university to start doing something meaningful. They identify a problem, build around it, and walk into their applications with a story that admissions offices remember.

TYRON project visual

Divya Sijwali · India

TYRON

Logo

Stylish footwear from recycled tyres

Overview

Stylish footwear crafted from recycled tyres, creating employment for 30+ cobblers. Winner of the World Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge, TGELF/JA India Company of the Year, and first in the Future Leaders Scholarship Programme.

View full case study

1 / 6

Program Structure

Six months. From idea to founder.

Phase 1 — July to September 2026 · Phase 2 — October to December 2026

Most students jump to solutions. You won't. This month is about identifying a problem worth solving through real conversations, real observation, and genuine curiosity. You leave with a validated problem brief and a clear direction.

Find the Right Problem

Month 1

Find the Right Problem

Month 2

🧪

Month 3

Mentors & speakers

Practitioners, not professors.

Sessions are led by people who have built, scaled, and invested in real ventures. Twice-monthly live sessions (90 minutes) plus monthly advisor office hours.

Ina Jovicic

Ina Jovicic

Founder | eNOugh

Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe 2026

eNOugh logo
  • AI-powered wearables for personal safety; flagship smart-badge concept.
  • Venture-backed; €2.7M raised from concept to scale.
  • Leads hardware, AI, and product across a multidisciplinary team.
  • Forbes 30 Under 30; UCL MSc Entrepreneurship; Sigma Squared Fellow.
Maxwell Stern

Maxwell Stern

Duke Innovation & Entrepreneurship

Faculty · Duke University

Duke University logo
  • Founded Closure — digital afterlife; acquired for $48M (2022).
  • Lecturing Fellow, Duke I&E; teaches New Venture Development.
  • Mentors Melissa & Doug Entrepreneurs accelerator cohort.
  • Zero-to-one validation, trust-heavy products, and applied AI in practice.
Justin Seghers

Justin Seghers

Founding Partner, Momentous

Former investor, Pact

Momentous logo
  • Pre-seed investor: sports tech, wellbeing, healthspan, proprietary data & AI.
  • Ex–Pact Ventures and Boardy; founded Momentous.
  • Focus: GTM, fundraising narrative, and long-term value for early teams.
  • Helps founders sharpen models, positioning, and investor-ready stories.
Nickhil Jakatdar

Nickhil Jakatdar

CEO, GenePath Diagnostics

Former Founder & CEO, Viu

GenePath Diagnostics logo
  • Serial entrepreneur; three exits; scaling molecular diagnostics.
  • Ph.D. EECS, Berkeley; thesis → Timbre (acquired by Tokyo Electron).
  • Co-founded Vuclip (Viu); President & COO, Praesagus (Cadence).
  • 60+ patents; 50+ startups advised; deep-tech to commercial scale.
Arya Diwase

Arya Diwase

Founder & CEO, BuildUp Global

Duke · NYU

Duke University logo
  • BuildUp Global: career immersion for 10,000+ students, 50+ schools.
  • 11x growth, profitability, 100+ global partners across 30+ industries.
  • Double MBA + MPP (Duke); Bachelors (NYU).
  • Poets & Quants Best & Brightest MBA; Melissa & Doug Entrepreneurs.
Anushka Desai

Anushka Desai

COO, BuildUp Global

UCL School of Management

UCL logo
  • Founder & COO, BuildUp Global — same student reach as flagship programs.
  • Scaled impact across India, Middle East, and Africa.
  • Partnerships, program delivery, nonprofits and high-growth startups.
  • MSc Entrepreneurship (UCL); MA Psychology, Goldsmiths (Distinction).
Sessions & Workshops

Our mentors run hands-on sessions across the six months covering the full arc of building a venture — from spotting a problem worth solving, to getting your first users, to telling your story in a university application.

Workshop session

Past topics have included:

  • Problem Validation & Market Research
  • Building Your First Version
  • Brand Identity & Positioning
  • Getting to Your First Users
  • Go-To-Market Strategy
  • Sales & Early Traction
  • Founder Storytelling & Personal Narrative
Tuition

An investment in what comes next.

$500 discount for applications confirmed before [EARLY BIRD DATE]. Cohort 1 is limited to 20 students.

Individual

$3,750 USD

/ Per student · 6 months


  • 12 live online sessions
  • Monthly advisor office hours
  • Full template and resource library
  • Demo Day with investor judges
  • BuildUp Venture Lab certificate
  • College Launchpad introduction session
Apply as individual →

Team (2–3 students)

$2,750 USD

/ Per student · 6 months


  • Everything in Individual
  • Team-based project and pitch
  • Shared advisor office hours
  • Team certificate at Demo Day
Apply as a team →
FAQs

We answer your most asked questions

Admissions, eligibility, time commitment, and what happens after you apply—clear answers before you submit.

Contact our team

No. Month 1 is dedicated to finding the right problem to solve. You need curiosity and commitment. If you have an idea, we will use Month 1 to help you refine it.

Venture Lab is open to students in Grades 8–12. The earlier you start, the more time you have to build on your venture before university applications. That said, students in Grades 11 and 12 have used the program to anchor their applications in the same cycle.

Expect to commit 3–5 hours per week. This includes two live sessions per month, advisor office hours, and the work you do independently on your venture between sessions.

Yes. Venture Lab is fully online. Our current cohort includes students from India, the UAE, Southeast Asia, the US, EU, Australia, South Africa, and the UK.

No. The skills you build around problem identification, user research, product thinking, and storytelling are relevant whether you go into entrepreneurship, consulting, finance, design, or academia. The venture is the vehicle. Where you take it after is up to you.

This is the wrong question — and also the most important one to answer. Universities are not looking for students who have succeeded. They are looking for students who have tried something hard, learned from it, and can articulate what they have learned. A venture that pivoted, struggled, or changed direction entirely is still six months of original work. It is still a story. In many cases, it is a better one.

All sessions are recorded and available within 24 hours. Students across time zones regularly use this option. Most sessions will be conducted over the weekend to accommodate school schedules and time zones.

By the end of the program you have a validated problem statement, a working product or initiative, documented user feedback, and a Founder Showcase presentation. That is six months of concrete, original work you can speak to with depth in your essays, interviews, and activities list. For students who want to go further, our College Launchpad add-on helps you build your full application narrative around your venture.

BuildUp’s other programs are shorter, project-based experiences. Venture Lab is a six-month accelerator that is deeper, more rigorous, and designed specifically for students who want to build something substantial enough to anchor their university application.

Yes. We encourage you to bring co-founder(s). Teams of two to three students can apply together and work on a shared venture. Team applications are reviewed together and, if accepted, work through the program as a unit with shared advisor access.

Apply

Start your application

Tell us who you are, how to reach you, and what draws you to building something real. The full form lives on a dedicated page — quick to complete, easy to save and return if you need a break.

  • Cohort 1 begins July 2026 — we read every application personally.
  • Rolling decisions: most applicants hear back within about a week.
  • No polished idea required — bring curiosity and commitment.