American University and B+B Partner to Turn Student Ideas Into Ventures
American University's Veloric Center for Entrepreneurship is launching an Innovation Lab this fall built on the Builders + Backers model: the Idea Accelerator, the AI-powered Builders Studio, and one-on-one guidance from experienced entrepreneurs and peer mentors. Rather than waiting for students to arrive with polished pitch decks, the program surfaces ideas earlier and gives students a way to test them, talking to real customers and running experiments instead of spending months imagining what might work.