Program

The Praxis Center for Venture Development is Cornell’s On-Campus Incubator for Engineering, Digital and Physical Science Startups

The Praxis Center for Venture Development helps young Cornell engineering, digital and physical science companies grow from interesting ideas to self sufficient enterprises. The Center is funded through the Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation.

The Center’s goal is to facilitate the maturation of client companies to merit significant outside investment and achieve a sustainable level of economic activity permitting independent operation.

The Praxis Center for Venture Development contributes to Cornell University’s mission as New York State’s Morrill Land Grant institution to support local, regional, and state-wide jobs and contribute to economic development.

The Praxis Center for Venture Development is co-located in Duffield Hall with three major NSF funded research and development laboratories.  Each of these open access user facilities is equipped with the latest tools, techniques and expertise to realize the dreams of researchers and innovators in many different fields. Within these facilities, engineers and scientists from around the nation and across the world discover or create interface materials for the next generation of electronics and optoelectronics.

The Praxis Center offers a unique and flexible combination of business development processes, infrastructure and people, designed to nurture and grow small businesses by supporting them through early stages of development and evolution.  We believe that successful business incubation is a business support process that accelerates the successful development of startup and fledgling companies by providing entrepreneurs with an array of targeted resources and services. These services are developed or facilitated by the Praxis Center’s mentors and advisors and offered both within the center and through its network of contacts.

The Praxis Center’s program focuses on accelerating research and development of client companies’ technologies and products, validating client companies’ business plans and strengthening client companies’ management teams.

Admission to the Praxis Center is highly selective. Companies with innovative engineering, digital or physical science technologies are encouraged to apply.