This spring, Emory welcomed 20 ventures into the 2026 Techstars Emory Founder Catalyst, a 10-week pre-accelerator program designed to help early-stage founders refine their business models, strengthen investor readiness and accelerate growth.
This is the second year The Hatchery, Emory Center for Innovation, and The Roberto C. Goizueta Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation have partnered with Techstars to launch Emory-affiliated ventures.
Selected from a highly competitive pool of 71 applicants, the cohort includes Emory undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, staff and alumni who are building ventures across health innovation, artificial intelligence, enterprise technology, consumer products and creative industries.
The 2026 program began with a kickoff event featuring one-minute founder pitches and networking with members of Techstars as well as Emory and Atlanta’s innovation community.
The Founder Catalyst is led for the second year by entrepreneur and longtime Emory partner Christy Brown, an experienced entrepreneur and instructor who has guided startups through early growth stages.
“Over these 10 weeks, founders will move beyond theory into execution, testing assumptions, refining their value proposition, and learning how to communicate with customers, partners and investors,” says Brown.
“Our goal is to equip them with the clarity, discipline and confidence needed to build ventures that are ready for real-world traction and funding.”
A practical launchpad for early-stage founders
Through twice-weekly sessions, founders engage in facilitated workshops, hands-on exercises and pitch practice designed to move them from ideation to traction.
In addition to facilitation by Brown, sessions feature guest speakers and subject matter experts from Techstars, program partners, investors, network leaders, experienced founders and mentors from across the startup community.
Weekly masterclasses cover customer discovery, product-market fit, storytelling and pitch development, financial modeling, legal fundamentals, go-to-market strategy, building advisory boards and preparing for fundraising.
Katie Smith, head of startup community at Techstars and key collaborator on the program, emphasizes the value of the Techstars approach.
“Founder Catalyst is about helping entrepreneurs learn faster and make smarter decisions,” Smith says. “By connecting Emory founders with experienced mentors and proven frameworks, we’re equipping them with the tools and network they need to build companies that can scale.”
Strengthening Emory’s innovation community
The program reflects Emory’s growing commitment to entrepreneurship and innovation, bringing together founders from across schools and disciplines to collaborate and learn from one another.
Brian Cayce, managing director of The Roberto C. Goizueta Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Goizueta Business School, highlights the program’s role in preparing founders for the next stage of growth.
“Programs like Founder Catalyst help translate ideas into viable ventures,” Cayce says. “By focusing on market validation, storytelling and investor readiness, founders leave with the clarity and confidence needed to pursue funding and scale their startups.”
Ben Garrett, director of The Hatchery, emphasizes the collaborative spirit behind the initiative.
“This collaboration reflects what makes Emory’s innovation ecosystem special,” Garrett says. “By bringing together the strengths of The Hatchery, The Roberto C. Goizueta Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, and Techstars’ pre-accelerator expertise, we’re providing founders with world-class mentorship, practical startup education and a global community committed to helping them build ventures that can grow and compete.”
Founders building solutions across industries
The cohort reflects the breadth of innovation emerging from Emory. Ventures address challenges ranging from biomedical collaboration and workforce analytics to AI-powered tools across various industries, creator-economy platforms and more.
Ornella Adekoye, founder of the capital-readiness platform BizGuider, says the Founder Catalyst offers an invaluable opportunity to accelerate her venture’s development.
“Being part of this cohort means learning from people who have built and scaled companies before us,” says Adekoye, who is an MBA student. “The mentorship, feedback and community are helping me refine our value proposition and prepare to present BizGuider to investors with confidence.”
Looking ahead to Demo Day
What happens at the end of the 10-week program?
Demo Day, which takes place on April 23 and is the culmination of the entrepreneurs’ hard work.
Founders will showcase their ventures to Emory and Techstars leadership, ecosystem partners and investors who will provide invaluable feedback, networking and opportunities for connection and further investment.