2025 eLab Summer Accelerator Application
Thank you for your interest in the Keller Center's 2025 eLab Summer Accelerator Program. Please be sure to read and understand the application and
program requirements
before beginning your application.
If you are not prepared to complete the entire application at one time, you may create a password (one that can be shared with your teammates) which will enable you to return as often as needed to complete all questions and sections. Please note that
all students
who will be part of your team this summer MUST fill out Part II (Applicant Information) section of this form.
*All fields with an asterisk must be completed*
Part I. Venture Information
Please provide as much detail about your venture as you've got. Logo, website, and social media accounts are optional at this stage, but recommended. If you have a pitch deck, video, or any other supporting materials you'd like to share with us, please upload them to Google Drive and provide the link to the folder below.
Venture/Team Name
Venture Bio (
Please ke
ep this
brief and concise
; it should be a short paragraph. This bio will be posted on the Keller Center website along with your team members' names and photos if your team is selected for the program.)
Venture Logo
If you do not have a logo, a Princeton shield or Tiger will be used as a placeholder.
x
Website
Facebook
Instagram
Twitter
Link to other supporting materials (i.e., documents in Google Drive)
Has your team applied to the eLab Summer Accelerator Program before?
Please select...
Yes
No
For which summer did you apply?
Please select...
Summer 2024
Summer 2023
Summer 2022
Summer 2021
Current Team Size?
Please select...
1
2
3
4
5
Is your team fully assembled now and ready to complete this application?
Yes, our team is complete
No, we are still building our team
With regard to team size, please carefully consider the following:
Minimum: Three
Maximum: Five
Only enrolled Princeton students are counted in the team size.
Only under extremely special circumstances will you get an interview with the committee if you are applying with less than the minimum.
Your chances of getting an interview will be much greater if your entire team is confirmed/identified before you submit this application.
If you are accepted to the program with an incomplete team, any team members joining after the interview period must be immediately identified and vetted by the eLab selection committee or Keller Center staff.
A conditional acceptance pending a full team can result in an acceptance or a denial after your final team interview.
No additional team members may be added after March 1, 2025. No exceptions.
How many additional team members are you seeking?
Please select...
1
2
3
4
NOTE: The first person on your team to complete the "Applicant Information" section below will serve as the main point of contact for all communications during the application process.
Part II. Applicant Information
This section must be completed by ALL team members!
Once the first team member has completed the section, click the link that says "click here to add another team member" on the right-hand side below. A new field set will appear where the next team member can add their information. Click the link as many times as needed to accommodate all team members.
First Name
Last Name
Position
Please select...
CEO
CTO
Coder/Software Engineer
Business Development/Marketing
UX
UI Designer
Other
If you are not sure what your role will be yet, select other and type "not yet determined."
x
Other Position
Student Type
Please select...
Undergraduate
Graduate
U.S. Residency Status
Please select...
U.S. Citizen
U.S. Permanent Resident
F-1 Visa
J-1 Visa
This information is required solely for payment/stipend purposes. Please note that any student without citizen/resident status may be subject to federal tax withholding from their stipend.
x
Class Year
Please select...
2028
2027
2026
Grad Year
Please select...
GS1
GS2
GS3
GS4
GS5
GS6
(In what year of your graduate studies are you currently?)
x
Undergrad Major/Department
Please select...
SPO Spanish and Portuguese
SPIA Public Policy
SOC Sociology
SLA Slavic Languages and Literatures
REL Religion
PSY Psychology
POL Politics
PHY Physics
PHI Philosophy
ORFE Operations Research and Financial Engineering
NEU Neuroscience
NES Near Eastern Studies
MUS Music
MOL Molecular Biology
MAT Mathematics
MAE Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
IND Independent
HIS History
GER German
GEO Geosciences
FIT French and Italian
ENG English
EEB Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
ECO Economics
ECE Electrical and Computer Engineering
EAS East Asian Studies
COS Computer Science
COM Comparative Literature
CLA Classics
CHM Chemistry
CEE Civil and Environmental Engineering
CBE Chemical and Biological Engineering
AST Astrophysical Sciences
ART Art and Archaeology
ARC Architecture
ANT Anthropology
AAS African American Studies
Non-Princeton students please select IND/OTHER if your major is not listed here.
Grad Degree/Department
Please select...
ANT Anthropology
AOS Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences
APC Applied and Computational Mathematics
ARC Architecture
ART Art and Archaeology
AST Astrophysical Sciences
AST Plasma Physics
CBE Chemical and Biological Engineering
CEE Civil and Environmental Engineering
CHM Chemistry
CLA Classics
COM Comparative Literature
COS Computer Science
EAS East Asian Studies
ECE Electrical and Computer Engineering
ECO Economics
EEB Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
ENG English
FIT French and Italian
GEO Geosciences
GER German
HIS History
HOS History of Science
MAE Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
MAT Mathematics
MED Medieval Studies
MOL Molecular Biology
MUS Music Composition
MUS Musicology
NES Near Eastern Studies
NEU Neuroscience
ORFE Operations Research and Financial Engineering
PHI Philosophy
PHY Physics
POL Politics
POP Population Studies
PSY Psychology
QCB Quantitative Computational Biology
REL Religion
SLA Slavic Languages and Literatures
SOC Sociology
SPIA Public Policy
SPIA Social Policy
SPO Spanish and Portuguese
Non-Princeton students please select IND/OTHER if your major is not listed here.
IND/OTHER Major
Princeton Email
A copy of your application will be sent to your Princeton address, so check for typos!
x
Alternate Email (non-Princeton)
This cannot be the same as your @princeton.edu email!
x
PUID (9-digits on your prox)
If you were assigned a NetID like jd23@princeton.edu but use an alias such as johndoe@princeton.edu, please provide your given NetID.
x
NetID
U.S. Cell Phone #
LinkedIn
Why do you want to be a part of the eLab Summer Accelerator Program?
Entrepreneurship Activities & Courses
What entrepreneurial activities have you been involved with at Princeton or elsewhere? These could include entrepreneurship-focused internships, projects, certificate programs, and student clubs.
List below any entrepreneurship courses you've taken. You may include courses taken outside of the EGR/ENT portfolio that you feel may help you as a member of your startup venture.
To add another course, click the "Add another response" link below. You can add as many as you wish.
Course Number: Title, Semester Taken
Upload your photo
Photo must be at least 600 x 600 pixels. Do not include low-res, grainy, or overly cropped photos, please!
Part III. Team Essay Questions
Suggested 400-word limit for each question below.
1. PAIN/PROBLEM:
What customer pain or problem are you trying to address? What is your product and/or service, what significant problem does it solve for whom, and why is that valuable for them? How did you get the idea for your product and/or service?
2. VENTURE STAGE: I
s it just an idea that you believe can provide the basis for a company? Is it based on a new technology or on established technology that you would be applying in new ways, to new applications? Have you validated your proposed product and/or service with customers, suppliers, partners, or investors? Is it already live and operating?
3. TEAM:
Team is important.
Describe the backgrounds, the diverse and complementary skill sets and roles of your team, and how this relates to the problem you are trying to solve. What are the weaknesses of your team and how do you plan to address those weaknesses? What will you and your team members do this summer if your venture is not selected for the eLab?
4. BUSINESS MODEL:
What is the market size and need for your idea/innovation? How could you quantify the benefit to an individual or organization provided by your innovation? How will your product and/or service be developed and provided? When will it be ready for launching? How will your venture identify, contact and attract customers? How would you characterize the size of the market opportunity that you are addressing and the strength of the competition pursuing that opportunity?
5. FINANCE:
What will be the distinct competitive advantage that your venture will offer and why is that important to your customers/users? If designed as a for-profit, how will your venture generate revenue and when will it reach a profitable stage? If designed as a non-profit, how will your venture provide social good and when will it reach a sustainable stage? How much financing will be required to achieve the profitability or social good delivery stage?
6. ADVISORS:
Describe and identify any current and potential advisors (faculty, residential college advisors, external advisors, etc), their commitment to your idea, and how they will enable you to achieve your goals.
7. SUMMER:
Ou
tline the key milestones and deliverables you hope to achieve at the eLab this summer. Why do you believe that being part of the eLab will help you achieve them?
8. FUTURE:
What are your plans for this venture after the summer? What do you envision you will be doing in the next two to three years? Do you believe that you will be continuing to build your venture in the years ahead? Why?
Part IV. Conditions of Acceptance to the eLab Accelerator Program
Incomplete Teams
If you are accepted to the program as an incomplete team, any team members joining after the interview/acceptance period must be immediately identified to Keller Center staff so they can then be interviewed/vetted; conditional acceptances pending full team can turn into program acceptances or denials.
Participating Students
All eLab applicants/participants
must be currently enrolled Princeton University students
.
There are no exceptions to this policy.
Team Participation
All team members must be in-person for a normal business work schedule (M-F, 9-5) at the Princeton Entrepreneurial Hub at 34 Chambers Street for the full duration of the nine-week program.
Team Formation Deadline
No additional team members may be added after March 1, 2025. No exceptions.
Graduate Students
All Princeton graduate students must obtain written permission (email) from their faculty advisor to be submitted no later than March 1, 2025 in order to participate in the program.
Rescind Pending Offers
If your team is accepted and upon signing the eLab Summer Accelerator commitment form, you must decline any pending internship, program, or extended activity offers that have active or travel dates coinciding with eLab program dates.
By checking this box, your team has agreed to the above terms and conditions.
Yes, we have read and accept the terms and understand that our team may be disqualified or removed from the eLab if we fail to meet any of these terms and conditions at any time.
Important Dates
Please carefully review the key dates below to understand the next steps in the application process.
December 15, 2024 - eLab Accelerator Application Deadline at 11:59pm EST
Late December 2024 - Select teams contacted for interviews
January 6-8, 2025 - Interviews held virtually
January 10, 2025 - Offers go out to accepted teams
One week from offer date - Commitment deadline
March 1, 2025 - All team members must be identified
Last question! How did you learn about eLab? Please select all that apply.
Email from Keller Center
Email from Academic Department
Poster/Flyer
Info/table Session
Social Media
Keller Center Website
In Class/Entrepreneurship Faculty
Friend/Classmate
Other
Thank you for applying to the eLab Summer Accelerator Program!
Should you have any questions during the application process, please contact Manda Ryan, mandar@princeton.edu or Stephanie Landers, slanders@princeton.edu.