Charger Startup Weekend 2019

Charger Startup Weekend is a two-and-a-half-day experience that provides undergraduate and graduate students the opportunity to identify and solve "wicked" problems.

This entrepreneurial workshop will empower students of all majors to harness their inspiration and imagination and promote innovation and change through ideation and discovery in the context of real-world applications. During the weekend, students form teams, engage in collaborative activities, work with professional mentors, and develop useful skills for problem-solving, networking, public speaking, and much more.

The weekend culminates with the delivery of an elevator pitch to participants and judges. Awards will be issued to the top three teams.

Thanks to the generosity of donors and sponsors the event is free of charge.

More Information and Questions

This year we will look to identify problems related to at least one of the following areas: Water; Food; and Energy. It has been suggested that the water-food-energy nexus is central to sustainable economic, development, and growth. In addition, in recognition of the UniversityÐÓ°ÉÔ­°æ™s Class of 2023 shared experience, we ask you to also consider Plastics and its relationship to the above-mentioned areas.

Students from each college and all majors are encouraged to participate.








Schedule of Events
Time Event Location

Friday, October 25
5:00 p.m. - 10:30 p.m. (Dinner Provided)
  • Registration and Orientation
  • Dinner, Speaker, and Rapid Pitches
  • Preliminary Ideas, Team Formation, Brainstorming and Ideation, and the Business Canvas
 Orange Campus (Transportation Available)

Saturday, October 26
8:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. Continental Breakfast and Customer Discovery Guidance West Haven Campus
10:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
  • Team Customer Discovery and Engagement
  • Mentor Availability (Remote)
 University of New Haven, West Haven Campus, Downtown New Haven (Transportation Available), Elsewhere
4:00 p.m. - 10:30 p.m. (Dinner Provided)
  • 4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. - Mentor Availability
  • 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. - Dinner and Pitch Guidelines
  • 8:00 p.m. - 10:30 p.m. - Pitch Workshop and Business Model Generation
  • Teams may continue to work later into the night; Orange Campus open until midnight.
 Orange Campus (Transportation Available)

Sunday, October 27
8:00 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.
  • 8:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. - Continental Breakfast
  • 9:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. - Practice and Refine Pitch
  • 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. - Lunch
  • 12:30 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. - Pitch Competition
  • 2:00 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. - Snacks, Announcements, and Awards
 Orange Campus (Transportation Available)
Frequently Asked Questions

  • Undergraduate and graduate students are encouraged to participate. All majors are welcome (the more diverse the better). No prior entrepreneurial experience required; learn to unleash your inspiration and imagination for purposes of innovation.

  • You do not need to come with an idea. The event includes ideation exercises. Everyone is encouraged to pitch one idea and student participants shall select the ideas for further exploration over the weekend. Teams will then be organized on a self-selection basis.

  • Thanks to the generosity of donors and sponsors there is no charge for participating in this event. Meals as identified shall be provided.

    • Friday: Dinner
    • Saturday: Continental Breakfast; Dinner
    • Sunday: Continental Breakfast; Lunch; Snacks

  • If you do not have transportation, students are encouraged to use the UniversityÐÓ°ÉÔ­°æ™s shuttles to the extent provided. A schedule will be provided for travel between the University and the Orange Campus as well as Downtown New Haven.

  • Charger Startup Weekend may be applied toward Experiential Education Credit.

  • The University will NOT take any equity or own any percentage of intellectual property, if a company is formed for purposes of developing the idea presented and/or explored during the workshop. Mentors will be available to assist teams interested in the next stage of development, e.g., enterprise formation.

    If you are worried about protecting your idea, then do not present or use the idea in the workshop. You may want to use a different idea should you be concerned with ownership. You can learn the ideation and customer discovery skills developed during this workshop to develop your “confidential” idea.