Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Awards and Grants

Celebrating Innovative Excellence

Grinspoon Spirit and Concept Awards include qualifying students and recent alumni with new businesses that are ready to launch or are up and running.

  • The Grinspoon Fall Conference is held at the MassMutual Center in early November. The goal of this Conference is to ignite entrepreneurial ideas and innovations. Over 400 students from all 14 area colleges and universities attend the Conference.
  • The Grinspoon Spring Awards Banquet is held at the Log Cabin in Holyoke, MA to honor recipients of Grinspoon Entrepreneurial concept and Spirit Awards. In addition to the Awards, the Banquet sponsors an Elevator Pitch contest where one student from each area college/university competes in a 90 seconds elevator pitch. Winning pitches are awarded based on the innovation’s novelty and pitch delivery.

PeoplesBank seedships are small awards provided to qualifying startups. The goal of the awards is to provide funding to help with measurable activities required to advance the startup’s innovation.

Sigma Nu Tau is the academic entrepreneurship honors society. This society offers a scholarship to win $1,250 to promote, recognize, and reward academic excellence in entrepreneurship and to encourage and recognize the practice of principled entrepreneurship.