Texas Venture Mentorship Service (TEXVMS)
Established in 1989, the Austin Technology Incubator at the University of Texas celebrated its 30th year with recognition as one of the first and longest active technology incubators in the United States. Its mission is and has been to serve students and faculty entrepreneurs as well as community founding teams through a customized approach to effectively commercialize their breakthrough innovations to compete in the global marketplace.
ATI participated in the MIT VMS Immersion Program in January 2018, followed by onsite Mentor Training delivered by an MIT VMS instructor later that spring. In May of 2018, with the support of the University of Texas System, ATI launched TEXVMS to support entrepreneurial activity within the University of Texas at Austin community and the Central Texas region.
To date TEXVMS has grown to a community of over 80 mentors serving over 25 ventures, contributing to entrepreneurial education for both the university and Central Texas regional community, along with UT Austin’s academic, teaching, research, & public service missions. The impact of their program is appreciated and acknowledged by mentees:
“My mentors at TEXVMS are as valuable as a team of McKinsey consultants and as unconditionally supportive as my mom. They helped me accelerate millions in value by structuring strategic partnership deals that drove revenue without dilution. Most incubators count their worth in investment dollars raised, TEXVMS helped me focus on ways to create enduring value for years to come - priceless.”
- Amy George, Founder and CEO of Earthly Labs