EnterpriseWorks is a 43,000-square-foot startup incubator at the heart of the Research Park’s community building efforts. Its atrium is a hub of activity, housing meetups and workshops. Its clients span from biotechnology to chemical sciences, software development to materials sciences. Through the commercialization of leading research across the University of Illinois, EnterpriseWorks startups are working to address challenges with results that are transformative.
History
EnterpriseWorks was built in 2003 to help successfully launch early-stage technology companies. The incubator is owned and operated by the University of Illinois. Since opening, EnterpriseWorks has launched more than 200 startup companies.
Named as one of Inc Magazine’s “Top 3 College Town Incubators” and as one of Forbes‘ “12 Business Incubators Changing the World,” EnterpriseWorks is an incubator facility and resource center for science and technology focused entrepreneurs.
Join Us
All leases in EnterpriseWorks last one year; renewal is based on company progress and the continued need of incubation services. The typical incubation period is three to five years.
EnterpriseWorks TenancyTenants at EnterpriseWorks have full access to its suite of services for entrepreneurs and benefit from the peer community that envelops it.
Acceptance as a tenant is contingent upon meeting the following criteria:
- The applicant must be an incorporated, for-profit company with a valid tax ID.
- The applicant must be an early-stage, technology-based company with significant market potential.
- The applicant must have (or wish to have) an active relationship, in some form, with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
- The principals involved should be well-qualified in their field of technology and have (or plan to have) experienced management as part of the team.
- The company must be financially solvent with a plan to raise sufficient capital to achieve its business plan.
EnterpriseWorks Tenant Application
Have questions? Contact Cynthia Faullin, Associate Director of Incubator Management, at cfaullin@illinois.edu.
EnterpriseWorks Affiliate ProgramThe EnterpriseWorks Affiliate Program is a pre-incubation program for early-stage startup companies. This program is designed to help inventors and entrepreneurs to access EnterpriseWorks' services and become tenants of the Research Park through an affordable program.
To be considered for the affiliate program, the applicant:
- Must be a for-profit business
- Must have a real need for the services offered through EnterpriseWorks
- Must be a technology-based business with commercial potential
- Must have well-qualified principals involved with the business
Affiliate Application
EnterpriseWorks Individual MembershipThe EnterpriseWorks Individual Membership is designed to provide access to EnterpriseWorks' services to solo entrepreneurs, contract workers, or professionals who are working remotely.
To be considered for individual membership, the applicant:
- Must be a well-qualified individual
- Must be working for or starting a for-profit business
- Must have a real need for the services offered through EnterpriseWorks
- Must be working on a research or technology related professional opportunity
Individual Membership Application
Student Startup InitiativeStudents may submit proposals to be considered for access to the co-working space and shared lab facilities in EnterpriseWorks, the startup incubator at the Research Park. Proposals are accepted on a competitive basis. Occasionally, shared space that is dedicated to student startups may be available, but it is not guaranteed.
To be considered for student startup membership, the applicant:
-
- Must have a founder/executive that is currently enrolled at the University of Illinois
- Must be starting a for profit business
- Must have a real need for the services offered through EnterpriseWorks
- Must be a technology-based business
*Most of the available student startup space is dedicated to Cozad New Venture Competition and Lemelson-Illinois Prize winners.
Student Startup Initiative Application
Tenants at EnterpriseWorks have full access to its suite of services for entrepreneurs and benefit from the peer community that envelops it.
Acceptance as a tenant is contingent upon meeting the following criteria:
- The applicant must be an incorporated, for-profit company with a valid tax ID.
- The applicant must be an early-stage, technology-based company with significant market potential.
- The applicant must have (or wish to have) an active relationship, in some form, with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
- The principals involved should be well-qualified in their field of technology and have (or plan to have) experienced management as part of the team.
- The company must be financially solvent with a plan to raise sufficient capital to achieve its business plan.
EnterpriseWorks Tenant Application
Have questions? Contact Cynthia Faullin, Associate Director of Incubator Management, at cfaullin@illinois.edu.
The EnterpriseWorks Affiliate Program is a pre-incubation program for early-stage startup companies. This program is designed to help inventors and entrepreneurs to access EnterpriseWorks' services and become tenants of the Research Park through an affordable program.
To be considered for the affiliate program, the applicant:
- Must be a for-profit business
- Must have a real need for the services offered through EnterpriseWorks
- Must be a technology-based business with commercial potential
- Must have well-qualified principals involved with the business
Affiliate Application
The EnterpriseWorks Individual Membership is designed to provide access to EnterpriseWorks' services to solo entrepreneurs, contract workers, or professionals who are working remotely.
To be considered for individual membership, the applicant:
- Must be a well-qualified individual
- Must be working for or starting a for-profit business
- Must have a real need for the services offered through EnterpriseWorks
- Must be working on a research or technology related professional opportunity
Individual Membership Application
Students may submit proposals to be considered for access to the co-working space and shared lab facilities in EnterpriseWorks, the startup incubator at the Research Park. Proposals are accepted on a competitive basis. Occasionally, shared space that is dedicated to student startups may be available, but it is not guaranteed.
To be considered for student startup membership, the applicant:
-
- Must have a founder/executive that is currently enrolled at the University of Illinois
- Must be starting a for profit business
- Must have a real need for the services offered through EnterpriseWorks
- Must be a technology-based business
*Most of the available student startup space is dedicated to Cozad New Venture Competition and Lemelson-Illinois Prize winners.
Student Startup Initiative Application
Tenant Resources
EnterpriseWorks tenants have the option of reserving conference room space no charge. Tenants have their choice of four different conference rooms that accommodate eight to twenty-five people. Room 115 holds 8 - 10 people Conference rooms include features such as: Rooms are reserved on a first-come, first-served basis. Tenants may make three different request types for their employees. Please complete the online service request form, and an EnterpriseWorks staff member will contact you for scheduling.
Room 215 holds 10 - 12 people
Room 220 holds 12 - 15 people
Room 130 holds 25 people
Atrium holds up to 50 people at rounds or 80 people theatre-style
Book Online
Submit a Card Request
Submit a Service Request
Tenant Discounts
EnterpriseWorks companies have access to a variety of tenant discounts including discounts on payment platforms, customer relationship management, hosting programs, and more.
If you are a current EnterpriseWorks tenant and would like more information on how to access these discounts, contact Cynthia Faullin at cfaullin@illinois.edu.
Braintree is a full-stack payments platform that makes it easy to accept payments in your app or website. When you sign up with Braintree Ignite, there are no fees on your first $50,000 of sales volume. After your business crosses the $50,000 threshold, the standard 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction rate applies. Charge-backs will still incur a $15 fee during this promotion. The Microsoft BizSpark program provides technology, support, visibility, and community to promising startups and entrepreneurs. Access to 900+ current, full-featured software development tools, platform technologies, and server products to build software applications. BizSpark startups also get free monthly Microsoft Azure benefits enabling them to quickly build,deploy, and manage Web applications. The Rackspace Startup Program helps you launch your business with hosting, mentorship, branding, and fanatical support The Rackspace Startup Program offers: The team at Amazon Web Services has a startup program for companies in our portfolio. The program, AWS Activate, provides you with the following perks: Contactually helps businesses follow up with the right people, at the right me, to maximize relationship ROI. Contactually is the CRM you'll actually want to use. It's designed to help you and your team generate more business from your existing network of relationships by organizing, automating, and improving your ordinary communication. Twilio is a cloud service to send and receive calls or texts automatically. Twilio provides each member a $50 promotion after they sign up for a free account. This requires a credit card, but you will not be charged. Quick2LAUNCH’s platform helps clients develop visually stunning presentations. In under 48 hours, Quick2LAUNCH’s graphic design team can transform plain slides into a powerful presentation. MATLAB® is a high level language and interactive environment used by millions of engineers and scientists worldwide. EnterpriseWorks clients now have one year of free access to MATLAB and Simulink, mathematical computing tools used by more than 1 million technical professionals worldwide. Wolfram Research, Inc. proudly offers Mathematica and System Modeler to Research Park affiliates for 1 year + 3 online trainings per licensee. U of I Research Park organizations can also sign up for a free Wolfram Cloud account. Wolfram Research: bringing computation and knowledge to everything. Creators of Mathematica, @Wolfram_Alpha, Wolfram Language. Founded in 1987 by @stephen_wolfram. BitTorrent Sync lets you sync and share files of any size, without the cloud, without touching any third-party servers. By moving files directly between devices, it's fully private and takes the most efficient path. Try Sync today, with Pro features enabled for 30 days. All EnterpriseWorks tenants are eligible for a discounted annual subscription. Altium offers a one-year subscription for Altium Designer to EnterpriseWorks tenants and affiliates. Altium Designer is an easy, modern, and powerful PCB design software that enables users to effortlessly connect with every facet of the PCB design process.Braintree
Microsoft BizSpark
Rackspace Startups
all features in Paid PlansAmazon Web Services
(normally ~$600/course), plus 8 tokens for self-paced labs (normally ~$30/lab)Contactually
Twilio
Quick2LAUNCH
MATLAB
Wolfram
Sync by BitTorrent
Altium