Author – Ethan Bochicchio
Another successful USC and Techstars University Catalyst Program has come to a close, marking a significant milestone in the evolution of USC’s innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem. Over ten weeks, the program transformed early-stage ideas into more disciplined, market-ready ventures, while giving founders a clearer understanding of what it takes to build scalable companies within and beyond the university setting. Launched as a collaboration between Techstars and the USC Office of Research and Innovation, the University Catalyst Program was designed to meet founders where they are while still demanding rigor, accountability, and measurable progress. This year’s programming reflects USC’s continued growing role as a hub for interdisciplinary entrepreneurship in Southern California.
Impactful startups often emerge at the intersection of disciplines rather than from any one single domain. This year’s cohort included 20 startups drawn from across the university, representing ten USC schools and a wide range of industries, from healthcare and education to sustainability, consumer products, and AI. Founders included students, alumni, and faculty, underscoring the program’s goal of supporting innovation at every stage of the USC community. Over the course of the ten-week curriculum, participants engaged in nine masterclasses, seven structured pitch feedback sessions, extensive one-on-one mentoring, and cohort meetups that blended virtual and in-person engagement. Sessions covered everything from customer discovery and ideal customer profile definition to financial modeling, fundraising readiness, and emotional fitness for founders.
Evolution was visible across the cohort, according to Techstars Startup Community Program Lead Telesha Bowen, who worked closely with founders. Reflecting on the journey, Bowen said, “It’s been a pleasure watching this class develop their startups and founder skills. Many of the startups began this program believing they knew the problem they were solving and their target audience. They soon realized that they still needed to narrow down their ideal customer profile. This refinement helped them to better quantify their pain points, strengthen their business model, and build strategic go-to-market roadmaps.”
Bowen emphasized that this process often required founders to rethink assumptions they had carried into the program. “The founders received substantial information from their masterclasses, pitch feedback sessions and mentorship meetings – sometimes this required unlearning old concepts. It was interesting to see how each startup utilized what they learned to validate their idea, build their team and begin testing their product with new customers.”
Those lessons translated into tangible outcomes. By the end of the program, founders reported significant gains in pitch clarity and confidence, with all participants indicating their ability to articulate their value proposition had improved over the course of the Program. Pitch coaching sessions, which allowed founders to present repeatedly and receive feedback, played a central role in this transformation. The culmination of this work was the virtual Pitch Day Showcase, where founders delivered presentations to an audience of mentors, investors, and members of the broader startup ecosystem.
Mentorship emerged as one of the most valued components of the program, with founders logging hundreds of mentor meetings over the ten-week period. These sessions connected participants with experienced founders, operators, and industry experts from both USC and the broader Techstars network, offering practical guidance grounded in real-world experience. Many founders credited mentors with helping them test their assumptions, refine their customer discovery strategies, and navigate early team and product decisions. Several founders expressed interest in giving back as mentors or speakers in future cohorts, helping to create a self-reinforcing cycle of founder support and institutional knowledge. This aligns with Techstars’ broader philosophy of community-driven entrepreneurship, where long-term success is built through relationships.
Beyond skill development, the University Catalyst Program also served as a pipeline to more advanced opportunities. By the program’s conclusion, half of the cohort had applied to the USC and Techstars Accelerator. For many founders, the pre-accelerator experience provided clarity on whether pursuing a traditional accelerator path aligned with their company’s stage and goals. Bowen noted that the program’s ultimate success lies in founder confidence and preparedness: “The founders are graduating from this program feeling more confident about their pitch and better prepared for upcoming milestones, such as applying to the USC and Techstars Accelerator. I’m incredibly proud of them and can’t wait to see what they’ll accomplish moving forward.”
The conclusion of this year’s Program highlights USC’s continued investment in structured innovation pathways. By partnering with Techstars, the university has expanded access to global startup networks, best-in-class entrepreneurial frameworks, and mentorship resources that would otherwise be difficult for early-stage founders to reach on their own. The program complements other USC innovation initiatives, offering a clear on-ramp for founders who are not yet ready for a full accelerator but need more than informal advising.
The school-by-school participation breakdown further reflects the program’s cross-campus reach, with strong representation from business, engineering, design, and the liberal arts. This diversity has become a defining feature of the USC startup landscape, where teams increasingly blend technical, creative, and commercial expertise to tackle complex problems. In many cases, founders reported that exposure to peers from different disciplines reshaped how they approached team building and product development.
This year’s University Catalyst Program’s impact is already evident in the confidence, clarity, and momentum of its graduates. Startups leave with sharper pitches, stronger customer insights, and more realistic go-to-market strategies than when they entered. Founders leave with a shared language around entrepreneurship and a network of peers and mentors they can draw on long after the program ends. This year’s cohort signals a promising future for the USC and Techstars partnership. With demonstrated demand, strong founder outcomes, and growing interest in downstream accelerator opportunities, the Program is poised to become a cornerstone of USC’s entrepreneurial pipeline. As Bowen and the program team turn their attention to the next cohort, this year’s graduates move forward better equipped to build companies and contribute meaningfully to the culture of innovation at USC and beyond.