The Runway
Propelling Tomorrow's Innovations
The Runway at Florida Atlantic® is a South Florida public-private partnership that serves as a hub to accelerate technology development and incubate startup companies. The Runway's companies can access mentoring, introductions to early-stage capital, grants and seed funding. In addition, they are provided with the tools to become successful entrepreneurs, including a rigorous boot camp, access to business and technology events, and connections to a thriving regional innovation network.
Venture ProgramPhotograph: Carbon Limit, a Venture Class 9 company, a carbon capture utilization and storage company, with a proprietary carbon technology that removes atmospheric carbon dioxide. From left, Angel Pedroza, COO, Tim Sperry, founder, CEO and inventor, and Oro Padron, co-founder and CBO. Photograph by Carbon Limit.
Our Entrepreneurs' Success
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*Oct. 2014 - April 2025
The Runway News
Transformation to Entrepreneur
“Through The Runway, I was able to gain guidance from seven mentors, with a variety of specializations, who helped me advance in my business and personal goals,” said Paris Prince, CEO of SPods, a Venture Class 8 company. “If you have an idea, apply to the program. Don’t worry about refining your idea to full perfection. Rather, evolve your idea through The Runway’s resources. From a personal perspective, remember, it’s okay to be afraid, but do it anyway.”
Venture StoriesSpecial Thanks To Our Supporters
Boca Raton
Cohen
Fleisher
Elmore
Palm beach county
Office depot
FPL
Bank of America
Kaufman
Truist
Duane Morris
Charitable Foundation
Kaye
Mcgee
Lynch
Ward Damon
Neptunya
Elmore & LaTour
Commerce
Lesser
Special Thanks To Our Supporters
Cornerstone
Williams
Spina
The Fifth C
SBDC
SBDC
BDB
Urban Design
Eastwind
Gunster
Contact us at therunway@fau.edu
The Runway at Florida Atlantic is part of the Florida Atlantic Innovation and Business Development pipeline.
Learn more at fau.edu/innovation-and-business-development.
The Runway Venture Program
The Runway at Florida Atlantic provides the most promising companies and talented entrepreneurs with the resources, services and guidance to build and scale their startups.
At The Runway, experts have created a program that harnesses and directs the entrepreneurial spirit, providing a complete ecosystem for forward-thinking entrepreneurs, innovative students, faculty, alumni and the community.
The Runway seeks exceptional entrepreneurs and startups with high-growth potential and disruptive technologies. Companies accepted into the Venture Program often have a strategic alignment with FAU's research focus areas, including: drone technologies, educational technologies, environmental science, marine science, ocean engineering, neuroscience, healthy aging, big data analytics, artificial intelligence, machine learning, cyber security, sensing and smart systems.
Program participants can receive more than $100,000 in resources and services, including but not limited to:
- Structured team-based mentoring
- Entrepreneurial education
- Customer discovery programming
- Introductions to potential sources of early-stage capital
- Programs and resources from FAU's Innovation and Business Development
- Marketing and business support from college interns
- Pitch practice opportunities
- Networking events
- Access to regional business and technology events
- Free office hours from premier professional support firms (attorneys, accountants, etc.)
Program Tracks
Have a Question?
Venture Class Graduates
The Runway's Mentors
The cornerstone of The Runway is its mentorship program, modeled after Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s proven and highly successful Venture Mentoring Service. The team-based approach mentoring has been the key component of the program and is consistently acclaimed by our entrepreneurs as one of the top benefits they received.
The Runway mentors represent the best of the best. From world-class serial entrepreneurs to innovative engineers, The Runway at Florida Atlantic mentors are recruited for their expertise and dedication to the success of the community's entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Our Mentor's Dedication
Become A Mentor
Mentoring can make the difference between success and failure for entrepreneurs. As a mentor, you will receive formal training, structured guiding principles and professional development to train mentor the next generation of entrepreneurs.
Apply to become a part of a highly-vetted team of professional, industry expert mentors now.
Need A Mentor?
Currently, mentoring is only offered to companies that are accepted into the Venture Program.
To learn more about The Runway at Florida Atlantic's Venture Program, click here.
Are you seeking assistance or looking for resources for your start-up company? Learn more about Florida Atlantic's Innovation and Business Development here.
