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Develop an enterprise as part of your education

COA’s venture incubator, aka the Hatchery, provides eligible students academic credit, professional services and access to seed funding to develop their for- or non-profit business. The Hatchery allows students to walk the entrepreneurial high wire with a safety net and support.

Offering academic credit aligns the entrepreneurial and educational interests of students, allowing them to start enterprises because of their education. This program is unique among liberal arts colleges.

Students selected for the Hatchery receive
  • A ten-week rapid prototype intensive
  • Office space & equipment
  • Business mentors from the MDI and COA communities
  • Personal support services to launch their enterprise
  • The potential of up to $5,000 in seed funding

 What makes us different from other incubators and accelerators
  • Hatchery students pursue an enterprise for academic credit
  • Students participate in an interdisciplinary class setting with students from across the campus and around the world
  • Innovation happens at the crossroads with a mix of for- and non-profit ventures across industries and scales

Hatchery news:

  • NEWS
    A vision of abundant sustainability at College of the Atlantic [PUPN]
    College of the Atlantic Sharpe-McNally Chair of Green and Socially Responsible Business Jay Friedlander articulates and enacts an innovative approach to education that is both inspiring and practical.
  • NEWS
    Alum awarded for ceramics work
    Through her work as a ceramicist and cultural producer, 2023 Jorum Craft Award recipient Eleanor White ’22 aims to nurture multispecies relationality with participatory art interventions.
  • NEWS
    Entrepreneurial effort focuses on ecological education
    Utilizing $20,000 in grants from Projects for Peace and Network for Global Civic Engagement, Clinton Global Initiative University member Mauro José Ramírez Azofeifa ’23 is bringing environmental education and sustainability practices to his hometown in Costa Rica.