Funding & Competitions

Batten Founder Fellows Program - Ventures - Batten Institute

Batten Founder Fellows Program

Batten Founder Fellows (BFFs) is a pilot program which encourages graduating Darden student founders who worked on promising ventures while pursuing their degree to continue on the founder path by supporting their entrepreneurial journeys post-graduation.   

In year one of the program, 2024, the Batten Institute awarded significant grants to Fellows, with the potential of follow-on support. 

Students must meet eligibility requirements to apply to the Batten Founder Fellows program. For the class of 2025, those criteria include: 

  • Degree from Darden conferred in year of participation (including MSBA, Ph.D., MBA).
  • Participation in the i.Lab Incubator summer program prior to the year of graduation (strongly preferred).
  • Completion of Darden’s Venture Velocity or Venturing Lab course. (In the event a student is unable to enroll in one of these courses, an equivalent course or independent study may serve as a potential substitute, determined on case-by-case basis). 
  • Participation in the UVA Entrepreneurship Cup and/or successful application for a Batten Innovation or Accelerate Grant.
  • Been a proactive leader for entrepreneurship among the Darden community.
  • Proven commitment to fully pursuing venture upon graduation – student intends to work on venture full-time, has not accepted another offer and is not actively pursuing opportunities other than working on building the venture.
  • Venture is incorporated.

Key Dates 

  • Application opens: 11 April 2025
  • Applications Due: 25 April 2025
  • Students notified of selection: 9 May 2025
  • Payments issued: June 2025
  • Four-month check-in: October 2025

Application

Complete the online application, including the following: 

  • Confirm criteria satisfied 
  • Upload Executive summary no longer than two pages 
    • Company Overview 
    • Product or Service Description 
    • Market and Competitive Analysis 
    • Business Model 
    • Marketing and Sales Strategy 
    • Management Team 
    • Financial Projections 
  • Upload plans for upcoming four months, ideally as a Gantt Chart. Model with and without Batten Institute BFF support. 
  • Submit your two most recent stakeholder updates 
  • Describe how founder(s) have supported others in the community in the i.Lab, Darden, Charlottesville area, etc. 
  • List a mentor with whom you actively meet who has strong knowledge of the venture who we can contact as a reference 
  • For founders who did not participate in the prior year’s i.Lab Incubator, submit a one-page overview of how you leveraged your Darden experience to enable you to pursue this venture full-time post Darden. (We have gained insights on students who participated in the i.Lab via their engagement in the summer programming and Accelerate phase over their second year.)

The Batten Founder Fellows program was extremely impactful for us. It smoothed the transition from student-founder to founder. That funding allowed us to take two months and really stand up our business operations, professionalize what we had already made, and build a system for the future.

Grace Collins (MBA '24)
Co-Founder, PlayHenry