Stage 02 · Validate
E-Lab develops the entrepreneurial mindset required to identify meaningful problems, recognise opportunities and begin thinking like a founder.
Students explore real-world challenges, interrogate assumptions and develop the foundations for identifying opportunities worth pursuing. It runs every trimester and is compulsory for all first-year students — which makes entrepreneurship a universal literacy at ALU rather than an extracurricular activity.
Cohort
Length
Gates
Funding
NEXT STAGE
Who it's for
Be honest about this
80 enter, ~40 reach Demo Day and are funded, ~30 ship MVPs, 10–15 qualify for Ventures Lab. Nobody exits without coaching and a second chance first. The programme promises a validated answer, not a guaranteed venture.
How it runs
Every masterclass is followed by applied work, and every block of applied work ends in a checkpoint. Because the cohort is too large for one room, each masterclass runs twice — two session groups of 40.
Applications, scoring, selection of 80, onboarding pack and commitment agreements.
80 founders admitted
Jumpstart masterclasses, then applied validation, prototype and business model. Three coaching windows, three screening gates.
Validated opportunity
External judges score on the published rubric. Teams that pass earn MVP stipends released in tranches.
~40 funded
MVP development, GTM strategy, mentor matching and performance tracking. Growth earns add-on funding.
~30 MVPs shipped
Dates & deadlines
Cohort 1 start
Applications for Cohort 2
Demo Day
Add-on funding review
Publish the full calendar, the entry bar and the funding rules in the call itself — founders who know how they will be scored spend the programme closing those gaps.
Questions founders ask
That is a legitimate outcome and the programme treats it as a success. You leave with evidence and a reason, not a wasted year of building.
Yes. Teams form by Week 3, facilitated around validated problems — but Demo Day funding goes to teams.
In tranches, against milestones. Nothing is disbursed for promises. Add-on funding up to $5,000 is earned by demonstrated growth in Phase 2.
No — it is a fast-track, not an entry. Ventures Lab has its own bar: a working MVP, six months in market, and revenue.
80 places per cohort. Applications open ahead of each intake; the entry bar and the scorecard are published with the call.
